Notes
* Name changed at the request of the interviewee.
Preface
1. Rick Rojas et al., “‘A Long Time Coming’: Black Women Celebrate Harris’s Ascension,” New York Times, November 8, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/07/us/kamala-harris-black-women-first.html.
2. Marwa Eltagouri, “Meet Andrea Jenkins, the First Openly Transgender Black Woman Elected to Public Office in the U.S.,” Washington Post, April 28, 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/11/08/meet-andrea-jenkins-the-openly-transgender-black-woman-elected-to-public-office-in-the-u-s/.
3. Sony Salzman, “From the Start, Black Lives Matter Has Been about LGBTQ Lives,” ABC News, June 21, 2020, https://abcnews.go.com/US/start-black-lives-matter-lgbtq-lives/story?id=71320450.
4. Ruth Umoh, “Black Women Were among the Fastest-Growing Entrepreneurs—Then Covid Arrived,” Forbes, October 26, 2020, https://www.forbes.com/sites/ruthumoh/2020/10/26/black-women-were-among-the-fastest-growing-entrepreneurs-then-covid-arrived/?sh=407d83c66e01.
5. Sarah Rufca Nelson, “The 6 Buzziest Times Beyoncé Broke the Internet,” Houstonia, August 15, 2019, https://www.houstoniamag.com/arts-and-culture/2017/06/beyonce-breaking-the-internet.
6. Emily Steel and Michael S. Schmidt, “Bill O’Reilly Settled New Harassment Claim, Then Fox Renewed His Contract,” New York Times, October 21, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/21/business/media/bill-oreilly-sexual-harassment.html.
7. “About #SAY HER NAME,” African American Policy Forum, 2014, https://www.aapf.org/sayhername.
8. Grace Carroll, “Snoop Dogg Claims He ‘Sold’ Women to Fellow Stars While on Tour,” Gigwise, May 9, 2013, https://www.gigwise.com/news/81484/; Natasha Jokic, “Snoop Dogg Made a Bunch of Sexist Comments about ‘WAP,’ and Offset Responded,” BuzzFeed, December 17, 2020, https://www.buzzfeed.com/natashajokic1/snoop-dogg-wap-controversy; Alisha Haridasani Gupta, “Why Aren’t We All Talking about Breonna Taylor?,” New York Times, June 4, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/04/us/breonna-taylor-black-lives-matter-women.html; Linda Villarosa, “Why America’s Black Mothers and Babies Are in a Life-or-Death Crisis,” New York Times, April 11, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/11/magazine/black-mothers-babies-death-maternal-mortality.html; John Eligon, “Black Doctor Dies of Covid-19 after Complaining of Racist Treatment,” New York Times, December 24, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/23/us/susan-moore-black-doctor-indiana.html.
9. “3 Questions: Moya Bailey on the Intersection of Racism and Sexism,” Program in Women’s and Gender Studies, MIT News, January 11, 2021, https://news.mit.edu/2021/3-questions-moya-bailey-intersection-racism-sexism-0111.
Introduction: The Trouble with Black Women
1. Bill Johnson, “Opinion: Aretha Franklin Eulogy Was True. Single-Parent Homes Created Chaos for Blacks,” Bridge Michigan, September 11, 2018, https://www.bridgemi.com/guest-commentary/opinion-aretha-franklin-eulogy-was-true-single-parent-homes-created-chaos-blacks.
2. “Why Can’t a Successful Black Woman Find a Man?,” ABC News, March 26, 2010, https://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/successful-black-woman-find-man/story?id=10213505.
3. Noah Berlatsky, “Beyoncé, Sex Terrorist: A Menace for Conservatives and Liberals Alike,” Atlantic, May 12, 2014, http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/05/beyonce-sex-terrorist-a-menace-for-conservatives-and-liberals-alike/362085/.
4. Akiba Solomon, “The Pseudoscience of ‘Black Women Are Less Attractive,’” Colorlines, Race Forward, April 18, 2015, https://www.colorlines.com/articles/pseudoscience-black-women-are-less-attractive; Philiana Ng, “Oscars: The Onion Under Fire for Calling Quvenzhane Wallis the C-Word,” Hollywood Reporter, February 25, 2013, http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/onion-calls-quvenzhane-wallis-c-424113.
5. Antonia Blumberg, “WATCH: Women Respond to Pastor’s Sermon ‘These Hoes Ain’t Loyal,’” HuffPost, June 6, 2014, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/-jamal-bryant-hoes-aint-loyal_n_5459930.
6. Brande Victorian, “Tyrese to Black Women: ‘You’re Going to Independent Your Way into Loneliness,’” MadameNoire, November 14, 2011, https://madamenoire.com/90435/tyrese-to-womenyoure-going-to-independent-your-way-into-loneliness/.
7. Keli Goff, “Why Black Women Should Not Forgive Kevin Hart Even If Ellen Does (Guest Column),” Hollywood Reporter, January 7, 2019, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/why-black-women-should-not-forgive-kevin-hart-ellen-does-guest-column-1173410.
8. “D.L. Hughley: Tough Words on Politics and Women,” Tell Me More, NPR, October 25, 2012, https://www.npr.org/2012/10/25/163628656/d-l-hughley-tough-words-on-politics-and-women.
9. Michael Schneider, “Kenan Thompson Is Already an ‘SNL’ Legend, but Now He’s Ready and Overdue for More,” Variety, February 10, 2021, https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/kenan-thompson-saturday-night-live-snl-1234903357/.
10. Evan Hill et al., “How George Floyd Was Killed in Police Custody,” New York Times, June 1, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/31/us/george-floyd-investigation.html.
11. Eliott C. McLaughlin, “An Officer Was Indicted for Endangering Neighbors, but Not Breonna Taylor, with His Bullets. This May Be Why,” CNN, October 1, 2020, https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/01/us/legal-analysis-breonna-taylor-grand-jury/index.html.
12. Rebecca L. Spang, “The Revolution Is Under Way Already,” Atlantic, April 5, 2020, https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/04/revolution-only-getting-started/609463/.
13. “I Like That,” MP3 audio, on Janelle Monáe, Dirty Computer, Wondaland Studios, Atlanta, GA, Organized Noize, 2018.
14. Jazmin Duribe, “Khloe Kardashian Is Being Roasted for ‘Cosplaying’ as Beyoncé and the Memes Are Brutal,” PopBuzz, September 30, 2020, https://www.popbuzz.com/internet/viral/khloe-kardashian-beyonce-new-face-memes/.
15. Dade Hayes, “Gayle King Rips CBS for Excerpting Her Lisa Leslie Interview about Kobe Bryant; Network Responds—Update,” Deadline, February 6, 2020, https://deadline.com/2020/02/gayle-king-kobe-bryant-cbs-news-lisa-leslie-1202853069/.
16. Jael Goldfine, “Snoop Dogg Comes for Gayle King, Oprah over Kobe Bryant,” Paper, June 15, 2020, https://www.papermag.com/snoop-dogg-gayle-king-oprah-kobe-2645056676.html.
17. Doha Madani, “Snoop Dogg Apologizes to Gayle King for Attack over Kobe Bryant Sexual Assault Question,” NBCNews.com, February 13, 2020, https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/snoop-dogg-apologizes-gayle-king-attack-over-kobe-bryant-sexual-n1136151.
18. Kenya Evelyn, “Black US Authors Top New York Times Bestseller List as Protests Continue,” Guardian, June 11, 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/jun/11/new-york-times-bestseller-list-black-authors.
19. Royce Dunmore, “‘Free Bill Cosby’: Snoop Dogg Capes for Black Men While Slamming Oprah and Gayle King,” NewsOne, March 31, 2020, https://newsone.com/3901694/bill-cosby-snoop-dogg-capes-black-men-oprah-and-gayle-king/.
20. Pearl K. Dowe, “Kamala Harris and the Stereotypes We Place on Black Women,” The Hill, October 13, 2020, https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/520884-kamala-harris-and-the-stereotypes-we-place-on-black-women.
21. Patricia Hill Collins, Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment, 2nd ed. (New York: Routledge, 2000), 79.
22. Claire Jean Kim, “The Racial Triangulation of Asian Americans,” SAGE Journals, March 1, 1999, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0032329299027001005.
23. Kim, “Racial Triangulation,” 80.
24. Kim, 81.
25. C. M. West, “Mammy, Jezebel, Sapphire, and Their Homegirls: Developing an ‘Oppositional Gaze’ toward the Images of Black Women,” in Lectures on the Psychology of Women, ed. J. Chrisler, C. Golden, and P. Rozee, 4th ed. (New York: McGraw Hill, 2008), 289.
26. West, “Mammy, Jezebel, Sapphire,” 289.
27. Collins, Black Feminist Thought, 81.
28. Collins, 80.
29. West, “Mammy, Jezebel, Sapphire,” 290.
30. West, 290.
31. West, 290.
32. West, 294.
33. Collins, Black Feminist Thought, 91.
34. Collins, 83.
35. Office of Policy Planning and Research, United States Department of Labor, The Negro Family: The Case for National Action (Washington, DC: 1965).
36. Collins, Black Feminist Thought, 83.
37. Sheilla Mamona, “This Is Why, as a Black Woman, Being Called a Bully like Meghan Markle Is Triggering,” Glamour UK, March 8, 2021, https://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/article/meghan-markle-racism-lessons; Gerrard Kaonga, “Meghan Markle Accused of ‘Humiliating and Manipulating’ Prince Harry with 2020 Antics,” Express.co.uk, January 2, 2021, https://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/1378891/Meghan-Markle-Prince-Harry-Duke-Duchess-Sussex-2020-news-latest-update-vn; Samantha Schnurr, “Here’s the Shocking Advice Meghan Markle Was Given as a New Royal: ‘Be 50 Percent Less,’” E! Online, March 8, 2021, https://www.eonline.com/news/1245710/heres-the-shocking-advice-meghan-markle-was-given-as-a-new-royal-be-50-percent-less.
38. Tamara Winfrey-Harris, “No Disrespect: Black Women and the Burden of Respectability,” Bitch, Summer 2021, 32–37.
39. Winfrey-Harris, “No Disrespect.”
40. Winfrey-Harris, “No Disrespect.”
41. Sarah J. Jackson, interview by author, phone, November 2, 2012.
42. Ameena Hester, “What You Don’t Learn about Sojourner Truth: 3 Things to Know,” YR Media, February 18, 2021, https://yr.media/news/what-you-dont-learn-about-sojourner-truth-3-things-to-know/. From the article:
The popularized version of Truth’s speech, entitled “Ain’t I a Woman?” is but a “faint sketch” of Truth’s original speech according to historians, and is attributed to the white abolitionist Francis Dana Barker Gage. Gage published the altered speech 12 years after it was originally delivered, amending all the words and curtailing Truth’s authentic voice.
Sojourner Truth was of Dutch descent and spoke a now-extinct, low-Dutch dialect of English. Gage’s version wrongly associates Truth, a Northerner, with Southern slave culture and its negative connotations. Whether intentional or unintentional, the amended speech perpetuates vernacular stereotypes of Black Southerners and grossly alienates enslaved people from cultural nuance. Even as a freed woman, Truth was victim to these parallels.
Sojourner Truth, “Ain’t I a Woman,” address at Women’s Convention, Akron, Ohio, May 29, 1851, http://www.feminist.com/resources/artspeech/genwom/sojour.htm.
43. West, “Mammy, Jezebel, Sapphire,” 287.
44. Melissa V. Harris-Perry, Sister Citizen (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2011), 29.
45. Kawana, interview by author, online, July 24, 2014.
46. Wendi Muse, interview by author, phone, August 31, 2014.
47. Alexandra Cawthorne, “The Straight Facts on Women in Poverty,” Center for American Progress, October 8, 2008.
48. US Department of Health and Human Services and National Institutes of Health, The Heart Truth for Women, NIH Publication No. 07-5066 (Washington, DC: originally printed September 2003, revised July 2009).
49. US Census Bureau, “2010 US Census Marital Status Chart,” table 57: “Marital Status of the Population by Sex and Age,” accessed December 27, 2011.
50. Women of Color Network Facts & Stats: Domestic Violence in Communities of Color, Women of Color Network (Harrisburg, PA: June 2006), http://www.doj.state.or.us/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/women_of_color_network_facts_domestic_violence_2006.pdf.
51. Derek Thompson, “The Workforce Is Even More Divided by Race Than You Think,” Atlantic, November 13, 2013, https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/11/the-workforce-is-even-more-divided-by-race-than-you-think/281175/.
52. Lisa Myers Bulmash, interview by author, phone, March 24, 2012.
53. Nichelle Hayes, interview by author, July 2, 2014.
Chapter 1: Beauty: Pretty for a Black Girl
1. Brittney Oliver, “Boss Moves: Inside Rihanna’s Business Queendom,” Essence, February 20, 2021, https://www.essence.com/celebrity/boss-moves-inside-rihanna-business-queendom/; “How Fenty Revolutionized the Beauty Industry,” Vogue Paris, May 29, 2019, https://www.vogue.fr/beauty-tips/article/how-fenty-revolutionized-the-beauty-industry.
2. Patrice Grell Yursik, interview by author, December 29, 2020.
3. Oliver, “Boss Moves.”
4. Lois Sakany, “Rihanna Provides First Look at Fenty Beauty with Campaign Ft. Halima Aden, Slick Woods & More,” Snobette, December 3, 2017, https://snobette.com/2017/09/rihanna-introduces-fenty-beauty-campaign-slick-woods-halima-aden-duckie-thot/.
5. Franchesca Ramsey, “Makeup Artists Rarely Have Foundation for This Black Model. In 2015, There’s No Excuse,” Upworthy, May 31, 2019, https://www.upworthy.com/makeup-artists-rarely-have-foundation-for-this-black-model-in-2015-theres-no-excuse.
6. “Famous Feminist Quotes That Keep Fuelling the Debate,” Telegraph, September 21, 2015, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/film/suffragette/famous_feminist_quotes/.
7. Bre Rivera, interview by author, January 15, 2021.
8. Heather Carper, interview by author, August 13, 2014.
9. Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, ed. William Peden (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press for the Institute of Early American History and Culture, Williamsburg, Virginia, 1954).
10. Patricia Hill Collins, Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment, 2nd ed. (New York: Routledge, 2000), 98.
11. Khadijah Britton, “The Data Are in Regarding Satoshi Kanazawa,” Scientific American Blog Network, Scientific American, May 23, 2011, https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/the-data-are-in-regarding-satoshi-kanazawa/.
12. Dahvi Shira, “Anala Beevers Is a 4-Year-Old Genius,” People, July 27, 2013, https://people.com/celebrity/anala-beevers-is-a-4-year-old-genius/.
13. Karen Grigsby Bates, “At Fashion Week, Color Pops and Models Call for Diversity,” NPR, September 14, 2013, https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/09/13/222170186/at-fashion-week-color-pops-and-models-call-for-diversity.
14. Cordelia Tai, “Report: Racial, Size and Gender Diversity Get a Boost at New York Fashion Week Spring 2020,” The Fashion Spot, September 30, 2019, https://www.thefashionspot.com/runway-news/846053-diversity-report-new-york-fashion-week-spring-2020/.
15. Black Witch, interview by author, September 17, 2014.
16. Liz Hurston, interview by author, phone, August 17, 2014.
17. A. Springer, “Kanye West Calls Mixed Girls ‘Mutts,’” HipHopDX, December 2, 2006, https://hiphopdx.com/news/id.4685/title. kanye-west-calls-mixed-girls-mutts#signup.
18. Jon Blistein, “Kanye West Concedes Self-Serving Presidential Bid, Threatens 2024 Run,” Rolling Stone, November 5, 2020, https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/kanye-west-2020-presidential-run-votes-election-1086059/.
19. Wanna Thompson, “White Women on Instagram Are Successfully Posing as Black Women,” Paper, June 15, 2020, https://www.papermag.com/white-women-blackfishing-instagram-2619714094.html.
20. Jazmin Duribe, “Khloe Kardashian Is Being Roasted for ‘Cosplaying’ as Beyoncé and the Memes Are Brutal,” PopBuzz, September 30, 2020, https://www.popbuzz.com/internet/viral/khloe-kardashian-beyonce-new-face-memes/.
21. “A Look Back at the Kardashian Family’s Humble Armenian Roots,” People, April 10, 2015, https://people.com/celebrity/a-look-back-at-the-kardashian-familys-humble-armenian-roots/.
22. Thompson, “White Women on Instagram.”
23. Erin Millender, interview by author, August 20, 2014.
24. “Rutgers Players Describe How Imus’ Remarks Hurt,” CNN, April 10, 2007, http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/TV/04/10/imus.rutgers/index.html.
25. Moe, “‘Glamour’ Editor to Lady Lawyers: Being Black Is Kinda a Corporate ‘Don’t,’” Jezebel, August 14, 2007, http://jezebel.com/289268/glamour-editor-to-lady-lawyers-being-Black-is-kinda-a-corporate-don’t.
26. Karen Grigsby Bates, “Congressional Black Caucus Urges Rethink of Army Hair Rules,” NPR, April 11, 2014, http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2014/04/11/301509842/congressional-Black-caucus-urges-rethink-of-army-hair-rules.
27. Victoria M. Massie, “Federal Appeals Court Rules It’s Okay to Discriminate against Black Hairstyles like Dreadlocks,” Vox, September 19, 2016, https://www.vox.com/2016/9/19/12971790/court-discriminate-dreadlocks.
28. “Second-Grader’s Dreadlocks Cause for Concern?,” Tell Me More, NPR, September 12, 2013, https://www.npr.org/2013/09/12/221738347/second-graders-dreadlocks-cause-for-concern.
29. Dominique Hobdy, “School Threatens to Expel Girl for Wearing Hair Natural,” Essence, November 26, 2013, https://www.essence.com/news/florida-school-threatens-expel-african-american-girl-wearing-natural-hair/.
30. Michelle Hunter, “After Hair Extensions Ban and Viral Video, New Orleans-Area School Faces Civil Rights Lawsuit,” NOLA.com, Times-Picayune and New Orleans Advocate, August 8, 2019, https://www.nola.com/news/courts/article_415be8f8-ba1d-11e9-a55b-5752e61a2fea.html.
31. Patrice Grell Yursik, interview by author, August 15, 2014.
32. Felicia Leatherwood, interview by author, August 19, 2014.
33. Felicia Leatherwood interview.
34. Jamyla Bennu, interview by author, September 7, 2014.
35. Tonya Garcia, “L’Oreal USA Purchases Carol’s Daughter to Reach the Multicultural Market,” Madame Noire, October 20, 2014, http://madamenoire.com/480079/loreal-usa-purchases-carols-daughter-to-reach-the-multicultural-market/.
36. Felicia Leatherwood interview.
37. Heben Nigatu, “Teyonah Parris Has the Flyest Hair on the Red Carpet,” Buzzfeed, April 10, 2014, http://www.buzzfeed.com/hnigatu/teyonah-parris-has-the-flyest-hair-on-the-red-carpet.
38. Chanel Parks, “Teyonah Parris Cried over Her Natural Hair: It Didn’t Look like ‘What I Thought Was Beautiful,’” Huffington Post, July 15, 2014, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/15/teyonah-parris-natural-hair_n_5587721.html.
39. Philip Bump, “The Most Likely Person to Read a Book? A College-Educated Black Woman,” Atlantic, January 16, 2014, https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2014/01/most-likely-person-read-book-college-educated-black-woman/357091/.
40. Patrice Grell Yursik interview.
41. Heather Carper interview.
42. Patrice Grell Yursik interview.
Chapter 2: Sex: Wet-Ass Pussy
1. “Anaconda,” MP3 audio single, from Nicki Minaj, The Pinkprint, produced by Da Internz, AnonXmous, Polow da Don, Glenwood Recording Studios, Burbank, CA, 2014.
2. “Rules,” on Doja Cat, Hot Pink, produced by Dr. Luke, Salaam Remi, and Ben Billions, eightysevenfourteen studios, Los Angeles, CA, 2019, CD.
3. Nicki Minaj often refers to other women rappers as her “sons.” According to an Urban Dictionary entry by Cirocwave on March 11, 2011, the phrase means Nicki birthed the other rap stars and she’s showing them how it’s done.
4. “About,” Women of Color Sexual Health Network, http://www.wocshn.org/about/.
5. Rachel Holmes, African Queen: The Real Life of the Hottentot Venus (New York: Random House, 2007), loc. 66 of 2679.
6. Sean Carroll, “Venus Hottentot and the Irony of Science,” Discover, December 22, 2008, https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/venus-hottentot-and-the-irony-of-science.
7. Holmes, African Queen, loc. 1664 of 2679.
8. “Regis Philbin Hits on Nicki Minaj,” Daily Beast, January 1, 2011, video, http://www.thedailybeast.com/videos/2011/01/18/regis-philbin-hits-on-nicki-minaj.html.
9. Jared Keller, “LAPD Confuses Black Actress Kissing White Partner for Prostitute,” Mic, September 13, 2014, https://www.mic.com/articles/98826/lapd-confuses-black-actress-kissing-white-partner-for-prostitute.
10. C. M. West, “Mammy, Jezebel, Sapphire, and Their Homegirls: Developing an ‘Oppositional Gaze’ toward the Images of Black Women,” in Lectures on the Psychology of Women, ed. J. Chrisler, C. Golden, and P. Rozee, 4th ed. (New York: McGraw Hill, 2008), 2.
11. Odia Kane, “The Denial of Black Victimhood: Examining Attitudes of Sexual Assault and Victim-Blaming on a College Campus, A Continued Analysis” (master’s thesis, University of Connecticut, 2020), 1507, https://opencommons.uconn.edu/gs_theses/1507.
12. Catherine Taibi, “Here’s the One Question Bill O’Reilly Is Dying to Ask Beyonce,” Huffington Post, March 16, 2014, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/16/bill-oreilly-beyonce-letterman-thug-show-fox_n_4974574.html.
13. Allie Jones, “Bill O’Reilly Blames Beyoncé for Black Teen Pregnancy,” Atlantic, April 29, 2014, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/04/bill-oreilly-blames-beyonce-for-black-teen-pregnancy/361385/.
14. Taibi, “Here’s the One Question.”
15. Megan Garber, “Why Was Bill O’Reilly Really Fired?” Atlantic, April 19, 2017, https://www.theatlantic.com/news/archive/2017/04/why-was-bill-oreilly-really-fired/523614/.
16. Kathryn Kost and Stanley Henshaw, U.S. Teenage Pregnancies, Births and Abortions, 2010: National and State Trends by Age, Race and Ethnicity (New York: Guttmacher Institute, 2014).
17. Tamara Winfrey-Harris, “All Hail the Queen?,” Bitch, Summer 2013, http://bitchmagazine.org/article/all-hail-the-queen-beyonce-feminism.
18. “Awards & Honors,” “Boards & Steering Committees,” Bio, Tamika Felder, accessed April 27, 2021, https://www.tamikafelder.com/bio/.
19. Hadley Freeman, “Beyoncé: Being Photographed in Your Underwear Doesn’t Help Feminism,” Guardian, January 15, 2013, http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jan/15/beyonce-photographed-underwear-feminism.
20. See Anne Helen Petersen, Celebrity Gossip, Academic Style (blog), Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/pages/Celebrity-Gossip-Academic-Style/180012152012326.
21. Quoted from a reply to Dodai Stewart, “Beyoncé’s ‘Documentary’ Was Just a Theatrical Infomercial,” Jezebel, February 18, 2013, http://jezebel.com/5985033/beyonces-documentary-was-just-a-theatrical-infomercial.
22. Nojma Muhammad, “Nicki Minaj AKA ‘Miss HottenTHOT,’” Thy Black Man, August 21, 2014, http://thyBlackman.com/2014/08/21/nicki-minaj-aka-miss-hottenthot/.
23. Muhammad, “Nicki Minaj.”
24. “BET CEO Debra Lee Speaks on Banning Degrading Music Videos and Positive Change at BET Networks,” Z107.9 (website), June 19, 2019, https://zhiphopcleveland.com/2831621/bet-ceo-debra-lee-speaks-on-banning-degrading-music-videos-positive-change-at-bet-networks/.
25. Cristal Lee, interview by author, June 30, 2014.
26. Bianca Giacabone, “In New York, Burlesque Meets the Feminist Struggle,” the Submarine, October 27, 2020, https://thesubmarine.it/2020/10/22/burlesque-feminist-struggle/.
27. “WAP,” CD single, recorded by Cardi B, featuring vocals from Megan Thee Stallion, from Cardi B, featuring Megan Thee Stallion, WAP, produced by Ayo the Producer and Keyz, Atlantic Records, 2020.
28. “Girls in the Hood,” on Megan Thee Stallion, Good News, produced by IllaDa-Producer et al., 1501 Certified and 300 Entertainment, 2020, CD.
29. “I Do,” on Cardi B, Invasion of Privacy, produced by CuBeatz et al., Atlantic, 2018, CD.
30. Angelica Florio, “Janelle Monáe’s New Video about Female Sexuality Will Leave You Feeling like a Goddess,” Bustle, April 10, 2018, https://www.bustle.com/p/janelle-monaes-pynk-video-about-female-sexuality-will-make-you-feel-like-a-goddess-8746306.
31. Megan Thee Stallion, “Megan Thee Stallion: Why I Speak Up for Black Women,” New York Times, October 13, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/13/opinion/megan-thee-stallion-black-women.html.
32. Kai Chapman, interview by author, December 29, 2020.
33. “Some Cut,” CD single, from Trillville, The King of Crunk & BME Present: Trillville & Lil Scrappy, produced by Lil Jon, Warner Bros. Records, 2004.
34. Goddess Honey, interview by author, December 24, 2020.
35. “The New Sexual Revolution: Polyamory on the Rise,” 1A, NPR, February 18, 2019, https://www.npr.org/2019/02/18/695731314/the-new-sexual-revolution-polyamory-on-the-rise-listen.
36. Yael Malka, Alice Hines, and Eve Lyons, “Polyamory Works for Them,” New York Times, August 3, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/03/style/polyamory-nonmonogamy-relationships.html.
37. Sarah Thomas, “Black Women Face Greater Scrutiny than White Women for Being Polyamorous,” The Black Youth Project, December 20, 2019, http://blackyouthproject.com/black-women-face-greater-scrutiny-than-white-women-for-being-polyamorous/.
38. Andrea Plaid, interview by author, August 20, 2014.
Chapter 3: Marriage: Witches, Thornbacks, and Sapphires
1. Erica Johnson, interview by author, May 25, 2012.
2. Ralph Richard Banks, Is Marriage for White People? How the African American Marriage Decline Affects Everyone (New York: Dutton, 2011), 7.
3. Kerry Hannon, “Black Women Entrepreneurs: The Good and Not-So-Good News,” Forbes, September 9, 2018, https://www.forbes.com/sites/nextavenue/2018/09/09/black-women-entrepreneurs-the-good-and-not-so-good-news/?sh=13ae0abe6ffe.
4. D’Vera Cohn et al., “Barely Half of U.S. Adults Are Married—A Record Low,” Pew Research Social & Demographics Trends, Pew Research Center, December 14, 2011, http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2011/12/14/barely-half-of-u-s-adults-are-married-a-record-low/.
5. “The State of American Households: Smaller, More Diverse and Unmarried,” U.S. News & World Report, February 14, 2020, https://www.usnews.com/news/elections/articles/2020-02-14/the-state-of-american-households-smaller-more-diverse-and-unmarried#:~:text=In%201990%2C%2043%25%20of%20black,2019%2C%20it%20was%2051%25.
6. “The State of American Households,” U.S. News & World Report.
7. George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman. A Comedy and a Philosophy (Cambridge, MA: University Press, 1903).
8. Julie Coleman, Love, Sex, and Marriage: A Historical Thesaurus (Amsterdam: Costerus, 1999).
9. Kate Constance, “A Check List on Marriage Rating,” Kansas City Star, September 25, 1957, reprinted on The Retro Housewife, http://www.retro-housewife.com/1957-check-list-on-marriage-rating.html (site discontinued).
10. Michiko Kakutani, “Women as Witches,” Books of the Times, New York Times, November 21, 1987, http://www.nytimes.com/1987/11/21/books/books-of-the-times-women-as-witches.html.
11. Katherine Boo, “The Marriage Cure: Is Wedlock Really a Way Out of Poverty?,” New Yorker, April 18, 2003, http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2003/08/18/the-marriage-cure.
12. Steve Harvey and Denene Millner, Act like a Lady, Think like a Man (New York: Amistad, 2009), 182.
13. Harvey and Millner, Act like a Lady, 180.
14. Carolyn Edgar, interview by author, June 2, 2012.
15. Cherrie Moraga and Gloria Anzaldua, “Lesbianism as Resistance” (essay), in This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1981), 128.
16. Nichelle Hayes, interview by author, June 12, 2014.
17. US Census Bureau, “2010 Annual Social and Economic Supplement,” Current Population Survey, internet release date: November 2010.
18. D. Henry, interview by author, June 3, 2012.
19. Black Women in the United States, 2014, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation and Black Women’s Roundtable, vii.
20. Gretchen Livingston and Anna Brown, “1. Trends and Patterns in Intermarriage,” Pew Research Center’s Social & Demographic Trends Project, Pew Research Center, May 30, 2020, https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2017/05/18/1-trends-and-patterns-in-intermarriage/.
21. Allison P. Davis, “New OKCupid Data on Race Is Pretty Depressing,” The Cut, September 11, 2014, https://www.thecut.com/2014/09/new-okcupid-data-on-race-is-pretty-depressing.html.
22. Tiffany Allen-White and Trayvia Allen-White, interview by author, January 30, 2021.
23. Sharon Jayson, “Free as a Bird and Loving It: Being Single Has Its Benefits,” USA Today, April 12, 2007, http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/health/2007-04-11-being-single_n.htm.
24. Kim Akins, interview by author, March 18, 2012.
Chapter 4: Motherhood: Between Mammy and a Hard Place
1. Lisa Belkin, “Michelle Obama: What Does She Mean by ‘Mom in Chief’?,” Huffington Post, September 5, 2012, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-belkin/obama-mom-in-chief_b_1858440.html.
2. Libby Copeland, “Why Are Presidential Candidates’ Wives All the Same?,” Slate, September 7, 2012, http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2012/09/first_wives_club_why_are_presidential_candidates_spouses_all_the_same_.html.
3. Sadie Whitelocks, “Black Women Pushing White Babies: Photo Series Exposes the Racial Divides in the World of a NY Nanny,” Daily Mail, January 15, 2014, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2540015/Black-women-pushing-white-babies-Candid-photo-series-exposes-deep-racial-divide-New-York-nannies-young-wards.html.
4. “Meet Noreen,” on Noreen Raines’s website, accessed May 6, 2021, http://www.noreenraines.com/meet-noreen/.
5. Maya Salam, “For Serena Williams, Childbirth Was a Harrowing Ordeal. She’s Not Alone,” New York Times, January 11, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/11/sports/tennis/serena-williams-baby-vogue.html.
6. Nina Martin and Renee Montagne, “Black Mothers Keep Dying after Giving Birth. Shalon Irving’s Story Explains Why,” All Things Considered, NPR, December 8, 2017, https://www.npr.org/2017/12/07/568948782/black-mothers-keep-dying-after-giving-birth-shalon-irvings-story-explains-why.
7. Jamie Nesbitt Golden, interview by author, December 22, 2020.
8. Beata Mostafavi, “Understanding Racial Disparities for Women with Uterine Fibroids,” Michigan Health Lab (blog), University of Michigan, August 12, 2020, https://labblog.uofmhealth.org/rounds/understanding-racial-disparities-for-women-uterine-fibroids.
9. J. A. Martin et al., Births: Final Data for 2018, National Vital Statistics Reports, vol. 68, no. 13 (Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics, 2019).
10. David Edwards, “George Will: Single Moms More Dangerous for Minorities than a Lack of Rights,” Raw Story, December 9, 2020, https://www.rawstory.com/2013/08/george-will-single-moms-more-dangerous-for-minorities-than-a-lack-of-rights/.
11. Jimi Izrael, The Denzel Principle: Why Black Women Can’t Find Good Black Men (New York: St. Martin’s, 2010), 21.
12. Sarah Jackson, interview by author, November 2, 2012.
13. Ian Haney-Lopez, “The Racism at the Heart of the Reagan Presidency,” Salon, January 11, 2014, http://www.salon.com/2014/01/11/the_racism_at_the_heart_of_the_reagan_presidency/.
14. Gene Demby, “The Truth behind the Lies of the Original ‘Welfare Queen,’” All Things Considered, NPR, December 20, 2013, http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2013/12/20/255819681/the-truth-behind-the-lies-of-the-original-welfare-queen.
15. Adam Liptak, “Supreme Court Ruling Makes Same-Sex Marriage a Right Nationwide,” New York Times, June 26, 2015, https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/27/us/supreme-court-same-sex-marriage.html.
16. Gaby Galvin, “U.S. Marriage Rate Drops to a Record Low,” U.S. News & World Report, April 29, 2020, https://www.usnews.com/news/healthiest-communities/articles/2020-04-29/us-marriage-rate-drops-to-record-low.
17. US Census Bureau, “For Young Adults, Cohabitation Is Up, Marriage Is Down,” August 18, 2020, https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2018/11/cohabitaiton-is-up-marriage-is-down-for-young-adults.html.
18. Olga Khazan, “The Rise of Older Mothers,” Atlantic, May 23, 2018, https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2018/05/the-rise-of-older-mothers/560555/.
19. Khazan, “Rise of Older Mothers.”
20. Sarah Jane Glynn, “Breadwinning Mothers Continue to Be the U.S. Norm,” Center for American Progress, May 10, 2019, https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/women/reports/2019/05/10/469739/breadwinning-mothers-continue-u-s-norm/.
21. “The American Family Today,” Pew Research Center’s Social & Demographic Trends Project, Pew Research Center, May 30, 2020, https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2015/12/17/1-the-american-family-today/.
22. Mary Parke, Are Married Parents Really Better for Children? (Washington, DC: Center for Law and Social Policy, 2003), http://www.clasp.org/resources-and-publications/states/0086.pdf.
23. Stacia Brown, interview by author, June 28, 2014.
24. Amina Khan, “Getting Killed by Police Is a Leading Cause of Death for Young Black Men in America,” Los Angeles Times, August 16, 2019, https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2019-08-15/police-shootings-are-a-leading-cause-of-death-for-black-men; “Flint Water Crisis Fast Facts,” CNN, January 14, 2021, https://www.cnn.com/2016/03/04/us/flint-water-crisis-fast-facts/index.html.
25. Jonathan Landrum Jr., “Aretha Franklin Funeral Eulogy Slammed; Pastor Stands Firm,” Associated Press, September 2, 2018, https://apnews.com/article/32d797c5a5324c7593b44a6d0a1c8f3d.
26. Heidi Renée Lewis, interview by author, September 20, 2014.
27. Ta-Nehisi Coates, “Understanding Out-of-Wedlock Births in Black America,” Atlantic, June 21, 2013, http://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2013/06/understanding-out-of-wedlock-births-in-Black-america/277084/.
28. Jim Rutenberg, “Fox Forced to Address Michelle Obama Headline,” New York Times, June 12, 2008, http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/12/fox-apologizes-for-michelle-obama-headline/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0.
29. Yvette Perry, interview by author, June 24, 2014.
30. Brandee Mimitzraiem, interview by author, July 29, 2014.
31. Jennifer Kongs, “Interview with Tanya Fields: Urban Farming and Food Sovereignty Activist,” Mother Earth News, October 28, 2014, https://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/interview-tanya-fields-zb0z1410zkon.
32. Brandi Summers, interview by author, July 11, 2014.
33. DeShong Perry Smitherman, interview by author, Indianapolis, December 15, 2014.
34. Deesha Philyaw, “Ain’t I a Mommy,” Bitch, Summer 2008, 46.
35. Michelle Hughes, interview by author, July 25, 2014.
Chapter 5: Anger: Twist and Shout
1. Alessandra Stanley, “Wrought in Rhimes’s Image,” New York Times, September 18, 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/21/arts/television/viola-davis-plays-shonda-rhimess-latest-tough-heroine.html?_r=0.
2. Alexandra Ossola, “The Different Ways Black and White Women See Stereotypes in STEM,” Atlantic, November 24, 2014, http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/11/Black-girls-stand-a-better-chance-in-stem/383094/.
3. “Our Company,” Bunim/Murray Productions, https://www.bunim-murray.com/about.
4. Bill Bradley, “Watch Porsha Williams Fight Kenya Moore on ‘The Real Housewives of Atlanta’ Reunion,” Huffington Post, April 25, 2014, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/21/real-housewives-fight_n_5187568.html.
5. Michael Arceneaux, “Love & Hip Hop Atlanta Reunion Recap, Part 2: ‘Joseline All On They Mouth like Likka,’” Complex, September 2, 2014, http://www.complex.com/music/2014/09/love-and-hip-hop-atlanta-reunion-part-2.
6. Jennifer L. Pozner, Reality Bites Back: The Troubling Truth about Guilty Pleasure TV (Berkeley, CA: Seal Press, 2010), loc. 755 of 7725.
7. Pozner, Reality Bites Back, loc. 2655 of 7725.
8. Philip Caulfield, “‘Sharkeisha’ Fight Video Sickens Victim’s Family after It Goes Viral; Teen Who Threw Violent Punches Arrested,” New York Daily News, December 10, 2013, http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/family-sickened-viral-fight-video-attacker-sharkeisha-arrested-article-1.1542354.
9. Gloria Pruitt, interview by author, July 1, 2014.
10. Ken Layne, “Mythological ‘Whitey’ Tape Will Finally Ruin Obama,” Wonkette, June 2, 2008, http://wonkette.com/400121/mythological-whitey-tape-will-finally-ruin-obama.
11. Andy Soltis, “Michelle Not Amused by Obama’s Memorial Selfie,” New York Post, December 10, 2013, http://nypost.com/2013/12/10/michelle-annoyed-by-obamas-selfie-at-mandela-memorial/.
12. Liz Hurston, email message to author, September 25, 2014.
13. Kimberly Hopson, interview by author, September 12, 2014.
14. Black Women in the United States, 2014, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation and Black Women’s Roundtable, v.
15. Tracy Elba, interview by author, September 25, 2014.
Chapter 6: Strength: Precious Mettle
1. Tamara Winfrey-Harris, “Precious Mettle,” Bitch, Summer 2014, 40–43.
2. Charli Penn, “Exclusive: Robin Thicke on Love, Sex and Marriage,” Essence, December 21, 2011, https://www.essence.com/news/robin-thicke-on-loving-black-women-interracial-dating-and-pleasing-paula/.
3. Black Women in the United States, 2014, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation and Black Women’s Roundtable, v.
4. Deborah Latham-White, correspondence with author, December 2013.
5. Adrianne Traylor, correspondence with author, December 2013.
6. Fatima Thomas, interview by author, August 30, 2014.
7. Linda Arntzenius, “Abstract Expressionism and Prose Poetry When Baker Street Social Club Presents Danny Simmons,” Town Topics, accessed December 10, 2014, http://www.towntopics.com/wordpress/2014/12/03/abstract-expressionism-and-prose-poetry-when-baker-street-social-club-presents-danny-simmons/.
8. Lisa Patton, interview by author, July 2, 2014.
9. Caroline Bird, “Black Woman Power,” New York magazine, March 10, 1969, 36.
10. Mia Moody, Bruce Dorries, and Harriet Blackwell, “The Invisible Damsel: Differences in How National Media Outlets Framed the Coverage of Missing Black and White Women in the Mid-2000s,” paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, May 2008, http://www.academia.edu/944503/The_Invisible_Damsel_Differences_in_How_National_Media_Outlets_Framed_the_Coverage_of_Missing_Black_and_White_Women_in_the_Mid-2000s.
11. Anderson Cooper 360°, CNN, transcript, March 13, 2006.
12. Howard Koplowitz, “Glenda Moore, Staten Island Mother Who Lost 2 Sons in Hurricane Sandy, Returns to Site of Tragedy,” International Business Times, November 2, 2012, http://www.ibtimes.com/glenda-moore-staten-island-mother-who-lost-2-sons-hurricane-sandy-returns-site-tragedy-858289.
13. Sami K. Martin, “Glenda Moore ‘Wailed Uncontrollably’ after Police Identified Sons Swept Away by Sandy,” Christian Post, November 2, 2012, http://www.christianpost.com/news/glenda-moore-wailed-uncontrollably-after-police-identified-sons-swept-away-by-sandy-84323/.
14. Mary M. Chapman, “Theodore Wafer Sentenced to 17 Years in Michigan Shooting of Renisha McBride,” New York Times, September 3, 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/04/us/theodore-wafer-sentenced-in-killing-of-renisha-mcbride.html.
15. DJ Freedom Fighter, “Critically Analyzing Glenda Moore’s Story through Optic Whiteness,” DJ Freedom Fighter, http://djfreedomfighter.tumblr.com/post/35078117848/critically-analyzing-glenda-moores-story-through-optic (site discontinued).
16. Noliwe M. Rooks, “Renisha McBride and Evolution of Black-Female Stereotype,” Time, November 14, 2013, http://ideas.time.com/2013/11/14/renisha-mcbride-and-Black-female-stereotype/.
17. Richard A. Oppel, Derrick Bryson Taylor, and Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, “What to Know about Breonna Taylor’s Death,” New York Times, May 30, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/article/breonna-taylor-police.html#:~:text=The%20death%20of%20Breonna%20Taylor,injustice%20in%20the%20United%20States.
18. Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw et al., Say Her Name: Resisting Police Brutality against Black Women (New York: African American Policy Forum, 2015).
19. Joseph Diaz et al., “Ex-Oklahoma City Cop Spending 263 Years in Prison for Rape and His Accusers Share Their Stories,” ABC News, April 21, 2016, https://abcnews.go.com/US/oklahoma-city-cop-spending-263-years-prison-rape/story?id=38517467.
20. Jason Johnson, “The Holtzclaw Trial: When Rape Culture Meets #BlackLives-Matter,” NBCNews.com, November 13, 2015, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/holtzclaw-trial-when-rape-culture-meets-blacklivesmatter-n458741.
21. S. E. James et al., The Report of the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey (Washington, DC: National Center for Transgender Equality, 2016).
22. Alisha Haridasani Gupta, “Since 2015: 48 Black Women Killed by the Police. And Only 2 Charges,” New York Times, September 24, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/24/us/breonna-taylor-grand-jury-black-women.html.
23. Eliott C. McLaughlin, “An Officer Was Indicted for Endangering Neighbors, but Not Breonna Taylor, with His Bullets. This May Be Why,” CNN, October 1, 2020, https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/01/us/legal-analysis-breonna-taylor-grand-jury/index.html.
24. “#SayHerName In Memoriam,” African American Policy Forum, accessed March 18, 2021, https://www.aapf.org/in-memorium.
25. Crenshaw et al., Say Her Name.
26. “About #SAY HER NAME,” African American Policy Forum, 2014, https://www.aapf.org/sayhername.
27. “Herstory,” Black Lives Matter, September 7, 2019, https://blacklivesmatter.com/herstory/.
28. Nada Hassanein, “Florida Protester Oluwatoyin Salau Killed in Tallahassee after Going Missing,” Tallahassee Democrat, June 16, 2020, https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2020/06/15/oluwatoyin-salau-found-dead-tallahassee-black-lives-matter-protest-missing/3190021001/.
29. Giulia McDonnell Nieto, “Oluwatoyin Salau, Missing Black Lives Matter Activist, Is Found Dead,” New York Times, June 15, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/15/us/oluwatoyin-salau-dead-aaron-glee.html.
30. “Meet Our Founder,” Outdoor Afro, https://outdoorafro.com/team/.
31. Sofia Quintero, correspondence with author, January 29, 2014.
Chapter 7: Health: Fat, Sick, and Crazy
1. National Center for Health Statistics, Health, United States, 2013: With Special Feature on Prescription Drugs (Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics, 2014).
2. S. S. Rajaram and V. Vinson, “African American Women and Diabetes: A Sociocultural Context,” Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved 9, no. 3 (1998): 236–47, https://doi.org/10.1353/hpu.2010.0321.
3. US Department of Health and Human Services and National Institutes of Health, The Heart Truth for Women, NIH Publication No. 07-5066 (Washington, DC: originally printed September 2003, revised July 2009).
4. US Department of Health and Human Services and National Institutes of Health, The Heart Truth.
5. Erica Martin Richards, “Mental Health among African-American Women,” Johns Hopkins Medicine, accessed May 1, 2021, https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/mental-health-among-african-american-women.
6. O. Kenrik Duru et al., “Allostatic Load Burden and Racial Disparities in Mortality,” Journal of the National Medical Association 104, no. 1–2 (January–February 2012), https://doi.org/10.1016/S0027-9684(15)30120-6.
7. Esther Gross, Victoria Efetevbia, and Alexandria Wilkins, “Racism and Sexism against Black Women May Contribute to High Rates of Black Infant Mortality,” Child Trends, April 9, 2020, https://www.childtrends.org/blog/racism-sexism-against-black-women-may-contribute-high-rates-black-infant-mortality.
8. Alissa Greenberg, “How the Stress of Racism Can Harm Your Health—And What That Has to Do with Covid-19,” PBS, July 14, 2020, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/racism-stress-covid-allostatic-load/.
9. “Risk for COVID-19 Infection, Hospitalization, and Death by Race/Ethnicity,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, March 12, 2021, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/investigations-discovery/hospitalization-death-by-race-ethnicity.html.
10. Raquel E. Gur et al., “The Disproportionate Burden of the COVID-19 Pandemic among Pregnant Black Women,” US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health, November 2020, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7513921/.
11. O. Kenrik Duru et al., “Allostatic Load Burden.”
12. Deborah Latham-White interview.
13. “About,” The Nap Ministry, January 7, 2021, https://thenapministry.wordpress.com/about/.
14. Adele Jackson-Gibson, “The Racist and Problematic Origins of the Body Mass Index,” Good Housekeeping, March 2, 2021, https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/diet-nutrition/a35047103/bmi-racist-history/.
15. Sabrina Strings, essay in Fearing the Black Body: the Racial Origins of Fat Phobia (New York: New York University Press, 2019), 6.
16. Erika Nicole Kendall, “On @BorisKodjoe’s Twitter Rant about Obesity,” Black Girl’s Guide to Weight Loss, August 19, 2004, http://Blackgirlsguidetoweightloss.com/celeb-watch/boriskodjoes-twitter-rant-about-obesity/.
17. Erika Nicole Kendall, interview by author, August 26, 2014.
18. Paula Dutko, Michele Ver Ploeg, and Tracey Farrigan, Characteristics and Influential Factors of Food Deserts, Economic Research Report Number 140 (Washington, DC: United States Department of Agriculture, 2012).
19. “Toni Carey and Ashley Hicks of Black Girls Run! Give the Skinny on Their Nationwide Movement,” Black Enterprise, October 8, 2012, https://www.blackenterprise.com/toni-carey-and-ashley-hicks-of-black-girls-run-give-the-skinny-on-their-nationwide-movement/.
20. “Black Women Avoiding Exercise to Maintain Hairstyles: Study,” Reuters, Huffington Post, December 18, 2012, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/18/Black-women-hair-avoid-exercise_n_2321539.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003.
21. “Overweight and Obesity,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, page last reviewed February 11, 2021, http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html.
22. Dr. Virginia Banks Bright, interview by author, November 21, 2014.
23. Earlise C. Ward and Susan M. Heidrich, “African American Women’s Beliefs about Mental Illness, Stigma, and Preferred Coping Behaviors,” Research in Nursing and Health 32, no. 5 (October 2009): 480–92, https://doi.org/10.1002/nur.20344.
24. Adrianne Traylor, interview by author, August 17, 2014.
25. Suncear Scretchen, “Yogapreneur: Nikki Myers Recharges Life with 12-Step Yoga Program,” Black Enterprise, http://www.Blackenterprise.com/lifestyle/nikki-myers-yoga-12-step-program/.
26. Adrianne Traylor interview.
27. Vivian St. Claire, interview by author, June 29, 2014.
Chapter 8: Power: Fuck It, I’ll Do It!
1. P. R. Lockhart, “Black Women Turned Electoral Power into Political Power in 2018,” Vox, November 9, 2018, https://www.vox.com/identities/2018/11/9/18079046/black-women-candidates-history-midterm-elections.
2. Julie Hinds and Chanel Stitt, “VP Pick Kamala Harris, an AKA and HBCU Grad, Connects with Black Community on Many Levels,” Detroit Free Press, August 17, 2020, https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/08/16/kamala-harris-aka-hbcu-grad-connects-black-community/3374026001/.
3. P. R. Lockhart, “Will Virginia Stay Blue? It Depends on Black Turnout on Tuesday,” Mother Jones, October 18, 2017, https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/10/will-virginia-stay-blue-it-depends-on-black-turnout-next-month/; Astead W. Herndon, “Georgia Was a Big Win for Democrats. Black Women Did the Groundwork,” New York Times, December 3, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/03/us/politics/georgia-democrats-black-women.html.
4. “Get to Know Us: Tarana Burke, Founder,” me too. Movement, July 17, 2020, https://metoomvmt.org/get-to-know-us/tarana-burke-founder/.
5. Halimah, interview by author, December 3, 2020.
6. Jessica Louise, interview by author, December 9, 2020.
7. Madison Feller, Savannah Walsh, and Hilary Weaver, “Layleen Polanco’s Family Will Receive Record $5.9 Million Settlement a Year after Her Death at Rikers,” Elle, September 3, 2020, https://www.elle.com/culture/career-politics/a27921290/who-is-layleen-polanco-transgender-woman-died-solitary-confinement/.
8. Jeanne Theoharis, “How Women’s Voices Were Excluded from the March,” MSNBC, September 24, 2020, https://www.msnbc.com/melissa-harris-perry/how-womens-voices-were-excluded-the-msna155781.
9. Dalvin Brown, “Marsha P. Johnson: Transgender Hero of Stonewall Riots Finally Gets Her Due,” USA Today, June 28, 2019, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2019/03/27/black-history-marsha-johnson-and-stonewall-riots/2353538002/.
10. Bianca Mac, interview by author, December 15, 2020.
11. Astead W. Herndon and Annie Karni, “Biden Leads, but No Call Yet Four Days after Election: This Week in the 2020 Race,” New York Times, November 7, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/07/us/politics/the-election.html.
12. Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns, “Biden Wins Presidency, Ending Four Tumultuous Years under Trump,” New York Times, November 7, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/07/us/politics/biden-election.html.
13. Herndon, “Georgia Was a Big Win.”
14. “National Exit Polls: How Different Groups Voted,” New York Times, January 5, 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/11/03/us/elections/exit-polls-president.html.
15. Katanga Johnson and Heather Timmons, “How Stacey Abrams Paved the Way for a Democratic Victory in ‘New Georgia,’” Reuters, November 9, 2020, https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-election-georgia/how-stacey-abrams-paved-the-way-for-a-democratic-victory-in-new-georgia-idUSKBN27P197.
16. Ben Nadler, “Georgia Republican Candidate for Governor Puts 53,000 Voter Registrations on Hold,” USA Today, October 12, 2018, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2018/10/11/georgia-republican-candidate-brian-kemp-puts-53-000-voter-registrations-hold/1608507002/.
17. Courtney Connley, “How Stacey Abrams, LaTosha Brown and Other Black Women Changed the Course of the 2020 Election,” CNBC, November 6, 2020, https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/06/black-women-continue-to-be-the-democratic-partys-most-powerful-weapon.html.
18. Connley, “Stacey Abrams, LaTosha Brown.”
19. “Former Georgia Gubernatorial Candidate on a Push for Voter Turnout,” All Things Considered, NPR, November 2, 2020, https://www.npr.org/2020/11/02/930504055/former-georgia-gubernatorial-candidate-on-a-push-for-voter-turnout.
20. Richard Fausset, Jonathan Martin, and Reid J. Epstein, “Georgia Highlights: Democrats Win the Senate as Ossoff Defeats Perdue,” New York Times, January 8, 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/01/06/us/georgia-election-results.
21. Herndon, “Georgia Was a Big Win.”
22. Martha Jones, “Opinion: Black Women Voters Changed the Shape of the U.S. Election. It’s Time to Thank Them,” Thomson Reuters Foundation, November 12, 2020, https://news.trust.org/item/20201112173512-en64k/.
23. Erin Canty, “15 Real Ways to Thank Black Women for Carrying the Country on Their Backs,” Upworthy, April 15, 2020, https://www.upworthy.com/15-real-ways-to-thank-black-women-for-carrying-the-country-on-their-backs.
24. Kate Rushin, “Poem of the Day ‘The Bridge Poem,’” Trinity College of Arts & Sciences, English Department, Duke University, June 28, 2020, https://english.duke.edu/news/poem-day-bridge-poem.
25. Jennifer Wright, “Kamala Harris Is Already Being Called a Prostitute,” Harper’s Bazaar, January 29, 2019, https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/politics/a26077919/kamala-harris-willie-brown-dating-explained/; Maggie Astor, “Kamala Harris Faced a Double Standard on the Debate Stage,” New York Times, October 8, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/07/us/politics/kamala-harris-faced-a-double-standard-on-the-debate-stage.html.
26. Asma Khalid, “Pressure Grows on Joe Biden to Pick a Black Woman as His Running Mate,” NPR, June 12, 2020, https://www.npr.org/2020/06/12/875000650/pressure-grows-on-joe-biden-to-pick-a-black-woman-as-his-running-mate.
27. Adia Winfrey, interview by author, December 15, 2020.
28. Jasmine Lee et al., “Alabama Election Results: Doug Jones Defeats Roy Moore in U.S. Senate Race,” New York Times, December 12, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/elections/results/alabama-senate-special-election-roy-moore-doug-jones; Krista Gmelich, “Republicans Flip Alabama Senate Seat as Tuberville Beats Jones,” Bloomberg, November 3, 2020, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-04/republicans-flip-alabama-senate-seat-as-tuberville-beats-jones.
29. Jessica Louise, interview by author, December 9, 2020.
30. Bianca Mac, interview by author, December 15, 2020.
Epilogue: The Sisters Are Alright
1. “Washington Post–Kaiser Family Foundation Poll of Black Women in America,” Washington Post, updated February 27, 2012, https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/nation/black-women-in-america/.
2. Ebony Murphy-Root, correspondence with author, September 29, 2014.