Political Engagement for Racial Uplift in Place: The Purposive Work of Black Women Leaders of Black Towns

Abstract:

In public portrayals of the history of Oklahoma’s rural Black towns, the iconic image of the towns’ political leadership is an upper middle-class Black man. Such an image has been especially reinforced by the widespread circulation of a photo, circa 1908, of Boley, Oklahoma’s town councilmen suited up in formal attire as prominent businessmen leading the town governance and deemed emblematic of Black town success. While Black women have always had critical roles in the community, it is not until the late twentieth century when they started taking on formal roles in town government as mayors. Redirecting this predominant gaze from the Black man as a Black town leader, this article examines Black women’s political participation in Black towns’ formal roles starting in the 1970s. Providing broader context, the article reveals how, by the late twentieth century, the boundaries of who counts as a formal Black town leader expanded along gender lines and also—in some cases—in terms of class. I discuss Black town women leaders of the 1970s–2000s, demonstrating how their leadership reflects a particular theme across Black women’s political engagement in Black towns: racial uplift through honoring place and community.