Sheila Radford-Hill facts for kids

Sheila Radford-Hill was born in Chicago, Illinois, on December 12, 1949. She is an American author, a professor, and an activist. Currently, she works at Dominican University in Illinois. There, she is the head Diversity Officer. She is well-known for her book, Further To Fly: Black Women and the Politics of Empowerment. This book was published in the year 2000. It talks about the important fight for equality for Black women in America.

Sheila Radford-Hill's Education Journey

Radford-Hill grew up in Chicago. She attended DePaul University and earned her B.A. degree in English in 1972. She also studied Secondary Education there. Later, she went to The University of Pennsylvania. In 1980, she received her M.A. in American Studies and Liberal Arts and Sciences. She continued her studies at the University of Pennsylvania, completing her ABD in American Studies. Finally, she earned her Ph.D. in Humanities from Columbia Commonwealth University in Wyoming.

About Further to Fly

Further to Fly: Black Women and the Politics of Empowerment was published in 2000. This book explains why black feminism is important for achieving equality. Radford-Hill points out that black feminists had lost some of their activist spirit in the 30 years before 2000. She believes that the fight for equality for African-Americans needs strong support from women and the feminist community.

Why Activism Changed

Radford-Hill suggests that if black women become strong activists again, unfair economic and social treatment against Black people will lessen. She thinks that three main things caused a decrease in activism. First, many Black families moved into neighborhoods that were mostly white. Second, she mentions The Moynihan Report, which was a government study. Third, she points to how some parts of the Black nationalist movement treated women unfairly.

She also believes that a newer type of feminism, called postmodern feminism, made the role of Black women in activism smaller. According to her research, this movement did not empower Black women. Instead, she explains that Black women felt this new wave of feminism was mainly for white women.

How to Strengthen Activism

Radford-Hill then explains how to close this gap in activism. To increase activism, she encourages black feminists to look back at older feminist ideas. She says that the early feminist movement was more welcoming and empowering for Black women. She also suggests that Black women should focus on today's social issues. They should get involved with their communities. Becoming more focused on economic goals can also help their activism.

She emphasizes that activists must be real and honest in their work. They need to commit to making social changes and doing research. Radford-Hill supports all feminists working together. However, her main focus is on how Black women can make their activism stronger by talking and working with each other.