Care practices as a strategy for community empowerment

the trajectory of a Black community leader

Abstract

This article examines how Black women experience care as a political practice for sustaining their lives and strengthening their communities, by understanding care as a mode of action that enables processes going beyond the exclusive logic of resistance. The methodology adopted was intervention research. Data were generated over one year of fieldwork and recorded in a field journal. The analysis made it possible to identify the effects of racism and sexism on the lives of Black women, as well as their own ways of continually creating and sustaining life, including through occupying leadership positions within their communities. The discussion highlights that, although Black women have historically been objectified and stereotyped as incapable and passive, their existence exceeds such constraints, and their political struggle manifests decisively through care practices within their families and communities.