Sex was Central to Dutch West Indies Anti-Colonial Politics | Black Agenda Report

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.”

More Stories

Ahjamu Umi
From Black Power to Pan-Africanism with Mukasa Dada
03 May 2022
Mukasa Dada was a leader in the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and is an unsung hero of the liberation movement.
Eugene Puryear
Blame NATO for the Ukraine War
03 May 2022
Should we really blame NATO for the Ukraine war? The answer to that question is, "Yes!" Blame for the conflict in Ukraine can be laid at the doorstep of the U.S. and its NATO allies.
New Frame
Marking Workers’ Day in Dispiriting Times
03 May 2022
Previously in South Africa, millions of people were mobilised in the hope of a better future on May Day. Now, amid mass unemployment and the collapse of an emancipatory vision, that optimism is…
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Black Agenda Radio April 29, 2022
29 Apr 2022
Covid continues under neoliberalism, new mayor unleashes NYPD, and French overseas territories vote against Emmanuel Macron.
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Neoliberal Policies Worsen the Covid Pandemic
29 Apr 2022
Dr. Johnny Eric Williams is Chair of the Department of Sociology at Trinity College in Connecticut. Professor Williams has a special interest in the covid-19 pandemic and how it has been handled in…