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What does it mean to have, or to love, a black body? Taking on the challenge of interpreting the black body’s dramatic role in American culture are thirty black, white, and biracial contributors—award-winning actors, artists, writers, and comedians—including voices as varied as President Obama’s inaugural poet Elizabeth Alexander, actor and bestselling author Hill Harper, political strategist Kimball Stroud, television producer Joel Lipman, former Saturday Night Live writer Anne Beatts, and singer-songwriter Jason Luckett.
Ranging from deeply serious to playful, sometimes hilarious, musings, these essays explore myriad issues with wisdom and a deep sense of history. Meri Nana-Ama Danquah’s unprecedented collection illuminates the diversity of identities and individual experiences that define the black body in our culture.
“Danquah’s literary libation to the Black body consists of a collaboration of folks–Black, White, and both–all of whom seek to convey what it’s like to live in one, be a part of one, and be affected by one. Before opening “The Black Body,” I already had preconceived notions of how I thought it would read, considering the fact that I have a Black body, myself. I should have known better. It wasn’t necessarily the topics covered that surprised me, but the way in which they were interpreted and the eloquence with which some of the authors conveyed the subject.”
—Feminist Review
“An intimate collection of thoughts about a subject which too often causes people to retreat across distances seemingly too wide to cross.”
—New York Examiner
“An intimate collection of thoughts about a subject which too often causes people to retreat across distances seemingly too wide to cross.”
—Afrik.com
