First, if you haven’t already, go follow EbonyJanice Moore on Instagram and then go pre-order or buy All the Black Girls Are Activists. Secondly, I am a middle-aged white woman who is working on unlearning white supremacy, so this book was not written for me. Regardless, I got a lot out of reading this, and I think other white and non-Black people will too.
Purely as a reading experience, All the Black Girls are Activists: A Fourth Wave Womanist Pursuit of Dreams as Radical Resistance is a joy. EbonyJanice writes with passion for her subjects and compassion for her readers. One of the things I enjoyed about reading her essays was the way her work conveyed that it is part of a larger movement. She incorporates the work of contemporaries and quotes the works of the people who came before her. I was familiar with some of the people named and added others to my list of people to read.
I mention this because individualism is one of the hallmarks of white supremacy, a system which I am working on dismantling within my own self. Years ago I had a friend and housemate who helped organize a yearly weekend gathering for queer women of color. I loved hearing her talk about it. It sounded amazing, but I didn’t ask to go because I am not a queer woman of color. It wasn’t until she talked about a white colleague haranguing her about not being invited that I really understood why the weekend was closed to white women. Her description of how viscerally she wanted a space where she didn’t have to worry about a white woman’s feelings all the time has stuck with me. I had a similar feeling reading All the Black Girls are Activists. I am not invited inside the Womanist tent, and I am ok with that. I loved reading about the work she and other Black femmes are doing, and I will continue to read and support that work, while also staying in my lane. We all need space to breath and just be.
I received this as an advance reader copy from Row House Publishing and NetGalley. My opinions are my own, freely and honestly given.
