The Black Body

(Paperback)

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Description

30 black, white and biracial contributors celebrate the black body's dramatic role in culture. Award-winning actors, poets, comedians, filmmakers and journalists come together to offer their perspectives on a fascinating and fundamental question - what does it mean to have, or love, a black body Ranging from the deeply serious to the playful, these essays explore desire, old age, obesity, sex, hunger and parenting with passionate wisdom and a deep sense of history.

Reviews

Meri Nana-Ama Danquah'sThe Black Bodyis a bold, cutting-edge and ultimately uplifting anthology destined to become a classic in African-American literature. There is a hunger for redemption in these ethereal essays which is triumphant. Douglas Brinkley, author ofThe Wilderness WarriorandRosa Parks

An intimate collection of thoughts about a subject which too often causes people to retreat across distances seemingly too wide to cross.Awo Ansu,New York Examiner

Danquah's literary libation to the Black body consists of a collaboration of folksBlack, White, and bothall of whom seek to convey what it's like to live in one, be a part of one, and be affected by one. Before openingThe Black Body, I already had preconceived notions of how I thought it would read, considering the fact that I have a Black body, myself. I should have known better. It wasn't necessarily the topics covered that surprised me, but the way in which they were interpreted and the eloquence with which some of the authors conveyed the subject.Olupero R. Aiyenimelo,Feminist Review

Meri Danquah has taken the race debate to another level, deeper and more provocative than we've gone before.Danzy Senna, author of Where Did You Sleep Last Night and Caucasia

Author Bio

MERI NANA-AMA DANQUAH's previous work includes the groundbreaking memoir Willow Weep for Me: A Black Woman's Journey Through Depression and two critically acclaimed anthologies, Becoming American and Shaking the Tree. She earned an MFA in creative writing and literature from Bennington College. A native of Ghana and a single mother, Danquah lives in Los Angeles, California.