The Black Women's Health Book: Speaking for Ourselves Second Edition [Paperback]

Evelyn C. White (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 11, 1994

In this expanded edition, over 50 African American women write about the health issues that affect them and the well-being of their families and communities. A new section covers menopause, breastfeeding, non-Western/holistic healing, fibroids, diet evolution, skin color issues, teenage sexuality, and HIV.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This volume contains a collection of 41 writings by and for black women about health--physical, emotional and psychological. The contents range from personal essays on how to deal with high blood pressure and memories of incest to a poem posing the question "Have you ever considered suicide?" There are also interviews with midwives and community health advocates, as well as journal passages detailing the challenges of living with lupus. Edited by White ( Chain Chain Change: For Black Women Dealing with Physical and Emotional Abuse ), the book covers the vast spectrum of the black woman's health experience as patient, healer and witness. On becoming a physician, for instance, Vanessa Northington Gamble writes that she pursued this dream in the face of the twin obstacles of race and gender: "I had to face the fact that not everyone believed that a black woman could be or was qualified." She herself was told by a student and colleague "that I would gain admission not because I had excelled in college, but because I would fit the affirmative action plan." By contrast, the novelist Alice Walker describes the discomfort, shame and pain she has felt from a nonracial affliction--her blind eye, "bluish, a little battered-looking but full of light, with whitish clouds swirling around it." She recalls how her daughter asked one day, "Mommy, where did you get that world in your eye?" The question, like the collection itself, assembled from a disparate yet connected group of women, proves that words, as well as deeds, have the power to heal.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

YA-First published in 1990 to rave reviews, this revised edition has been expanded to include 11 additional essays. Contributors include such notables as Zora Neale Hurston, Lucille Clifton, Marian Wright Edelman, bell hooks, and Toni Morrison. Topics include suicide, midwives, the politics of black women's health, sexual abuse, domestic violence, and a host of others. Much of the material is written from a personal point of view, and all of the authors passionately express their particular concerns. Although most of the selections are essays, there are some interesting variations. Audre Lorde opens her diary to share her courageous battle with cancer. Zora Neale Hurston presents a list of root prescriptions handed down through the generations. A poem by Lucille Clifton is included. Linda Janet Holmes's article on midwives is in anecdotal format, making it very fresh and immediate. Besides the original essays, this 1994 anthology has articles on skin color, HIV infection, menopause, etc. It's a marvelous collection.
Pat Royal, Crossland High School, Camp Springs, MD
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 389 pages
• Publisher: Seal Press; 2nd edition (January 11, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1878067400
• ISBN-13: 978-1878067401
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #579,734 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Black Women's Health Book: Speaking for Ourselves, August 3, 2000

By 

Kimberly Couvson (Fremont, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Black Women's Health Book: Speaking for Ourselves Second Edition (Paperback)

I have found this book to be not only educational, but highly entertaining and pertient toward my life. It address issues that affect every woman, but pinpoints Afro-American women specifically by tackling issues from sexual abuse to homosexuality, and the way these issues play themselves out in the black community as a whole. The editor Evelyn C. White has done a great job of empowering women to not be afraid of being black in today's America. By choosing to include viewpoints from authors like Zora Neale Hurston and Beverly Smith,it becomes evident that black women have always found a way to take care of themselves; even when professional medicial care was not an option, their resolution stood tall in the face of adversity. One of the best stories was by a young woman as she recounted her concerns about going to a predominantly white, male medical school in Philadelphia. She had to deal with multiple demons. Not only did she have blantant racism staring her in the face from classmates not so professionally "neutral" in their views of what roles a black woman should hold in society, but the inner doubt that she was betraying the community that she came from, who weren't always treated fairly. This anthology talks about how black women face obstacles few other ethnic groups encounter on a daily basis. Most important of these being the disapproval of the black community within in this country, that doesn't always realize that we do have a voice, and intend to use it for the greater good of women everywhere, but most importantly ourselves.