In this article, the author proposes a confluence of W. E. B. Du Bois's “double consciousness” and Gloria Anzaldúa's “mestiza consciousness” to analyze the experiences of three Afro-Peruvian women. The merging of double and mestiza consciousness is necessary to holistically understand how gendered racism shapes their lives and why they have a desire to forge transnational solidarity with other women in the African Diaspora of the Americas. By gendering double consciousness and expanding mestiza consciousness beyond the United States and the (...) U.S.-Mexico borderlands, we can better understand how women's agency plays a role in what the author refers to as mestiza double consciousness. (shrink)

Abstract:AbstractThis essay is a discussion about pedagogy and racial violence. It aims to situate the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri in a global context and within a larger discussion about state-sponsored violence in the hemisphere. The essay explores ways in which to engage students with the global dimensions of Ferguson by recognizing transnational links of racial violence and police militarism throughout the region.