Black women in New York City's underground economy /
First Statement of Responsibility
LaShawn Harris.
.PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION, ETC
Place of Publication, Distribution, etc.
Urbana :
Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.
University of Illinois Press,
Date of Publication, Distribution, etc.
[2016]
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Specific Material Designation and Extent of Item
1 online resource (ix, 260 pages)
SERIES
Series Title
The new Black studies series
INTERNAL BIBLIOGRAPHIES/INDEXES NOTE
Text of Note
Includes bibliographical references and index.
CONTENTS NOTE
Text of Note
Black women, urban labor, and New York's informal economy -- Madame queen of policy: Stephanie St. Clair, Harlem's numbers racket, and community advocacy -- Black women supernatural consultants, numbers gambling, and public outcries against supernaturalism -- 'I have my own room on 139th street": black women and the urban sex economy -- "Decent and god-fearing men and women' are restricted to these districts": community activism against urban vice and informal labor.
0
SUMMARY OR ABSTRACT
Text of Note
"During the early twentieth century, a diverse group of African American women carved out unique niches for themselves within New York City's expansive informal economy. LaShawn Harris illuminates the labor patterns and economic activity of three perennials within this kaleidoscope of underground industry: sex work, numbers running for gambling enterprises, and the supernatural consulting business. Mining police and prison records, newspaper accounts, and period literature, Harris teases out answers to essential questions about these women and their working lives. She also offers a surprising revelation, arguing that the burgeoning underground economy served as a catalyst in working-class black women (tm)s creation of the employment opportunities, occupational identities, and survival strategies that provided them with financial stability and a sense of labor autonomy and mobility. At the same time, urban black women, all striving for economic and social prospects and pleasures, experienced the conspicuous and hidden dangers associated with newfound labor opportunities."--Publisher description.
ACQUISITION INFORMATION NOTE
Source for Acquisition/Subscription Address
JSTOR
Stock Number
22573/ctt18j8dgj
OTHER EDITION IN ANOTHER MEDIUM
Title
Sex workers, psychics, and numbers runners.
International Standard Book Number
9780252040207
TOPICAL NAME USED AS SUBJECT
African American women-- Employment-- New York (State)-- New York-- History-- 20th century.
Informal sector (Economics)-- New York (State)-- New York-- History-- 20th century.
Under-the-table employment-- New York (State)-- New York-- History-- 20th century.