Sisters of the yam : black women and self-recovery PDF
Preview Sisters of the yam : black women and self-recovery
Sisters of the Yam In Sisters of the Yam, bell hooks reflects on the ways in which the emotional health of black women has been and continues to be impacted by sexism and racism. Desiring to create a context where black females could both work on their individual efforts for self-actualization while remaining connected to a larger world of collective struggle, hooks articulates the link between self-recovery and political resistance. Both an expression of the joy of self-healing and the need to be ever vigilant in the struggle for equality, Sisters of the Yam continues to speak to the experience of black womanhood. A cultural critic, an intellectual, and a feminist writer, bell hooks is best known for classic books including Ain’t I a Woman, Bone Black, All About Love, Rock My Soul, Belonging, We Real Cool, Where We Stand, Teaching to Transgress, Teaching Community, Outlaw Culture, and Reel to Real. hooks is Distinguished Professor in Residence in Appalachian Studies at Berea College, and resides in her home state of Kentucky. 2 Sisters of the Yam Black Women and Self-Recovery bell hooks 3 First published 2015 by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 and by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2015 Gloria Watkins The right of Gloria Watkins to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First and second editions published by South End Press 1994, 2005 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data hooks, bell, 1952– 4 Sisters of the yam : black women and self-recovery / bell hooks. — 3rd edition. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. African American women—Mental health. 2. Self-esteem in women. 3. Self-actualization (Psychology) 4. Oppression (Psychology) I. Title. RC451.5.N4H66 2015 155.8’496073—dc23 2014023035 ISBN: 978-1-138-82167-5 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-138-82168-2 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-315-74316-5 (ebk) Typeset in Garamond MT Std by Apex CoVantage, LLC 5 Celebrating the life and work of Toni Cade Bambara whose visionary insight, revolutionary spirit, and passionate commitment to struggle guides and sustains. “Just so’s you’re sure, sweetheart, and ready to be healed, cause wholeness is no trifling matter. A lot of weight when you are well.” —Toni Cade Bambara, The Salt Eaters 6 Contents preface to the new edition: reflections of light introduction healing darkness 1.seeking after truth 2.tongues of fire learning critical affirmation 3.work makes life sweet 4.knowing peace an end to stress 5.growing away from addiction 6.dreaming ourselves dark and deep black beauty 7.facing and feeling loss 8.moved by passion eros and responsibility 7 9.living to love 10.sweet communion 11.the joy of reconciliation 12.touching the earth 13.walking in the spirit selected bibliography an interview with bell hooks index 8 9 Preface to the New Edition: Reflections of Light When I wrote Ain’t I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism more than forty years ago, the chapter that most spoke to me was “Continued Devaluation of Black Womanhood.” Concluding that chapter, I wrote: Widespread efforts to continue devaluation of black womanhood make it extremely difficult and oftentimes impossible for the black female to develop a positive self-concept. For we are daily bombarded by negative images. Indeed, one strong oppressive force has been this negative stereotype and our acceptance of it as a viable role model upon which we can pattern our lives. Since I first wrote these words, the white-dominated mass media have changed little in the way in which they represent black women. We have changed. In the last thirty years black women have collectively challenged both the racism and sexism that not only shape how we are seen but determine how everyone interacts with us. We have resisted continued devaluation by countering the dominant stereotypes about us that prevail in white-supremacist capitalist patriarchy by decolonizing our minds. Here decolonization refers to breaking with the ways our reality is defined and shaped by the dominant culture and asserting our understanding of that reality, of our own experience. 10
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