Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

History Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Women's Studies

SUNY College Cortland

Journal

Spirituality

Articles 1 - 1 of 1

Full-Text Articles in History

I Don’T Ask God To Move The Mountain, Just Give Me The Strength To Climb It”: Disability Stories Of Southern Rural African American Women, Aline Gubrium Jun 2007

I Don’T Ask God To Move The Mountain, Just Give Me The Strength To Climb It”: Disability Stories Of Southern Rural African American Women, Aline Gubrium

Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women's & Gender Studies

In this article, I focus on the life stories of African-American women living in a rural community in the South, particularly on their career trajectory stories. Life in this small community leaves little to offer in terms of work, with most women working either in a clothing factory in town, in the state prison located on the outskirts of town, or working in nearby University Town as nursing assistants or custodial workers—all jobs which rely on the participants’ strenuous labor and which often result in disabilities (often related to back or hip injuries) and the participants’ consequent inability to work …