Florynce "Flo" Kennedy: The Life of a Black Feminist Radical

by Sherie M. Randolph

Overview

Often photographed in a cowboy hat with her middle finger held defiantly in the air, Florynce “Flo” Kennedy (1916–2000) left a vibrant legacy as a leader of the Black Power and feminist movements. In the first biography of Kennedy, Sherie M. Randolph traces the life and political influence of this strikingly bold and controversial radical activist. Rather than simply reacting to the predominantly white feminist movement, Kennedy brought the lessons of Black Power to white feminism and built bridges in the struggles against racism and sexism. Randolph narrates Kennedy’s progressive upbringing, her pathbreaking graduation from Columbia Law School, and her long career as a media-savvy activist, showing how Kennedy rose to founding roles in organizations such as the National Black Feminist Organization and the National Organization for Women, allying herself with both white and black activists such as Adam Clayton Powell, H. Rap Brown, Betty Friedan, and Shirley Chisholm.

Making use of an extensive and previously uncollected archive, Randolph demonstrates profound connections within the histories of the new left, civil rights, Black Power, and feminism, showing that black feminism was pivotal in shaping postwar U.S. liberation movements.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781469647524
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	02/01/2018
Series:	Gender and American Culture
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	328
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

Sherie M. Randolph is associate professor of history at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Florynce Kennedy is one of the founders of modern feminism, yet too few people now know her spirit and words, her courageous and outrageous example. I was lucky to have her as a teacher and friend. You will be, too, once you meet her in the pages of Sherie M. Randolph’s welcome and important biography.” — Gloria Steinem

Editorial Reviews

“Successfully recounts Kennedy’s dynamic life: bursting with stories of rebellion and triumph, with a backdrop of historical context and, always, a hint of mystery.” — ESSENCE

“A valuable account of this lesser-known, entirely remarkable woman.” — Los Angeles Times

“[A] stirring biography. . . . This important book is the story, as Randolph handily tells it, of an extremely brave woman who used the courts as well as the media and worked with a multitude of groups to build and maintain coalitions and create lasting change.” — Library Journal, starred review

“Breaks new ground [as the] first full-length biography of black feminist radical Florynce ‘Flo’ Kennedy. . . . Significantly expands the historical scholarship. Highly recommended.” — CHOICE

“Randolph . . . has done an important service for anyone who cares about fashioning a complete and complex record of post-World War II feminist activism” — Women’s Review of Books

“Randolph’s writing is lucid, and her comprehensive political and intellectual biography of Kennedy not only restores Kennedy to the history of U.S. radicalism but it also illuminates the interconnections among movements against racial and gender oppression. . . . If you are a legal historian, scholar of African American history, or a student of feminism, this book is a must-read.” — Journal of American History

“An excellent and welcome biography of a fearless radical activist who has been overlooked for too long.” — American Historical Review

“Stimulating and very readable. . . . Makes a substantial addition to the history of 20th-century social movements.” — Against the Current

“Sherie M. Randolph has written an important biography of an important figure in twentieth-century American feminism and Black Power. I repeat ‘important’ because Florynce ‘Flo’ Kennedy self-consciously worked—actually, she agitated—at the confluence of feminism and Black Power with the conviction that racism and sexism were not only foundational in American society but also inextricably intertwined.” — Nell Irvin Painter, in Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society

From the Publisher