Episode 11: Danielle Phillips-Cunningham

Black Work Talk

In this episode of Black Work Talk, Steven Pitts and his co-host, Sheri Davis, talk with Danielle Phillips-Cunningham, Associate Professor of Women's and Gender Studies at Texas Woman’s University. Danielle has been at the forefront of recent scholarship highlighting the efforts of Black working-class women to control their lives. Her book, “Putting Their Hands on Race: Irish Immigrant and Southern Black Domestic Workers,” builds upon the work of Tera W. Hunter ("To ’Joy My Freedom: Southern Black Women’s Lives and Labors after the Civil War") to tell the story of the organizing efforts of Black domestic workers. Her newest research focuses on the activities of Nannie Helen Burroughs through organizations such as the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs and the National Association of Wage Earners. Her work has important implications for today’s organizing as well. We spoke about this work on the show.

For further information, see:

Putting Their Hands on Race: Irish Immigrant and Southern Black Domestic Workers

The Washington Post - On Labor Day, we remember the Black women who helped win labor rights

The Washington Post - The long history of Black women organizing in Georgia might decide Senate control