Color of Violence: The INCITE! Anthology (South End Press)

Color of Violence: The INCITE! Anthology

This October, antiviolence activists will organize events nationwide to observe Domestic Violence Awareness Month. In a country where a woman is physically assaulted every 15 seconds, it is not surprising that some antiviolence activists welcomed Bush's renewed pledge in 2005 "to [prevent] domestic abuse by supporting victims and punishing offenders."

Indeed, today's mainstream antiviolence movement is becoming evermore reliant on government funding and law-enforcement "solutions" to sexual and domestic violence. But as the history of women of color in the United States clearly illustrates, the eradication of violence against women will not be possible without an analysis that confronts both
interpersonal and state forms of violence.

Consider, for example, that

* women of color and their families often experience police brutality, even arrest, when they call 911 for assistance in domestic and sexual violence incidents (p. 150);

* at the increasingly militarized US/Mexico border, immigrant women risk sexual and physical assault by civilian "vigilantes" and border patrol officers--along with the threat of arrest and deportation (p. 120);

* as the war in Iraq rages on and casualty rates soar, reports of sexual violence by occupying US troops against Iraqi civilians and US women soldiers--the majority of whom are people of color--continue to emerge (p. 116)

In Color of Violence, more than 30 visionaries from around the globe call on both racial justice and antiviolence movements to collaboratively "develop strategies that challenge the criminal justice system and that also provide safety for survivors of sexual and domestic violence" (p. 223). Engaging the intersectional nature of violence against women of color, Color of Violence both expands the definition of violence against women and places women of color at the center of a movement to end oppression in all its forms. And unlike most examinations of violence against women that recast them as "victims," this pathbreaking collection highlights the work of survivors and activists in creating strategies of resistance.

In the tradition of This Bridge Called My Back, Color of Violence is an urgent, bold, and essential intervention in the war against women of color, their communities, and, ultimately, us all.


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INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence is a national activist organization of radical feminists of color advancing a movement to end violence against women of color and their communities through direct action, critical dialogue, and grassroots organizing. For more information about their work and mission, including how to get involved, please
visit www.incite-national.org