What does Davis mean when she argues that "...the oppression of black slave women necessarily incorporated open forms of counter-insurgency..."?

In her essay, “Reflections on the Black Woman’s Role in the Community of Slaves,” Angela Davis aims to dispel the stereotype that black women are ‘matriarchal’, in this context, meaning that they are ‘aggressive’ and ‘castrating’. An example of the propagandizing of this stereotype is American sociologist Collin Moynihan’s report. In his report, Moynihan states that matriarchal families amongst African Americans originated during the slave era, and are the source of all problems in the black community. However, taking a closer look to the slave era, “family” is barely applicable to the units that slaves were grouped into. In fact, most of these “families” were made up of strangers, with the sole purpose the procreation of more child laborers. Davis concludes that matriarchy could not develop from the slave era, as there were no families for a matriarch to hold power over. Additionally, slave owners suppressed all notions of power and authority from slaves whether male or female. Slavers withheld all power for fear that any power allowed to the slaves would be turned against their oppressors as an act of rebellion.

However, black women’s lack of authority should not be confused with passivity. Additionally, many infer that the lack of documentation on black women in slave history is a sign of unassertiveness. Counter insurgency is introduced here to prove that black women had an active role in resisting the oppressors of their community. Counter insurgency, by definition, designates a ruling class trying to quell an uprising, or ‘insurgency’, against it. Slave owners participated in counter insurgency against black women, defining these women as a legitimate and active resistance against their oppressors. This resistance is backed up by many historical examples in the essay, where black women received merciless punishments for their acts of rebellion.

I believe we can also explore rape as a method of counter insurgency, both against the individual woman and her entire community. At the individual level, rape entails the breaching of biological defenses which strips away the woman insurgent’s ability for resistance, rendering her vulnerable. Davis claims that rape, in this context, evokes a sovereign emphasizing his power over his servants, by taking advantage of their wives. It is thus that the woman’s violation becomes a vector for reinforcing the slavers’ authority on the rest of the slave community.