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Dr. Beverly Guy-Sheftall Celebrates Five Decades of Black Feminist Scholarship
Celebrate the Launch of Black! Feminist! Free!
After 55 years of groundbreaking scholarship that has fundamentally reshaped how we understand Black women's intellectual contributions, Dr. Beverly Guy-Sheftall, is finally seeing her life's work collected in one transformative volume. Today, Tuesday, September 9, Spelman will celebrate the launch of “Black! Feminist! Free!” -- the first major collection of essays, speeches, and writings by the College’s pioneering Anna Julia Cooper Professor of Women's Studies.
The intimate book launch, taking place from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Camille Olivia Hanks Cosby, Ed.D. Academic Center Auditorium, will feature Dr. Guy-Sheftall in conversation with Dr. Stephanie Y. Evans, professor of Black Women's Studies at Georgia State University and former director of the Institute for Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Spelman's archivist Holly Smith will serve as moderator.
For the Spelman and surrounding community, this moment represents more than just a book launch — it's the culmination of a career dedicated to what Guy-Sheftall is well known for -- “disrupting the silences surrounding Black women's interconnected experiences." The architect of Black feminist studies at the College, she has spent over five decades challenging academic boundaries and creating space for radical scholarship that centers Black women's voices. Dr. Evans, whose own research in Black women's intellectual history makes her an ideal conversation partner for the evening.
The journey to “Black! Feminist! Free!” began in 1962, when 16-year-old Beverly Guy-Sheftall first walked onto Spelman's campus as an English major. After graduating with honors and pursuing graduate studies at Wellesley College and Atlanta University, the Memphis, Tennessee native, briefly taught at Alabama State University; but it was her 1971 return to Spelman that ignited her true mission.
Within the traditional confines of the institution that had once educated her, Dr. Guy-Sheftall began pushing boundaries with revolutionary determination. In 1981, she founded the Women's Research and Resource Center — the first of its kind at an HBCU — creating an unprecedented space for Black feminist scholarship and dialogue.
Throughout her tenure as the Anna Julia Cooper Professor of Women's Studies and director of WRRC, she has exposed her students and the broader public to the intellectual contributions of Black feminists throughout history, serving as both educator and cultural architect. As a pioneer of feminism in Black communities, her work has laid the foundation for future generations of radical scholarship, ensuring that Black women's voices are not just heard, but institutionalized within academic discourse.
Published by Third World Press, “Black! Feminist! Free! captures the breadth and depth of Dr. Guy-Sheftall's intellectual contributions. The timing is particularly significant as conversations about intersectionality, women's rights, and racial justice continue to dominate national discourse — conversations that Dr. Guy-Sheftall has been leading for decades.
This book would not have been possible without my beloved parents; my friendships with many feminist comrades, especially bell hooks, Johnnetta Betsch Cole, Rudolph Byrd, Barbara Ransby; Third World Press; my academic journey at Spelman College which began in 1962; my Women's Center "sisters" since 1981; my students/daughters over many decades who inspired and nurtured me.
Transforming the Academic Landscape
Key achievements in Dr. Guy-Sheftall's distinguished career include:
- Founding the Women's Research and Resource Center in 1981 – the first of its kind at an HBCU
- Establishing SAGE: Journal on Black Women with Professor Patricia Bell Scott
- Bringing African focus to Women's Studies
- Pioneering feminism in Black communities
- Serving as an expert in LGBT issues at HBCUs
- Receiving prestigious Kellogg & Woodrow Wilson fellowships
- Earning the Spelman Presidential Faculty Award
The September 9 book launch represents more than an academic milestone; it's a celebration of a scholar whose work has consistently challenged power structures and created new possibilities for understanding Black women's experiences. For those who have followed Dr. Guy-Sheftall's career, the title “Black! Feminist! Free!” captures the essence of her life's work — unapologetically celebrating Black womanhood while demanding the freedom to exist and think without constraint. After 55 years of building, teaching and advocating, she has created something lasting: a body of work that will continue to inspire and challenge long after the last page is turned.
RSVP for the book launch for Black! Feminist! Free! taking place today, Tuesday, September 9, from 6-8 p.m. in the Camille Olivia Hanks Cosby, Ed.D. Academic Center Auditorium at Spelman College.