The Apple Is Rotten at the Core: Rethinking Black Motherhood and Reproductive Rights in Times of (Perma)Crisis through Raven Leilani’s Luster (2020)

This presentation examines Raven Leilani’s Luster (2020) through the lens of Black motherhood and reproductive rights in the context of permacrisis—a state of continuous systemic crisis. Against the backdrop of recent U.S. legal setbacks, such as the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and historical injustices like coerced sterilizations, the analysis highlights how Black women’s bodily autonomy remains perpetually under threat. Leilani’s protagonist, Edie, a young Black woman navigating an unplanned pregnancy and complex familial dynamics, disrupts traditional tropes of Black motherhood, such as the mammy or jezebel, by embodying a fragmented, antiheroic subjectivity. The novel critiques teleological narratives of progress in reproductive justice, instead portraying Black maternal trauma as intergenerational and biologically inscribed. Drawing on scholars like Shatema Threadcraft and Jennifer Nash, the paper frames Black reproductive life as inherently marked by permacrisis, where structural harm is normalized. Edie’s refusal of conventional maternal resolution—opting for artistic and relational generativity—exemplifies survival amid systemic decay. By situating Luster within the "catastrofemale" canon, the presentation underscores its radical departure from heroic or tragic archetypes, offering instead a narrative of precarious endurance. Ultimately, the novel reveals the rot at the core of systemic reproductive oppression while proposing alternative modes of Black female agency.