Customer Reviews

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

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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.