Latest Publication

A Black Women’s History of the United States

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In centering Black women’s stories, two award-winning historians seek both to empower African American women and to show their allies that Black women’s unique ability to make their own communities while combatting centuries of oppression is an essential component in our continued resistance to systemic racism and sexism. Daina Ramey Berry and Kali Nicole Gross offer an examination and celebration of Black womanhood, beginning with the first African women who arrived in what became the United States to African American women of today.

A Black Women’s History of the United States reaches far beyond a single narrative to showcase Black women’s lives in all their fraught complexities. Berry and Gross prioritize many voices: enslaved women, freedwomen, religious leaders, artists, queer women, activists, and women who lived outside the law. The result is a starting point for exploring Black women’s history and a testament to the beauty, richness, rhythm, tragedy, heartbreak, rage, and enduring love that abounds in the spirit of Black women in communities throughout the nation.

Purchase the book from the publisher or select one of the following fine retailers: IndieBound, Amazon, Target, and Barnes & Noble.

Tour Dates

  • April 12-16

    Reckoning with Very Real Conversations

    reckoning-with-very-real-conversations

    How do museums engage and address uncomfortable subjects like slavery, race and white supremacy? In what ways
    can we engage visitors without alienating some or offending others? What types of programming add depth to these
    conversations? While this subject has been moving through museum circles for decades, the importance of making the
    past relevant to the present in order to create a healthier future is greater than ever. Museum staffs are in the unique
    position of being able to use their collections to address harmful stereotypes and perceptions and to start conversations
    that help make our institutions and communities stronger and better informed.

    https://www.texasmuseums.org/events/register?id=13269

Media

Check back here as Drs. Berry and Gross begin promoting A Black Women’s History of the United States.

Reviews

"A compact, exceptionally diverse introduction to the history of black women in America, rooted in "everyday heroism."As Berry (History/Univ. of Texas; The Price for Their Pound of Flesh: The Value of the Enslaved, From Womb to Grave, in the Building of a Nation, 2017, etc.) and Gross (History/Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick; Hannah Mary Tabbs and the Disembodied Torso: A Tale of Race, Sex and Violence in America, 2016, etc.) persuasively argue, black women have "significantly shaped" our nation—and fought for their rights—throughout every period of American history. Yet their contributions often have been overlooked or underappreciated. In the latest book in the publisher's ReVisioning American History series, the authors offer a selective but wide-ranging search-and-rescue mission for black female activists, trailblazers, and others who have left a mark..."
—Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)