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The twenty-year period between 1970 and 1990 is often referred to as the “Black Women’s Literary Renaissance” due to the unprecedented amount of literary and cultural production from black women in the United States. This course explores its profound contributions to black life and literature. Students will examine the intersections and oppositions among political movements, such as the Lesbian Feminist Movement and the Black Power Movement, and identify how these connections shaped the aesthetic landscape of the time. Course materials will include essays, novels, poems, and visual art, featuring Alice Walker, Toni Cade Bambara, bell hooks, Lorna Simpson, and others.