Welcome to Litsy!

It has been nearly thirty-eight years since a grown man, drunk on his own sense of entitlement, attempted to murder my mother. According to several years of reports by the Violence Police Center, in this, the second decade of the twenty-first century, eight Black women per week, more than one per day, are murdered, usually with guns, and usually by a Black male they know. More than one thousand women of all races are murdered each year, in similar

Hello #SheSaid I hope you had a good week and maybe some Spring/Fall weather where you are at.

What did you think of the first few essays?

“It just seems like Black women are trying to force white women to accept and include them. I‘m still not over how those suffragists treated Ida B. Wells at that march in 1913.” She was right. A group of white suffragists had tried to force Wells to march in back during a 1913 suffrage march. Wells patently refused, though, and found a way to march with her state delegation

#SheSaid

Beyoncé gets that lesson about feminism better than most. And she has been one of the biggest victims of this failure to love women among Black feminists. Until the release of her magnum opus, Lemonade, an album so self- consciously about the interior lives, struggles, and emotions of Black women that even most of Bey‘s haters had to bow down
…
Beyoncé is my feminist muse

Next up for #SheSaid!

April 6: The Problems With Sass ~ Strong Female Leads
April 13: The Smartest ManI Never Knew ~ Grown-Woman Theology
April 20: Orchestrated Fury ~ White-Girl Tears
April 27: Never Scared ~ Closing

Please put in your library holds & interlibrary loans! And see you all this weekend!

#BlackHistoryMonth recommendations
Day 5
Nonfiction

Black women in the US are often characterized as angry. It is a harmful and well used tactic for racists to demonize and dismiss Black women's troubles and strides.
Cooper takes a look at the history and the way this characterization has affected today powerful Black women like Beyonce and Serena Williams, as well as the effect on herself.
A powerful and engrossing read.

An amazing pick during black history month and (almost) to kick off women‘s history month. This memoir was incredibly eye opening, raw, and well written. An insight into intersectional feminism, and how to be a better, more badass woman.

Book #6 of the year: “Eloquent Rage” by Brittney Cooper

The kind of book everyone should read. Excellent explanations of patriarchal violence, toxic masculinity, intersectionality, personal growth , and misogynoir. Cooper hits a perfect balance of educating and engaging.

Fantastic! Powerful, angry, smart.

#currentlisten #BFC21 Long walk tonight to celebrate 56 pounds lost. Such an amazing turnaround-now I enjoy movement and my day doesn‘t feel right without it! @wanderinglynn

This was the feminist essay collection I didn‘t know I needed. Brittney writes casually but not humorously about her way to feminism as a Black woman. I found her stories to be interesting and her points to be thoughtful. She touched on being a fat feminist, and I would‘ve loved to read more about that. Perhaps in her next book. #audiobook #NationalReadABookDay

A powerful book that everyone should read. It really is “a book by a grown-ass woman written for other grown-ass women.”

Reckon it's time to read this one.

Lol, I‘m sorry cause this isn‘t even close to being the best part of the book but as a gay male I laughed and wondered if I should have married a woman by this logic. Lolol- but conversely it also made me think of this song by Jill Scott. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vZq35f2KUjk A song by a Black woman telling her man all the things she can do and be but still saying, “I need you.” It‘s lovely.

Eloquent indeed. I‘m always impressed with people who do such a great job of using the exact words needed to convey ideas. She did a great job. I thought she had some real thought provoking chapters in here about fear and where that leads to, about white girl tears, but the one that really rang bells for me was the filtering down of Bible teachings by the Black community into respectability politics and what that does. THAT was fire. Pick!

Yesssss, I needed this today! Straightforward, hilarious and, well, eloquent!

“May your rage be a force for good.
What you build is indefinitely more important than what you tear down.”

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

A moving essay collection covering an array of cultural, personal, and political topics. Another important read about black womanhood and feminism, that‘s both real and relatable.

“May you have joy. May you ask more and better questions. May your rage be a force for good.”

Today‘s #Recommendsday is one to read after you‘ve read some of the other recommendations. If you‘ve read a few and find yourself good and mad, pick this one up and be good and mad in good company, and then find ways to use that rage as fuel for change.

#BLM
#BLMReadingList

“Joy arises from an internal clarity about our purpose. My purpose is justice. And the fight for justice brings me joy.”

“Power and Empowerment aren‘t the same thing.” “Eloquent rage isn‘t always loud but it is always effective.” This book was so powerful, I loved it. I listened to this book as an audio book I really need to to buy it. So many gems. Thank you Brittney Cooper for writing this book.

I loved it. I already know I‘ll need a reread.

Avid Reader Press also provided a list of black-owned bookstores for me to support as well!
#SupportBlackVoices

⭐️⭐️ This collection made me rightfully uncomfortable. Dr. Cooper‘s thoughts/opinions are absolutely valid, though often repetitive. Perhaps some bear repeating? idk. Felt like filler. The essays about her upbringing were fantastic. Learning about other folks‘ experiences IS paramount. That said, the chapter on “white women‘s tears” ruined the book for me. As she undoubtedly knows, blanket statements are harmful.

This short video posted on Twitter today is a great introduction to the badassery of Brittney Cooper and makes me want to reread Eloquent Rage right now. ❤️ #blackhistorymonth - https://twitter.com/newshour/status/1098643517918695424?s=21

Stopped at Powell‘s City of Books in Portland today. Happy Valentine‘s weekend to me!

Last book I read in the decade, and it was a great one! Here's to more reading in 2020! Happy New Year! #happynewyear

I finished four books this week. Two audiobooks and two ebooks. The three books on the right are my current reads. Two I started today and one, Mommie Dearest, I‘ve been reading FOREVER. Joan Crawford was a grade A bitch. #bookreport

This book feels like you‘re just having a conversation w/the author, which is a great writing style for this type of memoir. It‘s accessible & engaging while also at times heavy & insightful. I appreciate Cooper‘s layered look at so many issues that Black women confront, & her straightforward taking to task of groups, including white women, who often do Black women harm, intentionally or not. A bit repetitive at times, but overall terrific. 4/5 ⭐️

All voters should have access to candidates that make them feel recognized, but there‘s a problem when your notion of recognition is predicated on someone else‘s exclusion. There‘s a problem when visibility becomes a zero-sum game, where making one group‘s demands visible renders every other group‘s political concerns obscure. Only white supremacy demands such exacting and fatalistic math.

Black feminism has been a liberatory theology for me in its own right. It has made space for me to bring my spiritual self into the academy and my academic, intellectual self into the spiritual parts of my life.

You had me at hello. #grownasswoman 🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏻‍♀️

My next #nonfictionnovember read — this is for the “voice” prompt. I‘ve read a lot of Brittney Cooper‘s writing online and she is always so insightful and sharp. Looking forward to learning more about her! #nowreading

This should be a requirement for every WOC!

Essays on black feminism, no-nonsense point of view and has no problem calling 'bs' multiple times 😀. Excellent on audio, narrated by the author.

#nonfiction2019 @Riveted_Reader_Melissa something from another point of view

3.5 ⭐
This book made me incredibly uncomfortable, which then allowed me to really think about why that was. It's so super important to consider viewpoints different from your own and that challenge your world view. I don't agree with everything Cooper said, but I also recognised that I'm not qualified to comment on most of those things.

Lord knows I‘m tired from the weight of racism, sexism, prejudice, intolerance & all the related issues. Cooper touches on many excellent points and although I agree on most all of them, I feel like our approaches and attitudes are different. I constantly struggle with my “voice” and level of rage. Sometimes I just want to get through a day without the bullshit. If you don‘t know what I‘m talking about then you should definitely read this. #blitsy

Been looking forward to this...here‘s hoping I don‘t end up in a serious #mood today. It‘s read by the author who‘s voice and pace work well in this audiobook format. I usually hate when authors read their own work. #blacklitsy #blitsy #ownvoices #readdiversebooks #blackgirlmagic #blacklivesmatter

Excellent audiobook. This was the next logical read for me as I continue to devour every book written about women‘s anger that I can find. Highly recommend.

Just read it. Now read it again. Because whew... she said a few things here and I can‘t find a lie anywhere

Wow. I was gone for a lot longer than I intended! Well I‘m back!!! I‘ve been reading but traveling and work made it necessary to pull back on social media and unfortunately my participation on this app wavered! I started this book yesterday though and I am loving it! Memoirs written by Black women speaking their truths has become a balm for my soul as of late and honestly, this is fitting the bill.

I‘ve read a lot of great & informative books over the last few years that have helped me understand how exactly the mess we are in was formed, ingrained, and exacerbated...this one took all of that knowledge and discussed it and challenged it, taking it all to the next level. I‘m not sure if I would have appreciated this book at an earlier time without the background that came before, but it came at the perfect time for me.

All the stars!

Great way to end this book...with Joy!