"WE ARE PROTECTING OUR WOMEN": HISTORIOGRAPHY OF BLACK AMERICAN RACIAL SALVATION, GENDER, ANDSEXUALITY IN THE NATION OF ISLAM, 1970-1980

Abstract

Black history and studies revealed that Black people in the United States
had experienced slavery, racism, classism, and socio-religious exclusion.
In double, Black women experienced these as a Black woman and Black
person, as this represents a gender dimension of Black struggles. Black
experiences and struggles led to the emergence of many Black new
religious movements, such as the Nation of Islam (NOI). As a way of
helping and protecting Black women from double discrimination, the
Nation of Islam advanced rules and regulations. Having these rules and
regulations, there were complaints that the Nation of Islam limited
women's gender freedom. This paper examined the question: How does
the Nation of Islam affect women's gender and sexual freedom? This
study explored the intersection of gender, sexuality, race, liberation, and
New Religious Movements in Black communities in the United States.
The research examined how race, racism, and the struggle for Black
liberation affected gender and sexuality in the Nation of Islam between
1970 and 1980. The paper argued that Black experiences and struggles
and Black liberation through faith determined the theology guiding
gender and sexuality rules and conduct in the Nations of Islam. As a
religious, feminist and gender historiography, this secondary source and
qualitative paper contribute to the study of critical race, intersectionality,
New Religious Movements, Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies,
Africana Studies, and History by reviewing relevant literature.