First published 2017
Hollis Robbins and Henry Louis Gates, Jr. gather voices spanning centuries of black women's intellectual achievement. The collection organizes forty-nine writers across memoir, poetry, and essays that tackle feminism, education, and literary heritage. These authors engaged directly with abolition, women's suffrage, temperance movements, and civil rights activism. The anthology centers on demonstrating black women's intellectual capacity and individual drive for success. Readers encounter familiar names like Sojourner Truth, Hannah Crafts, and Harriet Jacobs alongside overlooked figures such as Ella Sheppard, whose memoir details her experience performing with an internationally acclaimed singing ensemble. The editors present these works as urgent calls for recognition, demanding that black women's contributions to American letters receive the attention they deserve.
Genres: biography, anthologies, 20th-century, american, feminism, african-american, 21st-century, 19th-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking, urgent
Tropes: call-to-action, demand-for-recognition, overlooked-figures
Period: 19th-Century, 20th-Century
613 pages · Paperback · Penguin Books