She Took Justice
The Black Woman, Law, and Power – 1619 to 1969
Criminology and Justice Studies Series

She Took Justice: The Black Woman, Law, and Power ? 1619 to 1969 proves that The Black Woman liberated herself. Readers go on a journey from the invasion of Africa into the Colonial period and the Civil Rights Movement. The Black Woman reveals power, from Queen Nzingha to Shirley Chisholm.

In She Took Justice, we see centuries of courage in the face of racial prejudice and gender oppression. We gain insight into American history through The Black Woman's fight against race laws, especially criminal injustice. She became an organizer, leader, activist, lawyer, and judge ? a fighter in her own advancement.

These engaging true stories show that, for most of American history, the law was an enemy to The Black Woman. Using perseverance, tenacity, intelligence, and faith, she turned the law into a weapon to combat discrimination, a prestigious occupation, and a platform from which she could lift others as she rose. This is a book for every reader.

Acknowledgments; Timeline of Selected Cases and Events; Prelude; 1. We Were Queens; 2. Her Bondage; 3. Trials and Tribulations; 4. Female Fugitives; 5. Slaves in Court; 6. Segregated Freedom; 7. Lynched, Raped, and Violated; 8. Her Mind Matters; 9. Politics of Freedom; 10. A Force for Good; 11. She Is an Activist; 12. Sankofa; Table of Cases; Bibliography; Index

Gloria J. Browne-Marshall is a writer, civil rights attorney, playwright, and Professor of Constitutional Law at John Jay College (CUNY). Gloria taught in the Africana Studies Program at Vassar College. Prior to academia, she litigated cases for the Southern Poverty Law Center, Community Legal Services, and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Inc. She is the author of Race, Law, and American Society: 1607 to Present, The Voting Rights War, and The Constitution: Major Cases and Conflicts. Gloria is the recipient of a Pulitzer Center Grant and Frederick Lewis Allen Fellowship.