Iconic: Decoding Images of the Revolutionary Black Woman
"Through the genres of film, literature, music, and politics, Johnson highlights the skill with which black female iconic figures navigate successfully through the mire of stereotypical images that seek habitually to destroy them. Demonstrating that the strong black woman iconography can have both positive and negative consequences, this work provides a much needed intervention into discourses concerning black womanhood, race and representation."--Kimberly Nichele Brown, author ofWriting the Black Revolutionary Diva: Women's Subjectivity and the Decolonizing Text"A timely and accessible interdisciplinary work on the politics implicit in representations of black 'revolutionary' women in the media--Johnson's Iconic enhances the contemporary critical exploration of politicized black women and those operating in the glare of the political spotlight. Her lively readings of Angela Davis, Michelle Obama, and Erykah Badu, among others, will be very useful for scholars in several fields, including African American cultural studies, gender and sexuality studies, and media studies."--Stephane Dunn, author ofBaad Bitches & Sassy Supermamas: Black Power Action Films