Hood Feminism

Hood Feminism

Adult nonfiction
"...One of the biggest issues with mainstream feminist writing
has been the way the idea of what constitutes a feminist issue is
framed. We rarely talk about basic needs as a feminist issue. Food
insecurity and access to quality education, safe neighborhoods, a
living wage, and medical care are all feminist issues..."
One of the must read books for White women is Mikki Kendall's
Hood Feminism: Notes From The Women That A Movement Forgot. Her
premise is basic. As a movement that is supposed to represent all
women, feminism is failing spectacularly. There is more of an
emphasis on getting perks for the already privileged than on obtaining
the basics for the most disadvantaged communities. Keeping discourse
in the comfort zone of fragile white women can totally stiffle honest
attempts to communicate or problem solve and keep an emphasis on
intent, not impact. And the movement currently carries a lot of
racist baggage.
Each of Kendall's chapters is an in-depth look at one facet of
this problem.
*Hunger goes into the reasons for and debilitating effects of extreme
food insecurity and the harm done by judgements on the part of women
who have no clue what long term hunger is like.
"...Survival instincts drive us all, but perhaps none so
strongly as that gnawing emptiness of hunger. Whether we call it
being hangry or something else, hunger is painful even in the short
term. And yet we rarely speak of it as something for feminism to
combat, much less as something that is uniquely devastating for women."
*Reproductive Justice, Eugenics, And Maternal Mortality goes way
beyond the right to abortions. Body autonomy must also include safety
from coerced sterilization. There must be access to not only
reproductive care, but life long health care. The bias that sees
White women as good mothers and mothers of color as inadequate has to
go.
"...That mythos persists today in Welfare Queen narratives that
position children as checks and not much-loved and wanted parts of a
family. Whether the slur is 'anchor babies' or something else, no one
is safe from the racist lie that only white parents have the emotional
capacity to actually want their children."
Kendall's narrative combines keen scholarship with candid
personal experience. Hood Feminism is a must read for White women
like me who aspire to grow into allyship.
I did interrupt my reading for a family barbeque. Good food, good
conversation, perfect weather. So I didn't get to as much reading as
I wanted to. Now on to my next book.


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