CoCo FULL OF GRACE

A list of books for Black men who want to support Black women and gain a better understanding of race tied to toxic masculinity, sexism, male privilege, misogyny and misogynoir (a hatred for Black women). After you finish this list, APPLY THIS KNOWLEDGE- PRACTICE IT. BE GOOD TO BLACK WOMEN. LOVE US BETTER: ✊🏾 We Real Cool: Black Men and Masculinity by bell hooks This book will change your life. A Black woman took the time to not only explain why Black men can be sexist, she reveals how you are also oppressed and provides strategies on how you can heal. If you are able to heal, then you will be able to truly support Black women. - Here is the PDF: https://feminism.memoryoftheworld.org/Bell%20Hooks/We%20Real%20Cool_%20Black%20Men%20and%20Musculinity%20(449)/We%20Real%20Cool_%20Black%20Men%20and%20Musculinity%20-%20Bell%20Hooks.pdf ✊🏾 Words of Fire: An Anthology of African-American Feminist Thought by Beverly Guy-Sheftall - check out a series of writings by different Black women ✊🏾 At The Dark End of the Street by Danielle McGuire This is written by a white woman, however, this reveals Black women as the catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement and how (trigger warning) sexual violence was a contributing factor. ✊🏾 Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde -Read all of it for sure, however, please read the essay “The Erotic as Power: Uses of the Erotic as Power.” It’s important that you understand why it is a terrible thing to sexually shame women. Lorde will also teach you that Black women don’t owe you anything romantically or period. We will support you, but we don’t have to be with you. Be ok that you may not be of interest when it comes to our sexuality. “Black women sharing close ties with each other, politically or emotionally, are not the enemies of Black men.” - Audre Lorde ✊🏾 The Womanist Reader ( a Womanist Anthology) edited by Layli Phillips - A lot of you as Black men only discuss feminism as if it is a dirty word. Learn that [white] Feminism is very different from Black Feminism. BUT now learn that Black women can want to dismantle patriarchy, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, etc. and not be a Black Feminist. THIS BOOK shows there are a series of Black women who identify as Womanist. There are also Africana Womanist, African Feminist, and Intersectional Feminism. A matter of fact, Black women can actually have all of these beliefs, but not label ourselves as any of these Black women ideologies. ✊🏾 “Womanism” (the essay) by Alice Walker (Yes, the woman who wrote The Color Purple) - This can be found in the a Womanist Reader. In 1979, Walker coined the term Womanism. This is typically the reading that I have found has changed Black men’s perspectives on Black women… Some of you have been brought to tears by it. Get into it. ✊🏾 In Search of Our Mother’s Garden by Alice Walker ✊🏾 “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color” (an essay) by Kimberle Crenshaw - In 1991, a Black woman coined a term that was intended to debunk why it’s difficult to be just “race first,” especially as a Black woman when we have various identities that place us at the margins (keep us oppressed just like you and sometimes more so). The term is “intersectionality.” Here is a PDF- http://multipleidentitieslgbtq.wiki.westga.edu/file/view/crenshaw1991.pdf ✊🏾 Multiple Jeopardy, Multiple Consciousness: The Context of a Black Feminist Ideology (an essay) by Deborah K. King If you have heard of W.E.B. Du Bois, double consciousness, imagine reading something as Black men discussing the various identities and intersections that we face as Black women. King shows how socially this keeps Black women in comparison to you and people of other races and genders at the bottom. Here is a PDF- http://web.uvic.ca/~ayh/318King%20Multiple%20Jeopardy.pdf ✊🏾 Black Feminist Thought by Patricia Hill Collins - It is just important. Period. and gain a better understanding of race tied to toxic masculinity, sexism, male privilege, misogyny and misogynoir (a hatred for Black women). After you finish this list, APPLY THIS KNOWLEDGE- PRACTICE IT. BE GOOD TO BLACK WOMEN. LOVE US BETTER: ✊🏾 We Real Cool: Black Men and Masculinity by bell hooks This book will change your life. A Black woman took the time to not only explain why Black men can be sexist, she reveals how you are also oppressed and provides strategies on how you can heal. If you are able to heal, then you will be able to truly support Black women. - Here is the PDF: https://feminism.memoryoftheworld.org/Bell%20Hooks/We%20Real%20Cool_%20Black%20Men%20and%20Musculinity%20(449)/We%20Real%20Cool_%20Black%20Men%20and%20Musculinity%20-%20Bell%20Hooks.pdf ✊🏾 Words of Fire: An Anthology of African-American Feminist Thought by Beverly Guy-Sheftall - check out a series of writings by different Black women ✊🏾 At The Dark End of the Street by Danielle McGuire This is written by a white woman, however, this exposes Black woman as the catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement and how (trigger warning) sexual violence was a contributing factor. ✊🏾 Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde -Read all of it for sure, however, please read the essay “The Erotic as Power: Uses of the Erotic as Power.” It’s important that you understand why it is a terrible thing to sexually shame women. Lorde will also teach you that Black women don’t owe you anything romantically or period. We will support you, but we don’t have to be with you. Be ok that you may not be of interest when it comes to our sexuality. “Black women sharing close ties with each other, politically or emotionally, are not the enemies of Black men.” - Audre Lorde ✊🏾 The Womanist Reader ( a Womanist Anthology) edited by Layli Phillips - A lot of you as Black men only discuss feminism as if it is a dirty word. Learn that [white] Feminism is very different from Black Feminism. BUT now learn that Black women can want to dismantle patriarchy, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, etc. and not be a Black Feminist. THIS BOOK shows there are a series of Black women who identify as Womanist. There are also Africana Womanist, African Feminist, and Intersectional Feminism. A matter of fact, Black women can actually have all of these beliefs, but not label ourselves as any of these Black women ideologies. ✊🏾 “Womanism” (the essay) by Alice Walker (Yes, the woman who wrote The Color Purple) - This can be found in the a Womanist Reader. In 1979, Walker coined the term Womanism. This is typically the reading that I have found has changed Black men’s perspectives on Black women… Some of you have been brought to tears by it. Get into it. ✊🏾 In Search of Our Mother’s Garden by Alice Walker ✊🏾 “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color” (an essay) by Kimberle Crenshaw - In 1991, a Black woman coined a term that was intended to debunk why it’s difficult to be just “race first,” especially as a Black woman when we have various identities that place us at the margins (keep us oppressed just like you and sometimes more so). The term is “intersectionality.” Here is a PDF- http://multipleidentitieslgbtq.wiki.westga.edu/file/view/crenshaw1991.pdf ✊🏾 Multiple Jeopardy, Multiple Consciousness: The Context of a Black Feminist Ideology (an essay) by Deborah K. King If you have heard of W.E.B. Du Bois, double consciousness, imagine reading something as Black men discussing the various identities and intersections that we face as Black women. King shows how socially this keeps Black women in comparison to you and people of other races and genders at the bottom. Here is a PDF- http://web.uvic.ca/~ayh/318King%20Multiple%20Jeopardy.pdf ✊🏾 Black Feminist Thought by Patricia Hill Collins - It is just important. Period. One day I will add more to this list Black men. I just hope that you read it. I love you, but I’m calling you to do better by Black women.