Lisa is joined by Tamara Winfrey-Harris, a writer who specializes in race and gender and their intersection with politics, popular culture, and current events. She is the author of Dear Black Girl: Letters from Your Sisters on Stepping into Your Power, and she has been called to share her analyses in media outlets such as NPR's Weekend Edition and Janet Mock's So POPular! on MSNBC.com. Her work has also appeared in countless outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, Los Angeles Times, Bitch Magazine, Ms. and other media. Winfrey-Harris is Vice President of Community Leadership and Effective Philanthropy at the Central Indiana Community Foundation, and she speaks at university campuses nationwide. She has dedicated her life's work to advocating for Black women and girls and defying destructive social narratives that limit their potential. She is co-founder of Centering Sisters, LLC, which unapologetically addresses the needs and issues of Black women, girls, and femmes. Learn more at TamaraWinfreyHarris.com.
Praised by The Washington Post as “a myth-busting portrait of Black women in America,” Tamara Winfrey-Harris’ The Sisters Are Alright: Changing the Broken Narrative of Black Women in America exposed the high cost of “misogynoir,” uplifted the experiences of real Black women and shed light on their quest to break free of enduring and vicious stereotypes.
Since then, the Black community continues to grapple with systemic racism, while the book has become a touchstone of Black feminist thought. With a television development deal in the works with Wise Entertainment and Gabrielle Union’s I’ll Have Another Productions, and an updated second edition, The Sisters Are Alright is more relevant than ever (Publication date: October 12, 2021; Berrett-Koehler Publishers).
While emancipation may have occurred more than 150 years ago, Winfrey-Harris argues that America still won’t let Black women be free from an insidious coven of caricatures: the servile Mammy, angry Sapphire, and lascivious Jezebel. Persisting to this day, these stereotypes continue to infiltrate newspaper headlines, Sunday sermons, social media memes, cable punditry, government policies, big-screen portrayals and hit song lyrics.
The latest edition of this bestseller features new interviews with diverse Black women. Alongside these authentic experiences and new voices, Winfrey Harris offers fresh Black feminist analysis of current events, politics and, popular culture--from “W.A.P.” and the rise of digital blackface to new civic activism and the risks of Black maternity. These include:
The evolution of stereotypes of Black women, with new real-life examples, such as the rise of blackfishing and digital blackface (which help white women rise to fame)