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Book Reviews

Books about Black Women’s Body Image by Various Authors

The last two apps you downloaded were for diets. Ugh. Friends say that you’re perfect but you’d like to lose your flabby arms, your thick thighs, and a few inches from your belly. You imagine what you’d be like if you were a size 6. You wonder if you could wear skinny boots again. But before you download another app, read these books about Black women’s health and body image…

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"It's Always Been Ours" by eating disorder specialist Jessica Wilson (Go Hachette, $29.00), looks at the politics of Black women's bodies. Along those lines, author Chrissy King says that body liberation is what Black women should strive for, and in "The Body Liberation Project" (Penguin Random House, $28.00), she offers ways to achieve body freedom.
"It's Always Been Ours" by eating disorder specialist Jessica Wilson (Go Hachette, $29.00), looks at the politics of Black women's bodies. Along those lines, author Chrissy King says that body liberation is what Black women should strive for, and in "The Body Liberation Project" (Penguin Random House, $28.00), she offers ways to achieve body freedom.

c.2023, various publishers, $26.99 – $29.00, various page counts

By Terri Schlichenmeyer

The last two apps you downloaded were for diets. Ugh.

Friends say that you’re perfect but you’d like to lose your flabby arms, your thick thighs, and a few inches from your belly. You imagine what you’d be like if you were a size 6. You wonder if you could wear skinny boots again. But before you download another app, read these books about Black women’s health and body image…

There’s not just one, but at least two books out this spring that ask if it isn’t time for Black women to reclaim positive self-images about their bodies.

“It’s Always Been Ours” by eating disorder specialist Jessica Wilson (Go Hachette, $29.00), looks at the politics of Black women’s bodies. You don’t need to be told that this isn’t a new thing but the true history of Black women and the harm such negativity has done may still surprise you; Wilson also pulls in the works of novelists, friends, influencers, and others to get the best, most interesting look at the subject. If you want a call to action, this is it.

Along those lines, author Chrissy King says that body liberation is what Black women should strive for, and in “The Body Liberation Project” (Penguin Random House, $28.00), she offers ways to achieve body freedom. What sets her book apart from the Wilson book is less history, more personal tales and thought-provoking question-pages to get readers thinking about how they’ve been thinking about their bodies. Again, there could be surprises in what you learn about yourself.

With these books, King and Wilson advocate for the individual as well as for all Black women and if it feels difficult for you to pick between these two books, then don’t. Read them together or concurrently and you’ll be happier.

But okay, you love your body. Your legs, your arms, your shoulders and hair and smile — so how do you keep all that gorgeousness healthy? You can start with “Black Women’s Wellness” by Melody T. McCloud, MD (Sounds True, $26.99) and learn. Indeed, even if you’re feeling well and looking great, this book explains how to keep yourself that way, starting with what healthy looks like for a Black woman. From there, McCloud touches upon things like cancer, HIV, heart disease and diabetes before moving on to reproductive health, sex, relationships and mental health. It’s written in real language and everything is in simple, easy-to-understand, authentic terms created for grown-ups.

Beware that “Black Women’s Wellness” isn’t a replacement for your doctor or clinic, but it’s a nice question-answerer and a good launching point for knowing your body.

If these three books aren’t exactly what you’re looking for, be sure to ask your favorite librarian or bookseller. Admittedly, there aren’t a lot of modern, new books out there about body image for women of color, but a bookish person can help you find what you need. They’ll be able to put the book in your beautiful hands, your soft arms, for your gorgeous eyes.

There’s no app for that.

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Arts and Culture

In ‘Affrilachia: Testimonies,’ Puts Blacks in Appalacia on the Map

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Author Chris Aluka. Photo courtesy of Chris Aluka.
Author Chris Aluka. Photo courtesy of Chris Aluka.

By Terri Schlichenmeyer
The Bookworm Sez

An average oak tree is bigger around than two people together can reach.

That mighty tree starts out with an acorn the size of a nickel, ultimately growing to some 80 feet tall, with a canopy of a hundred feet or more across.

And like the new book, “Affrilachia” by Chris Aluka Berry (with Kelly Elaine Navies and Maia A. Surdam), its roots spread wide and wider.

Affriclachia is a term a Kentucky poet coined in the 1990s referring to the Black communities in Appalachia who are similarly referred to as Affrilachians.

In 2016, “on a foggy Sunday morning in March,” Berry visited Affrilachia for the first time by going the Mount Zion AME Zion Church in Cullowhee, North Carolina. The congregation was tiny; just a handful of people were there that day, but a pair of siblings stood out to him.

According to Berry, Ann Rogers and Mae Louise Allen lived on opposite sides of town, and neither had a driver’s license. He surmised that church was the only time the elderly sisters were together then, but their devotion to one another was clear.

As the service ended, he asked Allen if he could visit her. Was she willing to talk about her life in the Appalachians, her parents, her town?

She was, and arrangements were made, but before Barry could get back to Cullowhee, he learned that Allen had died. Saddened, he wondered how many stories are lost each day in mountain communities where African Americans have lived for more than a century.

“I couldn’t make photographs of the past,” he says, “but I could document the people and places living now.”

In doing so he also offers photographs that he collected from people he met in ‘Affrilachia,’ in North Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, and Tennessee, at a rustic “camp” that was likely created by enslaved people, at churches, and in modest houses along highways.

The people he interviewed recalled family tales and community stories of support, hardship, and home.

Says coauthor Navies, “These images shout without making a sound.”

If it’s true what they say about a picture being worth 1,000 words, then “Affrilachia,” as packed with photos as it is, is worth a million.

With that in mind, there’s not a lot of narrative inside this book, just a few poems, a small number of very brief interviews, a handful of memories passed down, and some background stories from author Berry and his co-authors. The tales are interesting but scant.

For most readers, though, that lack of narrative isn’t going to matter much. The photographs are the reason why you’d have this book.

Here are pictures of life as it was 50 years or a century ago: group photos, pictures taken of proud moments, worn pews, and happy children. Some of the modern pictures may make you wonder why they’re included, but they set a tone and tell a tale.

This is the kind of book you’ll take off the shelf, and notice something different every time you do. “Affrilachia” doesn’t contain a lot of words, but it’s a good choice when it’s time to branch out in your reading.

“Affrilachia: Testimonies,” by Chris Aluka Berry with Kelly Elaine Navies and Maia A. Surdam

c.2024, University of Kentucky Press, $50.00.

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Black History

BOOK REVIEW: If We Are Brave: Essays from Black Americana

Johnson believes that these days, democracy can be used to do undemocratic things, and most people hardly blink. To “save democracy,” we need to question all the things that affect it, and then re-imagine it. We must examine why racism still exists, for example, and how it affected the last five election cycles. We shouldn’t worry about changing democracy because we’re already in the midst of change. We can look at history for proof of that. And we need to be very watchful.

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Book Cover. Courtesy of Amistad.
Book Cover. Courtesy of Amistad.

By Terri Schlichenmeyer

What do you think?

You may remember the first time a respected adult asked you in earnest for your opinion, and you felt like you had arrived. Ten feet tall, you were. Suddenly a grown-up with viewpoints and thoughts that mattered. What do you think about sports, fashion, food, school, a new apartment or neighbor? In the new book “If We Are Brave,” author Theodore R. Johnson asks, ‘what do you think about current events?’

Every summer for most of his childhood, Johnson traveled with his family from North Carolina to Georgia to visit relatives. There, Johnson always tried to insert himself in with the menfolk and was usually turned away – until one day, an uncle asked his opinion.

He still remembers it. Listening to your elders, he says, “you learn who your people are.”

And yet, Johnson was a curious child, never wanting to take anyone’s word, preferring instead to make up his own mind. When a church leader at prayer call told him that “God has a special plan for your life,” Johnson was humbled but he knew the prophesy came with baggage.

His thirst for understanding hasn’t diminished since then; in fact, it’s ballooned.

Here, he dives into democracy in America. Over the past months, you’ve undoubtedly heard about the subject, and you have probably noticed that the word’s meaning can be ambiguous.

Johnson believes that these days, democracy can be used to do undemocratic things, and most people hardly blink.

To “save democracy,” we need to question all the things that affect it, and then re-imagine it. We must examine why racism still exists, for example, and how it affected the last five election cycles. We shouldn’t worry about changing democracy because we’re already in the midst of change. We can look at history for proof of that. And we need to be very watchful.

Says Johnson, when elected officials use the “instruments of government to divide and polarize” voters and public institutions, they can easily send democracy into a “death spiral.”

It may seem like the kerfuffle over the election has eased some.

Whether your candidate won or lost, you’ve had time now to let it settle in. So read “If We Are Brave” and get ready to have everything you thought you knew shook up like a snow globe.

Like the Black churches he writes so lovingly about, Johnson “don’t play.” Once you’re pulled into one of his stories, find a good seat; you won’t want to go anywhere anyhow. Johnson uses tales of his childhood and his classrooms to lead readers into understanding how we got to this point, politically, and how we should have seen some foreshadowing during last election — had we just known where in history to look.

Reading this book is like having a private civics lesson, only way more interesting than it ever was in high school. It’s sense-making, at a time when many things don’t make sense. Start “If We Are Brave” and see what you think.

Author: Theodore R. Johnson, c.2024, Amistad, $30.00

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Book Reviews

Book Review: Groundbreaking Magic: A Black Woman’s Journey Through the Happiest Place on Earth

Your dream job is still a job. You still must be there on time, look presentable and be ready to go. You can love the work and dislike your coworkers, embrace the challenge but hate the drudge, enjoy the process but dread the politics. The book, “Groundbreaking Magic” by Martha Blanding with Tim O’Day, shows us how we can relish our unique employment situations, downsides and all — and still represent.

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Cover of Groundbreaking Magic. Courtesy of Disney Editions
Cover of Groundbreaking Magic. Courtesy of Disney Editions

Authors: Martha Blanding with Tim O’Day

c.2024, Disney Editions

$25.99

By Terri Schlichenmeyer

Your dream job is still a job.

You still must be there on time, look presentable and be ready to go. You can love the work and dislike your coworkers, embrace the challenge but hate the drudge, enjoy the process but dread the politics.

The book, “Groundbreaking Magic” by Martha Blanding with Tim O’Day, shows us how we can relish our unique employment situations, downsides and all — and still represent.

On the day she retired from a job she’d had for half a century Martha Blanding took a tour of her workplace as she took stock of the years.

Her parents, who’d lived under Jim Crow in their younger days, wouldn’t have believed the changes Blanding helped make.

Born in 1950, she’d watched Disney programming on television; living in South Central Los Angeles, she had been aware of the construction of Disneyland nearby. She visited the park for the first time when she was seven years old.

Needing money for college in the early 1970s, Blanding applied for a job at Disneyland and was told that they had no employment available – even though she’d seen postings for job openings. Some weeks later, her roommate encouraged Blanding to re-apply.

Reluctantly, she did. And that time, she was hired to work in the kitchen but before her first day on the job, Blanding was tapped as a tour guide and given training at “Disney University.” Due to her stellar work ethic, she was later promoted to VIP guide; over the years, she moved up the ladder to a series of positions that made use of her managerial and promotional skills.

As time passed and the Civil Rights Movement made strides in America, so did Blanding at Disney. She became a gentle activist, so that other minority workers had opportunities to be Cast Members, office staff, and management.

Oftentimes, she said, “… I was the only Black girl there” and “there was no hiding.”

None, in fact; instead, she used it to everyone’s advantage.

When you first start “Groundbreaking Magic,” you know right away that you’re in for a sweet, charming story from a hidden-until-now trailblazer.

You may or may not continue to feel that way.

In this biography, Blanding (with Tim O’Day) writes about creating equality in one small corner of an iconic business, and the story’s told from a POV that’s unique, engaging, and interesting. Fans of Disney will truly enjoy backstage peeks and insider info that takes readers through the decades and to various Disney locales.

What’s not so interesting is that the authors seem to mention every-single-one they worked with, including everyday people who are long gone or that you’ll probably never meet. That isn’t initially the distraction it becomes later but as the number of names increase, your attention is like to lag.

If you’re business-minded, then, and want to read about a corporation changing with the times, you may eventually be disappointed in “Groundbreaking Magic.”

Read it for the personal parts though, especially if you’re a Disney fan. It’s a dream story.

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