For years, black women have endured the mainstream stereotypes of the Mammy, the Jezebel, and the Sapphire. Backtalk is a conversation about black women using their own language translated into a graphic visual language. It examines ways in which black women are active agents in the social scripting of their own identities. Their complexity is visualized using a formal semiotic system based on their individual descriptions. This new visual language allows black women to deconstruct the limiting categorizations mainstream culture allows them, freeing participants from category-based expectations. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.F.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2018. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection