Review: Hood Feminism

I am having such a hard time reading this month. I am not able to focus on physical books, I am only able to listen to audio books lately. One book I was able to finish recently was Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall and I’m super excited to share this review with you all!

Synopsis

Today’s feminist movement has a glaring blind spot, and paradoxically, it is women. 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. All too often, however, the focus is not on basic survival for the many, but on increasing privilege for the few. That feminists refuse to prioritize these issues has only exacerbated the age-old problem of both internecine discord and women who rebuff at carrying the title. Moreover, prominent white feminists broadly suffer from their own myopia with regard to how things like race, class, sexual orientation, and ability intersect with gender. How can we stand in solidarity as a movement, Kendall asks, when there is the distinct likelihood that some women are oppressing others?

Why did I choose to read this book

I made a goal for myself back in June to read at least one anti-racism book per month and this book was on my list. My friend Caitlan (my one loyal blog reader!) recommended this to our book club and I new I had to read it.

Rating

Read NOW! (Check out my non-fiction rating system)

My Thoughts

This is an important book that I think anyone that considers themselves a feminist should read. There are so many important topics addressed, each chapter focuses on something different. At the end of each chapter it summarizes what the feminist movement needs to address in order to call themselves feminist for ALL women. I liked how the author was very open about her own experiences and at the same time included a lot of research and data, anecdotes from other people’s experiences and reference to articles.

Some of the topics addressed in this book were things I hadn’t thought about before mostly due to my privilege. At times I caught myself being defensive at certain things and I took some time to reflect as to why that was and re-read some of the chapters. The author is very knowledgeable about how every social issue impacts Black women and I learned so much! We have a lot of work to do and learning about why is the first step.

I listened to the audio book version of the book which is narrated by the author and I LOVED her narration. I appreciated hearing her emotion as she narrated it. However, I also wanted to have a copy to refer back to so I got the physical copy of the book as well.

I definitely recommend this book. You should take your time reading it and digest all the different topics addressed. This would be a great book for a book club discussion.

Who I recommend this book to

Anyone! If you consider yourself a feminist you must read this book.

Buy the book!

Did this review of Hood Feminism for convince you to read it? You can get the book from Bookshop.org here. Please consider ordering it from a Black owned independent bookstore. This list of Black owned independent bookstores accepts online ordering.