Black Madness and the Refusal of Reproductive Futurity in Angelina Weld Grimké's Rachel

Abstract: This paper examines Black madness in Angelina Weld Grimké's 1916 anti-lynching play Rachel . The pathologization of madness and disability has shaped existing criticism of Grimké's play. I draw from mad studies, critical disability studies, and queer theory to reconsider the titular character's rejection of motherhood, unusual psychic experiences, and psychosocial deviance as forms of Black madness that eschew the normative politics of gender, race, and reproductive futurity. Refusing ableist interpretations of madness, I demonstrate how Grimké's play challenges Black racial uplift politics as well as white supremacist violence.