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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.

INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence, a national organization of radical feminists of color, announces Color of Violence: The INCITE! Anthology, an anthology of critical writings demanding that we address violence against women of color in all its forms, including interpersonal violence, such as sexual and domestic violence, and state violence, such as police brutality, militarism, attacks on immigrants and Indian treaty rights, the proliferation of prisons, economic neo-colonialism, and violence from the medical industry.

Color of Violence presents the fierce and vital writing of 33 visionary radical feminists of color. These writers not only investigate the intersecting ways in which violence and oppression exist in the lives of women of color and our communities, they also map innovative strategies of movement building and resistance used by women and trans people of color around the world. Of the many topics they address, Color of Violence asks us to consider that:

Women and trans people 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 U.S./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 U.S. troops against Iraqi civilians and U.S. women soldiers – the majority of whom are women of color – continue to emerge (p. 116)

Color of Violence calls on both racial justice and anti-violence 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. The writers in Color of Violence demand that we:

reconsider a reliance on the criminal justice system for solving women’s struggles with domestic violence;

acknowledge how militarism subjects women to extreme levels of violence perpetrated from within, and without, their communities;

recognize how the medical establishment inflicts violence—such as involuntary sterilization and inadequate health care—on women of color;

devise new strategies for cross-cultural dialogue, theorizing, and alliance building;

and much, much more.

At a time of heightened state surveillance and repression of people of color, Color of Violence: The INCITE! Anthology is an essential intervention. 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.

0-89608-762-X | paper | South End Press | 336 pages | $20

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Color of Violence is available from South End Press.

HISTORY OF ANTHOLOGY:

This anthology started in 2000 in an attempt to document and commemorate the first Color of Violence Conference at Santa Cruz. INCITE! hoped that those who were not able to attend could access the conference's dialogue and analysis. INCITE! thought the anthology could take the conference conversations into people's homes, educational and organizing spaces and spark needed conversations about violence against us and our communities. We also hoped the anthology could ignite the movement by providing activists and organizers with historical perspectives, analyses, and possibilities for ending global oppression. As INCITE! and the movement evolved, so did the anthology. We found it important to include examples of local organizing efforts, documenting models of resistance on the ground in order to inspire and support movement building. The "War of Terror" brought heightened attacks against women of color, immigrant and refugee women and our communities. It also brought intensified violence against the communities the U.S. has been invading. We believed that addressing these issues was vital, so we re-opened the anthology for contributions through the 2nd Color of Violence conference in Chicago in 2002. Six years later, through all of our collective determination, efforts at writing and re-writing draft after draft, and remarkable perseverance and patience, the Color of Violence Anthology is OUT and doing the work it was intended to do!

INCITE!

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.

ORDERING INFORMATION:

HISTORY OF ANTHOLOGY:

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

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