Rating: 8/10
This book has been on my tbr list since its release in early 2020, or the early pandemic days as I like to call it. This was a book that a lot of my bookish friends were raving about and it received quite a lot of praise in the feminist scene. It has a curious title which makes you want to read it and learn about what ‘Hood Feminism’ is. I listened to the audio book which was narrated by the author herself. Let’s get on with the review and what this read is about.
About ‘Hood Feminism’:
In Hood Feminism, Mikki Kendall questions today’s feminist movement and its blind-spots. Mainstream feminists rarely talk about meeting basic needs as a feminist issue, argues Mikki Kendall, but food insecurity, access to quality education, safe neighborhoods, a living wage, and medical care are all feminist issues. Kendall highlights that feminism is indeed privileged and does not focus on basic survival. She argues that feminists refuse to prioritize these issues. She looks into how prominent white feminists tend to overlook issues such as race, class, sexual orientation, and much more. Kendall asks - How can we stand in solidarity as a movement, and also asks, when there is the distinct likelihood that some women are oppressing others?
My Review:
As a feminist myself, I love reading different perspectives when it comes to dissecting feminists ideas and challenging those ideas.
This book is an absolute must read for white feminists as it forces them to look inward and question the challenges of feminism as a whole.
I listened to the audible which was narrated by the author, and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the book. In ‘Hood Feminism’, Kendall blends her own personal experiences with the numerous topics that she dissects in each section of her book. In all honesty, I pretty much agreed with 90% of the issues and challenges that she talks about in this book. As a person of color, I can understand where she is coming from, and the challenges that she has faced in her life as a feminist and as a black woman living in our day and age.
I have often felt that feminism sometimes, can be too broad and doesn’t truly look at the whole scope of issues that lead to feminist problems. In this book, she gets into politics and the role that has played in feminism over time, she gets into inequality of all genders, gun violence, homelessness and poverty, housing, reproductive systems and abortions, social class, school systems and stereotypes in black women and so much more. I loved the plethora of topics that she discusses and it really got me thinking like 'oh wow, I never really thought of these issues as feminist issues before’...but it actually all made perfect sense as she walked you through her challenged and her ideas.
Some of my favorite topics that she discusses were when she challenges oppression within gender and feminism. For example, white women oppressing black women, or cis women oppressing trans women. I feel that these issues are true and that as feminists, we should all stand in one fight and stand together instead of tearing each other down. I also liked the chapters in which she delves into the black girl stereotypes, and why this has come to be in our day and age, the lack of resources that the black community has in comparison to the white race, homelessness, she even delves into black icons such as Beyonce and Serena Williams, and the general stereotypes that society places on them.
I thought this book was an interesting read and ALL feminists should give it a listen whether you agree or disagree with it.
It’s good to hear from other perspectives on this topic. I will say though, that the book is mostly told from a US perspective, so some of these issues may not relay in other countries. That’s my only sort of disclaimer about this book. I also sometimes found that the topics sort of jolted from one to another quite fast, and would have preferred more elaborations on some chapters. But all in all, I liked listening to this book and I got a lot out from it. That’s what I generally like when I rate books. Did I get anything out from reading this book? Yes, I definitely did.
This a great book for white feminists, black feminists, all feminists really. It deals with many interesting topics such as reproductive rights, social class, poverty, gender identity, healthcare discrimination, and much much more. Kendall blends in her own life experiences which I thought added a nice and relatable touch to this book. This would make a great read for students, and anyone who wants to learn what it is like from a black feminist female perspective. I also loved that she’s a Chi-City gal! Hayyy!
Song Pick:
For this song pick, I knew that I wanted it to be by a black female rapper, also an old school one in a way because old school female rap is just super dope. I had a lot of songs in mind, but ultimately, one stood out by the amazing and talented, Queen Latifa. The song is called U.N.I.T.Y and it’s such a banger. I also kind of feel like ultimately, what Kendall is trying to achieve in this book, is unity among all feminists. It’s a dope song, dope music video filmed in the hood from a very young and gorgeous Latifa, and a huge feminist tune too!
Genre: Nonfiction | Feminism | Essays
Pages: 288 Pages
Publication Date: March 3, 2020
Publisher: Viking