The Color of Violence: The Incite! Anthology

by Incite! Women of Color Against Violence, Andrea Lee Smith, Beth E. Richie

What would it take to end violence against women of color? How does the mainstream antiviolence movement help? How does it hinder? When will we admit that repositioning women of color at the center of the movement--women more often harmed by the police, prisons, and border patrols than aided by them--means that we must address state violence?

In Color of Violence, INCITE! demands 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.

INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence was born in 2000, when more than two thousand dedicated activists from diverse communities came together to end the war being waged on women of color in the US and around the world. Now the largest multiracial, grassroots, feminist organization in the United States, INCITE! boasts chapters in more than 20 cities. Color of Violence: The INCITE! Anthology presents the fierce and vital writing of 32 of these visionaries, who not only shift the focus from domestic violence and sexual assault, but also map innovative strategies of movement building and resistance used by women of color around the world. At a time of heightened state surveillance and repression of people of color, Color of Violence: The INCITE! Anthology is an essential intervention.

Genres: Feminism, Nonfiction, Race, Social Justice, Politics, Anthologies, Gender

334 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2006

About the author

Mission Statement:
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.

Vision Statement:
INCITE! is a national, activist organization of radical feminists of color that is mobilizing to end all forms of violence against women of color and our communities. By supporting grassroots organizing, we intend to advance a national movement to nurture the health and well-being of communities of color. Through the efforts of Incite!, women of color and our communities will move closer towards global peace, justice and liberation.

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall, this is an excellent radical feminist/womanist anthology. As with any anthology, there are a few duds, but overall it asks critical questions about the nature, scope, impact, and response to violence for women of color. Some of my favorite articles were:



Federal Indian Law and Violent Crime by Sarah Deer

A Call for Consistency by Nadine Naber

"National Security" and the Violation of Women by Sylvanna Falcon

The Color of Violence by Haunani-Kay Trask

Pomo Woman, Ex-prisioner Speak Out by Stormy Ogden

The War Against Black Women and the Making of NO! by Aishah Simmons

Disloyal to Feminism : Abuse of Survivors within the Domestic Violence Shelter System by Emi Koyama



I honestly feel like this is a third wave feminist must-read.

[Bart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most of the essays in Color of Violence are pretty amazing. In "Heteropatriarchy and the Three Pillars ["Slavery/Capitalism, Genocide/Capitalism, Orientalism/War] of White Supremacy" Andrea Smith asserts that right-wingers are justified for claiming that "the colonial world order depends on heteronormativity" (72). Of course, Smith wants this world order dismantled. The anthology is very broad, authors writing on issues from violence of international institutions/capitalism on disabled folks in the global south to "feminist" shelters abusing trans folks. Also, Color of Violence includes essays about projects - Sista II Sista, Communities Against Rape and Abuse, and No! The Rape Documentary - that are creating positive change.

[Meen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read several chapters of this one over the course of various gender-related classes, but I don't think I've read the entire thing, so it's still on the to-read list. (But with five stars for the stuff I have read.)

[Millie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book should be read if just for Andrea Smith's essay: 'Heteropatriarchy and the Three Pillars of White Supremacy'. She nailed it right there.

[Tinea · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an intervention in both second wave feminism—-single-issue, white dominated sexual assault support-—and anti-oppression activism that condones or ignores sexualized violence.

The central premise of the The Color of Violence is that anti-sexualized violence work cannot be separated from anti-oppression work. Violence against women includes sexualized violence and all other forms of violence. Violence experienced by women, and especially by women of color, lower-income women, and queer and trans people, is perpetrated by partners, community members, and the state: police, military, the criminal justice system. Forms of violence include sexual assault, reproductive injustices, patriarchy, poverty (capitalism), racism (white supremacy), environmental injustice, police brutality, and war. These different kinds of violence intersect, acting together to create the imbalances of power that allow further violence to take place.

To respond to and end violence against women, then, each level and kind of violence must be named and addressed directly. But none can be addressed in a vacuum without also acknowledging and targeting its intersections with other forms of violence. This means that domestic violence cannot be addressed without a solid analysis of the myriad repercussions of different responses. It’s imperative to respect survivors’ own assessments of what constitutes violence in their lives—and if that includes the state then it’s equally imperative to create community-based responses to sexualized violence to which the state is not a partner.

[Madeleine · Rating 5 out of 5]

incredibly helpful and asks so many questions still so prescient even 15+ yrs post publication. especially instructive for a lot of the questions i've been asking about organizational development, getting organized, working in collective, building movements in resistance to violence on a structural level.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

This anthology is pretty much an indespensable tool for learning more about violence against women and how to organize against it. The authors consistently frame "violence" in the context of racial and gender oppression and move the term beyond interpersonal and domestic abuse to an understanding of violence at the hands of the state. Police brutality, prisons, the military, the border patrol, all are skewered on INCITE's rhetorical lance as insitutions upholding patriarchy and white supremacy.

The book suffers a bit for want of better editing. The pieces didn't all quite "fit" together and the number of typos betrayed a rushed sloppiness in assembling the book. But several of the pieces really stood out. Particularly challenging were Andrea Smith's "Heteropatriarchy" essay, "The Forgotten Ism" a critique of Zionism by Nadine Naber, "The Color of Choice: White Supremacy and Reproductive Justice" by Loretta J. Ross, "Feminism, RAce and Adoption Policy," by Dorothy Roberts, and "Taking Risks: Implementing Grassroots Accountability Strategies" by Communities Against Rape and Abuse. That last one was especially eye-opening as to the different strategies out there for dealing with sexual violence more holistically.

[M.E. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've become an utter fan of INCITE! I think they link together much of the most remarkable grassroots organizing in the country. The theoretical and strategic questions they are grappling with, the individuals on the national committee, and much (though not all) of their local committee work couldn't be more remarkable or needed. The Color of Violence, their first book, is on the one hand a catalog of much of the best revolutionary movements across the country. On the other, their is an emergent analysis stitched together throughout that's immensely useful. Tracing the institutionalization, criminalization, and professionalization of the movement to end sexual violence, they identify the key failures and differences of social services and revolutionary change. Their analysis links intimate partner violence to large-scale institutional forms of state violence: mass incarceration, imperialist war, and police brutality. It was also hard to get through; descriptions of the scale and viciousness of, say, sexual violence by ICE border guards, is not something I can breezily read.

[Spicy T AKA Mr. Tea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Splendid. Absolutely-fucking-amazing. This book took me a while to read; that was only because there was sooooo much packed in it and so many good essays. I had to read it in 3-5 essay clumps and then put it down because there was practically an overload of information and analysis. Everyone should read this. Amazing.

[Avory Faucette · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent anthology that I would recommend particularly to feminists of color but also to all white feminists, because the essays within not only summarize some problems of importance to women of color, but really give some constructive suggestions for activists who are ignoring the needs of women of color (whether aware or not).

[Emelda]

I don't think I'm in the right headspace for this book right now. I just couldn't get into any of the essays I tried to read. Several of the writings just made me rather read the authors' full books. There were some good quotes I gleaned, but finishing this book would have felt like a chore, so I gave up.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you haven't thought of these topics, I think this would be a good starter book. As someone who has thought of many of these topics in depth, I often found some of the analysis a little less than rigorous. Either way it was still thought provoking.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall a fantastic book dealing with violence, whether it be coming from the state or within ones home, that centers the wisdom, experience and needs of women of color. It is not a perfect book, but it is an invaluable one.

[Aisha Monet · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really insightful, critical, and rich book that’s full of gems of wisdom. Some of the essays were a little simple, and some of them were put together so thoughtfully that they shifted my entire perspective.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

buy this book and keep it on a table near your bed and read it all the time.

[Amelie · Rating 5 out of 5]

read dis book become an incite! ally

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read about 1/2 of this book then decided it was time for some fiction. It's very good, so far, and I look forward to the organizing section once I'm up for some NF again.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is incredible. I'm especially excited about the article on Heteropatriarchy and the three pillars of white supremacy.

[jennifer]

sheel's sister!

[Scott Neigh]

Reviewed here.

[Kate Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

READ THIS IMMEDIATELY TOO

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

pretty much every essay is excellent. this could be approximately 1/8 as good and still be worth buying; it could be about 1/35 as good and still be worth getting from the library.

[Vileana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great anthology which is the place to start thinking about gender violence and intersectionality in the U.S. context.

[S.J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best books that I've ever read. Everyone should read this book.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

An important anthology about the institutionalization of violence against women of color in the U.S. A book for academics and activists alike.

[Doris Raines · Rating 1 out of 5]

COLOR HAS ABSOLUTELY Nothing TO DO WITH IT VIOLENCE IS VIOLENCE ITS NOT ABOUT COLOR ✌🏽

[Hilary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Necessary for anyone dedicated to antiviolence movement. Color of Violence calls for centering women of color at the center of this movement, bringing together a multitude of voices speaking on a multitude of experiences on violence at the hands of police, the state, medical industrial complex, prison industrial complex, patriarchy, capitalism, colonialism, etc. This anthology prioritizes alliance and coalition building by centering common goals and calling out internal power dynamics within the movement.

Learned a lot; still learning. Some essays that really challenged initial thoughts and assumptions I had:
- how WOC activists fighting domestic violence need to shift away from narratives of abused WOC that perpetruate colonialism and white savior mentality (Julia Sudbury's "Rethinking Antiviolence Strategies")
- how we need to overcome "oppression politics" (fighting about who is more oppressed) between WOC by adopting new frameworks for WOC organizing (Andrea Smith's "Heteropatriarchy and the Three Pillars of White Supremacy")
- how US federal laws have undermined and weakened Native tribal laws that were based upon reconciliation and healing, and (not surprisingly) doing a shitty job/perpetuating cycles of violence in Native communities (Sarah Deer's "Federal Indian Law and Violence Crime")
- how the Native community in Hawai'i can never be free without sovereignty (Haunani-Kay Trask's "The Color of Violence")
- how US activists need to globalize their frameworks of thinking about violence and their role as "First Worlders" in the colonization project (like of the Middle East) (Dena Al-Adeeb's "Reflections in a Time of War")
- how western medical violence has always impacted women of color and poor communities (Ana Clarissa Rojas Durazo's "Medical Violence Against People of Color")
- how the shelter system is based upon white feminism and mirrors paternalistic behaviors that is a form of violence against victims of domestic violence (and aren't helping them) (Emi Koyama's "Disloyal to Feminism")

[Andrew Ntim · Rating 5 out of 5]

highly recommended - visionary but practical, focused but wide-ranging in perspectives, and extremely timely 15 years later.

I found these essays especially enlightening:

The Color of Choice White Supremacy and Reproductive Justice
Four Generations in Resistance
Medical Violence Against People of Color and the Medicalization of Domestic Violence

[Reise Green · Rating 1 out of 5]

Andrea Smith misrepresents herself as native, and certainly is not. She is neither genetically native, nor is she accepted by any Native Tribe. Her obtuse insistence that she is Native undermines her credibility and leads me to not support her work monetarily in any way.

[Dosem · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is really excelent. Good job!