Beverly Guy-Sheftall (born June 1, 1946) is an American

Black feminist Black feminism is a branch of feminism that focuses on the African-American woman's experiences and recognizes the intersectionality of racism and sexism. Black feminism philosophy centers on the idea that "Black women are inherently va ...

scholar, writer and editor, who is the

Anna Julia Cooper Anna Julia Cooper ( Haywood; August 10, 1858February 27, 1964) was an American author, educator, sociologist, speaker, Civil rights movement#Background, Black liberation activist, Black feminist leader, and one of the most prominent African Ame ...

Professor of Women's Studies and English at

Spelman College Spelman College is a Private college, private, Historically black colleges and universities, historically black, Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia ...

, in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. She is the founding director of the Spelman College Women's Research and Resource Center, the first at a historically Black college or university.

Biography

Beverly was born on June 1, 1946, to Walter and Ernestine Varnado-Guy in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

. She graduated high school at the age of 16 and attended

, where she graduated in 1966. She received an M.A. from

Atlanta University Clark Atlanta University (CAU or Clark Atlanta) is a private, Methodist, historically black research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded on September19, 1865, as Atlanta University, it was the first HBCU in the Southe ...

in English and a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

from

Emory University Emory University is a private university, private research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1836 as Emory College by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory. Its main campu ...

in 1984 from the Institute of Liberal Arts. She founded the Spelman Women's Research and Resources Center in 1981, the first of its kind at a historically Black college or university. The Center also hosts the first

Women's Studies Women's studies is an academic field that draws on Feminism, feminist and interdisciplinary methods to place women's lives and experiences at the center of study, while examining Social constructionism, social and cultural constructs of gender; ...

program at a historically Black college or university. In 1983, she became one of the founding co-editors of '' Sage: A Scholarly Journal on Black Women''. Guy-Sheftall's publications include the 1995 anthology ''Words of Fire'', about which one reviewer (Kamili Anderson) has written: "Fire can be used to burn down, burn away or burn through. Metaphorically, ''Words of Fire'' does all three. The works it includes are conventional and controversial, reaffirming and disarming. Their overall effect is overwhelming. With uncommon command and unparalleled thoroughness, the image of African-American women as progenitors, participants and propellants in the feminist movement emerges from ''Words of Fire'' — 'a stronger soul within a finer frame'." She contributed the piece "African American Women: The Legacy of Black Feminism" to the 2003 anthology '' Sisterhood Is Forever: The Women's Anthology for a New Millennium'', edited by

Robin Morgan Robin Morgan (born January 29, 1941) is an American poet, writer, activist, journalist, lecturer and former child actor. Since the early 1960s, she has been a key Radical feminism, radical feminist member of the American Feminist movement, Wom ...

. In 2004, students in her Feminist Theory class touched off a national conversation regarding the lyrics and depictions of women in music videos when they decided to engage rapper

Nelly Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. (born November 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapper, singer, and actor. He grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, and embarked on his musical career in 1993 as a member of the Midwest hip hop g ...

about his video " Tip Drill." The students argued that if Nelly was able to come to campus for a fundraising event, he could spend the time to engage in debate and conversation about the depiction of Black women in his videos. The foundation canceled its event when the College could not guarantee there would be no student protest. In 2013, she was a featured

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

in the 2013

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

documentary '' Makers: Women Who Make America'', which highlighted feminist history. In 2017, Dr. Guy-Sheftall was elected to the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

Books

* * * * *

Awards

* Candace Award for Education, National Coalition of 100 Black Women, 1989

References

External links

Spelman College Faculty - Beverly Guy-Sheftall

Makers: Beverly Guy-Sheftall
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guy-Sheftall, Beverly 1946 births Living people American academic journal editors American feminists Emory University alumni Academics from Memphis, Tennessee Presidents of the National Women's Studies Association Spelman College alumni Spelman College faculty