Women's Studies Scholar / Author Beverly Guy-Sheftall

March 6, 2007 (Tuesday) 7:00 p.m. Lecture & Discussion Assembly Hall, Campus Center UAlbany Uptown Campus

Beverly Guy-Sheftall, pioneering scholar and leading Black feminist, is founder and director of the Women's Research and Resource Center (WRRC) at Spelman College, the first women's studies program at a historically Black college. A vibrant institution specializing in the study and advancement of black female activism, the Women's Research and Resource Center celebrated its 25th anniversary in October 2006. Guy-Sheftall is also Anna Julia Cooper Professor of Women's Studies at Spelman.

Her most recent book is "Gender Talk: The Struggle for Women's Equality in African American Communities" (2003, with Johnnetta Betsch Cole).

"A ground breaking look at the controversial topic of sexism and gender politics within African American communities." - "Ebony" magazine

"Thoughtful, provocative, concerned and urgent, this work ignites a much-needed debate over the state of true Black community and the role of women within that community. . . ." - "Publisher's Weekly"

"'Gender Talk' challenges the zero/sum game of patriarchy-that women must lose so men can win-with the simple truth that the Black community only wins when all its members are strong." - Gloria Steinem

Guy-Sheftall's previous books include "Traps: African American Men on Gender and Sexuality" (2001), "Words of Fire: An Anthology of African American Feminist Thought" (1995); "Double Stitch: Black Women Write About Mothers and Daughters" (1991), and "Daughters of Sorrow: Attitudes Toward Black Women, 1880-1920" (1990).

Guy-Sheftall also published the very first anthology of Black women's literature, "Sturdy Black Bridges," in 1980. Since 1983, she has been founding co-editor of "Sage: A Scholarly Journal of Black Women."

She is the recipient of numerous fellowships and awards, among them a National Kellogg Fellowship; a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship for dissertations in Women's Studies; and Spelman's Presidential Faculty Award for outstanding scholarship. She has also been involved in a number of advocacy organizations, including the National Black Women's Health Project, the National Council for Research on Women, and the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, on whose boards she serves.

Guy-Sheftall grew up in Memphis, Tenn. Her mother, Ernestine Varnado Guy, was a single parent in the 1950s and supported three daughters, teaching them to work hard and prepare for a productive adulthood. "My mother was the first feminist I ever knew," Guy-Sheftall told the "Massachusetts Daily Collegian" in 1997.

Cosponsored by
UAlbany's Departments of Women's Studies, Africana Studies, Social Welfare, UAS, and GSO's Catalyst