Sex was Central to Dutch West Indies Anti-Colonial Politics

Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford

22 Dec 2020

🖨️ Print Article

Margaret Kimberley · Sex was Central to Dutch West Indies Anti-Colonial Politics

Sexual issues were loudly debated among anti-colonial activists in the Dutch Caribbean colonies of Curaçao and Aruba, said Chelsea Shields, a history professor at the City University of New York. Among colonized people of color, the connection between sex and violence “was why it was so urgent to reclaim sexuality as a vital aspect of self-determination,” said Dr Shields, author of a book on the subject and a recent article titled, “Sex, Socialism, and Black Power in the Dutch Atlantic.” However, Curaçao authorities created an economic model reliant on tourism” – including sexual tourism, which remains a drawing card for the island. Shields’ forthcoming book is titled, “Offshore Attachments: Oil and Intimacy after Empire.”

Decolonization

More Stories

Editors, The Black Agenda Review
ESSAY: Negroes Speak of War, Langston Hughes, 1933
14 Dec 2022
What benefits do Black folk get by endorsing or participating in the white man’s war? Revisiting an anti-war statement by Langston Hughes.
Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
On International Human Rights Day: Money for Ukraine and War But Austerity for the People
14 Dec 2022
The U.S. does not respect the right to health care, housing, employment, or education while making war on the rest of the world. What does the idea of human rights amount to in this country?
Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
Ghost Stories of Capitalism: Racism is REAL, and It’s a Class Struggle
14 Dec 2022
From culture wars to identity politics, it's easy to get sucked into toxic rhetoric and forget the reality of racism staring the US in the face.
Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
If the US Told Rwanda and Uganda to Get Out of Congo, the War Would End
14 Dec 2022
Rwanda and Uganda continue their plunder and destabilization of the Democratic Republic of the Congo as proxies of the United States.
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Where do they all come from???
14 Dec 2022
Where do they all come from???

Related Podcasts

More Stories