第1章 More Praise for The Sisters Are Alright
"The Sisters Are Alright is a love letter to black women. Winfrey Harris's unapologetic celebration of our intelligence, mettle, and beauty counters the proliferation of negative stereotypes we endure daily. She sees us, she knows us, and she also understands that we're not monolithic. Winfrey Harris surfaces stories about black women's realities that are often glossed over or tossed aside, urgently insisting with beautiful prose that contrary to our cultural narrative, black women's lives matter."
-Jamia Wilson, Executive Director, Women, Action, and the Media
"Tamara Winfrey Harris picks up where Ntozake Shange left off, adding an eighth color to the rainbow of For Colored Girls. This academic work reads like a choreopoem that challenges the notion that black women are too tough to love or be loved. The author does more than deconstruct the stereotype of Sapphire; she asserts that black women are diamonds, and she insists that her reader consider their sparkle."
-Duchess Harris, PhD, Professor of American Studies, Macalester College, and author of Black Feminist Politics from Kennedy to Obama
"Tamara Winfrey Harris's book The Sisters Are Alright is a fitting answer to the question W. E. B. Du Bois said all black Americans are forced to consider: 'How does it feel to be a problem?' In a society that treats black people as problems and women as problems, it is nothing short of revolutionary to answer, as this book does, 'No, really, the sisters are alright.'"
-Jarvis DeBerry, journalist, The Times-Picayune, NOLA.com
"The Sisters Are Alright is written with the same honest, compassionate tone Tamara Winfrey Harris is known for. This book feels like a hug for the overlooked brown girl. It's a combination of experience, honest reflection, history and popular culture, and a good read no matter your race or experience. She brings it home with a strong call to action, reminding us that while resilience is necessary, so is basic human respect-and we would do well to follow her lead."
-Samhita Mukhopadhyay, author of Outdated: Why Dating Is Ruining Your Love Life
"If corporate media and pop culture are active volcanoes, Tamara Winfrey Harris is a clear-eyed excavator who can help us make sense of their constant, painful eruptions. Writing from a place of love, Winfrey Harris pulls at the strings that unravel the racism, sexism, and abject irrationality of newspapers attempting to reduce one of TV's most powerful producers to an 'Angry Black Woman'; of hip-hop stars, pundits, and preachers blaming black girls for the violence and discrimination they are forced to endure; and of reality TV replacing black women's humanity with slavery-era tropes. After laying those biases bare, The Sisters Are Alright elevates the too-often-unheard voices of black women themselves, offering nuanced insights about the nature of love, sex, beauty, marriage, violence, economics, politics, culture, and more. Anyone who cares about black women will enjoy-and learn a lot from-this excellent new book."
-Jennifer Pozner, Executive Director, Women in Media & News, and author of Reality Bites Back: The Troubling Truth about Guilty Pleasure TV
The Sisters Are Alright