the heavens opened and sent us professor tanisha c. ford, a scholar who studies fashion and feminism with a focus on women of color. as an assistant professor of women, gender and sexuality at university of massachusetts amherst, she knows her stuff.
in an interview with feministing, professor ford talked about the inspiration behind her forthcoming book, liberated threads: black women and the politics of adornment:
when i was a kid, [my mother] use to adorn me in african-printed garments and “black is beautiful” t-shirts. as a graduate student, i began researching the civil rights and black power era. i realized that the way that black women activists like my mother dressed mattered because their bodies were contested spaces. my interest in these stylish women sent me on a quest to understand how and why they adorned themselves in this way.
her book sounds like the politics & fashion manifesto with its investigation of “how black women in the united states, britain and south africa transformed the everyday act of getting dressed into a political strategy.” well, it looks like we have our first bookclub pick!
outside of the academy, you can find professor ford on twitter at @soulistaphd and writing for the feminist wire.
Dr. Ford is an amazing scholar and equal amazing woman!