Do They Really Matter?

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Black women authors have shared their cultures, histories and experiences through literature for generations, but only recently have they began receiving minimal recognition. This study aims to measure Black female authors’ transnational influence in the Americas, the African continent, Britain and the Caribbean. If readers confirm that their perspectives were challenged and/or changed after reading Black women’s literature, then this literature is a successful form of scholarly activism to benefit the Black Feminist Movement and African Diaspora. If respondents are not challenged to reevaluate their perspectives or opinions, then what are inhibiting factors that prevent Black female authors’ influence? In the Literature Review, I reviewed several articles that analyzed Black female literature to show consistent themes within Black women’s writings. The methods section includes the Reader-response theory, the Post-colonial theory and the Black Feminist theory to describe how readers react to texts, the struggle to rewrite history in post-colonial society and black feminist theories. A series of interviews were conducted with fifteen professors, students and staff members at Ohio Wesleyan University to gather research. At the end of the study, it is evident that Black female authors influence their readers, but few people are being exposed to written works outside of the traditional European canon.