Daughters of Candace:
Tracking Black Women’s Sport History
An edited book by
Dr. Stephanie Y. Evans & Dr. Akilah Carter-Francique
CALL FOR PAPERS Book Chapters Due: June 1, 2014
Please forward to all lists
Reclaiming home-field advantage…
Visit our website: daughtersofcandace.net
Black women’s bodies can be defined as
locations of victory. Editors of a forthcoming book,
Daughters of Candace: Tracking Black Women’s Sport
History, seek to explore the contours of African
American women’s athletic participation in physical
contests. We invite chapters for a volume that will
create a foundational portrait of the presence,
oppression, contribution and creative resistance in historic and contemporary athletic games in order to expand the range of discussion of Africana women’s bodies.
Ancient Greeks identified Nike as the goddess of victory and the Grecian Olympic Games have become the modern measure of athletic prowess in the international arena. Daughters of Candace illuminates the legacy of several dynasties of Nubian warrior queens known as Candace, or Kandake, and unearths buried legends of victory that are grounded in African lands. Ancient queen mothers of Nubia were renowned for their leadership, strength, prowess, and valor in building nations and defending them in battle. Ta-seti, an ancient name for Nubia (also known as Kush, Upper Egypt, Ethiopia, Napata, and Meroe) was translated as “land of the bow,” and indicated the Nubian reputation for archery. Other ancient sports recorded in Africa include dance, sword play, boxing, wrestling, swimming, and running. Modern Black women have exceled internationally in several sports including baseball, basketball, bobsled, fencing, martial arts, soccer, softball, track, and volleyball.
Popular textbooks on sport are inaccurate and myopic in scholarly analysis. For example, in Sociology of Sport: An Introduction, Delany & Madigan consider African culture “pre-history” and thus before the beginning of “civilization” (2009). Equally as troublesome, much academic discourse reduces Black women’s bodies to an objectified single dimension of grief, murder, pillage, hyper-sexuality, or despair. The editors recognize the significant contributions of all nations to sport and, although we acknowledge the unique exploitation, sex-based racial violence, and social subjugation Black women have endured, we reject powerlessness as the inescapable or primary premise for interpretation of Black women’s physique. In doing so, we cite as evidence of Black women’s power the ways in which 150 historic and contemporary African American athletes have used sport to claim a semblance of personal and social victory despite facing a multitude of life-and-death battles.
Daughters of Candace repositions foundations of contest and valor in ancient locations of Africa. Like those who turn to the Grecian winged goddess of victory, in order to inspire the next generation of Black women athletes, we hail the bow and arrow of Nubian queens for inspiration to frame Black women’s athletic bodies. Authors submitting book chapters are welcome to address contemporary issues such as the verbal attack on the Rutgers University basketball team, harassment of South African runner Caster Semenya, Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move campaign, or the Spelman College health initiatives; however, because this text seeks to highlight historical foundations, all chapters must substantively present roots of such topics. The main purpose of this collection is to create a comprehensive historical knowledge base, necessary to better understand issues faced by Black women athletes. Given the broad range of elite athletes who are daughters of Candace, about whom very little is known, chapters on histories about African American athletes, teams, and events of the 150 foundational figures listed below are especially welcome. Dr. Evans will contribute work on Black women athletes’ autobiographical narratives and Dr. Carter will outline educational pursuits of Black women college athletes. Also encouraged are chapters that present historical research (ancient or modern) about Black women globally, and historical analyses that connect daughters of victory across the African diaspora.
Submit complete chapters for Daughters of Candace: Tracking Black Women’s Sport History to
>Dr. Stephanie Y. Evans sevans@cau.edu
by June 1, 2014.
* Format document in Word, 12” font, double space, and length should be no more than 5,000 words of text, not counting notes or bibliography. Citation: Chicago style.
* Previously published or simultaneous submissions will not be accepted; however, existing research reworked for this specific collection will be welcome.
FOUNDATIONAL FIGURES IN BLACK WOMEN’S SPORT HISTORY
African American Women Athletes
Non-competitive
Janet Bragg (Aviation) Bessie Coleman (Aviation) Katherine Dunham (Dance) Judith Jamison (Dance) Pearl Primus (Dance) Dartenia Bryant (Stunts) Erica Grace (Stunts) Natacha Hopkins (Stunts) Cheryl Lewis (Stunts) Angela Meryl (Stunts)
Competitive
Mamie “Peanut” Johnson (Baseball) Connie Morgan (Baseball)
Toni (Marcina Lynn) Stone (Baseball) Ruthie Bolton (Basketball)
Betty Chapman (Softball)
Natasha Watley (Softball)
Cynthia Cooper (Basketball)
Theresa Edwards (Basketball)
Lusia Harris Stewart (Basketball) Chamique Shaunta Holdsclaw (Basketball) Lisa Leslie (Basketball)
Pamela McGee (Basketball)
Paula McGee (Basketball)
Cheryl Miller (Basketball)
Maya Moore (Basketball)
Nia Abdullah (Tae Kwon Do)
Paige McPherson (Tae Kwon Do) Althea Gibson (Tennis, Golf)
Zina Garrison (Tennis)
Serena Williams (Tennis)
Venus Ebony Star Williams (Tennis) Ora Washington (Tennis)
Evelyn Ashford (Track)
Valerie Brisco-Hooks (Track)
Earlean Brown (Track, Roller games) Chandra Cheeseborough (Track) Alice Coachman (Track, 1948) Isabelle Danielle (Track)
Gail Devers (Track)
Mae (Heriwentha) Faggs Starr (Track) Allyson Felix (Track)
Barbara Ferrell (Track)
Michell Finn Burrell (Track)
Benita Fitzgerald-Brown (Track) Florence Griffith Joyner (Track)
Dawn Harper (Track)
Martha Hudson (Track)
Barbara J. Jacket (Track coach)
Nell Celia Jackson (Track coach)
Dr. Nell Cecilia Jackson (Track) Carmelia Jeter (Track)
Lolo Jones (Track)
Barbara Jones (Track)
Marion Jones (Track)
Candace Parker (Basketball)
Violent Palmer (NBA referee)
Dawn Staley (Basketball)
C. Vivian Stringer (Basketball coach) Sheryl Swoopes (Basketball)
Teresa Weatherspoon (Basketball) Lynette Woodward (Basketball)
Aja Evans (Bobsled)
Jazmine Finlator (Bobsled) Vonetta Flowers (Bobsled)
Elana Meyers (Bobsled)
Joan McDuffie (Bowling)
Kim Terrell-Kearney (Bowling) Laila Ali (Boxing)
“Downtown” Lena Brown (Boxing) Claressa Shields (Boxing)
Queen Underwood (Boxing) Natalie Randolph (Football coach) Gloria Jean Byard (Field Hockey) Ethel Funches (Golf)
Ann Gregory (Golf)
Ginger Howard (Golf)
Renee Powell (Golf)
Marie Thompson (Golf)
Simone Biles (Gymnastics) Dominique Dawes (Gymnastics) Gabrielle Douglass (Gymnastics) Wendy Hillard (Gymnastics)
Betty Okino (Gymnastics)
Nikki Tomlinson Franke (Fencing) Nzinga Prescod (Fencing)
Ruth White (Fencing)
Sylvia Harris (Horse racing)
Terry West (Horse racing)
Cheryl White (Horse racing)
Tina Sloan Green (Lacrosse) Darlene Anderson (Roller Derby) Angela James (Ice Hockey)
Tai Babalonia (Ice Skating)
Mabel Fairbanks (Ice Skating) Debi Thomas (Ice Skating)
Tia Norfleet (Race car driving) Anita DeFrantz (Rowing)
Shannon Box (Soccer)
Briana Scurry (Soccer)
Maritza Correia (Swimming)
Lia Neal (Swimming)
Allison Terry (Swimming)
Jackie Joyner-Kersee (Track) Chaunte Lowe (Track) Madeline Manning (Track) Terese Manuel (Track) Margaret Matthews (Track) Francena McCorory (Track) Mildred McDaniel (Track) Edith McGuire (Track) Audrey Patterson (Track) Tydre Pickett (Track, 1932) Connie Price Smith (Track) Emma Reed (Track)
Sanya Richards-Ross (Track) Bernice Robinson (Track) Wilma Rudolf (Track) Louise Stokes (Track, 1932) Gwen Torrence (Track) Wyomia Tyus (Track) Maybel Walker (Track) Martha Watson (Track) Kelly Wells (Track)
Willye White (Track)
Lucinda Williams (Track)
Lillian Young (Track)
Floria (“Flo”) Jean Hyman (Volleyball) Julia Kirland (Water polo)
Global Women Athletes
Individual Sport
Rochelle Okoye, (Boxing ) British Columbia Idalys Ortiz (Judo) Cuba
Uneku Atawodi (Polo) Nigeria
Marta Vieira Da Silva (Soccer) Brazil Evonne Goolagong (Tennis) Australia Tekla Chemabwai (Track) Ethiopia Jepkemoi Vivian Cheruiyot (Track) Kenya Tirunesh Dibaba (Track) Ethiopia
Nawal El Moutawakel (Track) Morocco
Kelly Holmes (Track) Great Britain Sally Jepkosgei Kipyego (Track) Kenya Yorgelis Rodriguez (Track) Cuba Caster Semenya (Track) South Africa Susan Sirma (Track) Keyna
International Olympic Winning Teams Volleyball: Brazil, Cuba
Soccer: Brail
Track: Jamaica, Kenya