Black Feminism and the Violence of Disco

Abstract

This paper interrogates the ways through which Black women and Black feminist perspectives have been written out of disco’s history. Re-reading the dominant discoriogaphies in the U.S. from a Black feminist perspective, deconstructs the hegemonic male-centered discourse on disco, whilst intervening in the academic landscape at large, arguing for a genuine intersectional approach. This will be exemplified by a case study of the disco/funk group Labelle in the U.S. This allows us to revisit disco’s political potential from a more inclusive standpoint that listens to and enjoys the voices of its Black female counterparts.