Two research topics that I am considering are “Feminism in Zimbabwe” and “The History of Cherokee Indians in Michigan”. I came about these topics by way of my heritage and the fact that I am a woman. I know a little bit about American feminism, but not very much about feminism in other continents or countries. I can research American feminism on my own, but I want the African Feminist Movement to be known and appreciated in America. I chose Cherokee Indians as my focus because my father is Cherokee and Blackfoot Indian as well as black, since I do not know where the black part of my heritage comes from, I figured this would be a better topic.
My original topics were “The Feminist Movement” and “Cherokee and Blackfoot Indians”, I specified them to the previously mentioned topics because I felt like American Feminism is too well known and Cherokee Indians are a great foundation for my heritage. Some things that I know about Feminism is that is is the movement by which women are fighting for their right for equality, and not only that, but justice too. I say justice as well because there are some things that women need that men do not. For example, men do not give birth, so they do not need certain accommodations to make the workplace suitable for their pregnancy. I do not know much about Cherokee Indians at all, just that my father’s family is originally from Alabama, so I may find that some of the Cherokee Indians resided there before it became more populated with other races and ethnicities.
I plan to use the online sources provided by the college library mainly and possibly some of the hard copies provided in the archives section. I plan starting with Zimbabwean feminism by asking the question “How did it being?” I plan to start the Cherokee Indian research by finding out where in “America” they had resided before Columbus came and changed everything.
These are two interesting topics, Angel! I think you’ll find it helpful to do some reading about each one (Zimbabwean feminism, and Cherokee Indians in the U.S.) to narrow down your topics into specific questions that you can research.
I don’t know very much about what has been written about Zimbabwean feminism, but there is a great deal of writing on African feminisms, and many debates surrounding the history and politics on the continent. You may wish to start there in a library search, and that could lead you to sources about feminist activism in Zimbabwe, or on another path entirely!
Your writing about your other research topic begins with your heritage. You might want to take a look at the scholarship on relationships between Black and Native American communities. For example, here’s a link to IndiVisible, a site on African-Native Americans from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. This could also be another way to narrow down your topic.