A journey of a Black Woman’s Archivist: Phyllis Ntantala, Margaret Walker and Queen Mother Moore’s quest for a Pan-African Liberation

ABSTRACT

Phyllis Ntantala (7 January 1920–17 July 2016), anti-apartheid writer, political activist, educator, and mother, encouraged me to become a Black Woman’s Archivist. A Black Woman’s Archivist excavates and preserves the stories of black transnational women whose works create, impact, and contribute to multiple black radical movements. By using a portraiture methodology, I share the history of Africana women like Phyllis Ntantala, while highlighting my relationship to her and other Africana women’s experiences in Pan-African Liberation struggles. Phyllis’s story led me to my initial experience with the archive, which expanded my research on Africana women’s roles in Pan-African Liberation struggles. Her work encourages my current research on Margaret Walker (7 July 1915–30 November 1998), African American writer, political activist, mother, and educator who created the Conference of African Affairs in 1971 at Jackson State University that advocated against various forms of colonialism. There is also Queen Mother Moore (27 July 1898–2 May 1997), Pan African Leader, founder of the Reparation Movement, political theorist, mother, and educator. Emergent themes like anti-apartheid advocacy, education, and literary activism connect these transnational women. They contribute to a black feminist praxis and leadership within African Liberation Movements despite the normalcy of heteropatriarchy.

KEYWORDS:

• Black Woman’s Archivist
• Africana women
• anti-apartheid movement
• Pan-Africanism
• portraiture methodology
• ancestors
• black feminist praxis
• archival activism

Acknowledgement

Dr. Caesar acknowledges her ancestors for giving her the strength to write this journey from a place of love and preservation. She gives special thinks to the editors Dr. Tiffany Willoughby-Herard and Dr. Martin Boston for creating the special edition.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tiffany Caesar

Tiffany Caesar is an assistant professor of Africana Studies at San Francisco State University. She recently finished a Mellon Fellowship at the Margaret Walker Center at Jackson State University. Her research includes the preservation of Africana women stories, public history initiatives for Africana women, black womxn and the politics of self-care. She embraces all the work she does in the community, K-12 educational spaces, higher education, and holistic healing endeavors.