The Good Negress

“Haunting . . . To read The Good Negress is to fall under a spell, to open a window, to fly.” —Los Angeles Times Book Review Twenty years after its initial publication, The Good Negress continues to be an important part of the literary canon, as relevant and necessary as ever. Set in 1960s Detroit, the novel centers around Denise Palms, who leaves her grandmother’s home in rural Virginia to reunite with her mother, stepfather, and older brothers. As a black teenage girl, Denise is given scarce opportunity beyond cooking, cleaning, and raising her mother’s baby. But an idealistic, demanding teacher opens Denise’s eyes to a future she has never considered, and soon she begins to question the limits of the life prescribed to her. With lyrical, evocative prose, A. J. Verdelle captures Denise’s journey from adolescence to womanhood as she navigates the tension between loyalty and independence, and between circumstance and desire. The Good Negress is an unforgettable debut—simultaneously the portrait of a family and a glimpse into an era of twentieth-century America. Winner of the Harold D. Vursell Memorial Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters Finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction

From Ishmael Reed and Toni Morrison to Colson Whitehead and Terry McMillan, Darryl Dickson-Carr offers a definitive guide to contemporary African American literature. This volume-the only reference work devoted exclusively to African American fiction of the last thirty-five years-presents a wealth of factual and interpretive information about the major authors, texts, movements, and ideas that have shaped contemporary African American fiction. In more than 160 concise entries, arranged alphabetically, Dickson-Carr discusses the careers, works, and critical receptions of Alice Walker, Gloria Naylor, Jamaica Kincaid, Charles Johnson, John Edgar Wideman, Leon Forrest, as well as other prominent and lesser-known authors. Each entry presents ways of reading the author's works, identifies key themes and influences, assesses the writer's overarching significance, and includes sources for further research. Dickson-Carr addresses the influence of a variety of literary movements, critical theories, and publishers of African American work. Topics discussed include the Black Arts Movement, African American postmodernism, feminism, and the influence of hip-hop, the blues, and jazz on African American novelists. In tracing these developments, Dickson-Carr examines the multitude of ways authors have portrayed the diverse experiences of African Americans. The Columbia Guide to Contemporary African American Fiction situates African American fiction in the social, political, and cultural contexts of post-Civil Rights era America: the drug epidemics of the 1980s and 1990s and the concomitant "war on drugs," the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement, the struggle for gay rights, feminism, the rise of HIV/AIDS, and racism's continuing effects on African American communities. Dickson-Carr also discusses the debates and controversies regarding the role of literature in African American life. The volume concludes with an extensive annotated bibliography of African American fiction and criticism.

After leaving rural Virginia for Detroit in 1963, a young African-American girl struggles with divided loyalties as she begins to see her family in a new light.

My book addresses the good black woman in general, no celebrity stuff, just the day to day general life of a Good black woman. The title can be very confusing when you read on but thats exactly what I want each and every reader to be: Confused. Why Good and why Black? Good is an Adjective that can mean different things to different people, it replaces other much more weighty adjectives such as Outstanding, Excellent, Fabulous etc. Good is having admirable, pleasing, superior, or positive qualities.(Collins Dictionary) Good means morally excellent, virtuous, righteous, suitable or efficient for a purpose. I can go on and on describing the word Good. Good is just good. Black is symbolic to me in the following way: Ethnically I am black but also African Black may denote a Race for people whose skin colour ranges from light to darker shades of Brown. Interesting! (Wikimedia) In Western fashion Black creates a stylish, sexy, and powerful fashion statement Several bad incidents have been named Black e.g. .Black Thursday, Black Friday, Black December, Black November etc. I live in a country where people are sensitive to being called black, others are confused as to whether they are black or not Black symbolizes secrecy, ambiguity or the unknown e.g. .Black market, Black magic, Blackmail etc. Black is just Black. The book intends to highlight the challenges that are faced by all Good black women, I get into their minds, their bodies, their souls and in their lives, be it Church life, Married Life, Family life ,Relationships to name a few. The book looks at good black women now and is aimed at being interesting to read five to ten years from now on. Life has definitely changed for every Good black women now, there are so many liberties and yet so many constraints. This is rhetoric, as the new independent woman generation does not apply across the board. There is so much competition to succeed in the corporate world and so much greed such that other things are compromised i.e. the family, children, relationships, time to play, and so forth. The Good black woman delivers an extra-ordinary juxtaposition of women seen as good yet suffering regardless. Chapter One explores men as a Mystery to women in that men is unique and women fail to understand their uniqueness. It also provides insight as to how men view women and how women will like to be viewed by men. Chapter Two is about woman aspiring to be normal in a rather dysfunctional society. It explores how some working women struggle to survive and thus resort to being mistresses amongst other things. It also looks at raising children in the midst of all the social ills being witnessed today. Chapter Three looks at how some women make sacrifices and marry thinking marriage will be a bed of roses only to find that its a bed of thorns mainly because of abstract reasoning abilities that cause conflict in marriages. It also looks at that the way Chapter Four looks at how women regard divorce as a nightmare in that when they marry they think life will be blissful. However, certain circumstances force women to divorce. Note that the writer mentions other causes of divorce other that physical abuse. Chapter Five is about women who have feelings for other women, feelings that they sometimes explore wrongly. It also looks at the different reasons why women get into such unions that do not last though some do. Chapter Six reveals the other side of women, when they betray each other for various reasons. One or two women have encountered one or two forms of betrayal form their friends, family, spouse and so on. Understanding the cause of the betrayal may cause other women to wary of it. This chapter deals with the harsh realities of betrayal. Chapters Seven is about the fear of Loneliness. Need I mention that the more a woman stays in an unhealthy relationship the difficult it is to let go, but the latter happens becaus

Statistics state that 70 Percent of Black women are single. And many believe that it’s because Black women can’t find a “good” Black man. However, what’s keeping Black women single isn’t a shortage of “good” Black men it’s the fact that most Black women have learned a life paradigm from her mother that prevents her from having a successful relationship with any man. In this eBook Shawn James explains all the historical, economic, political and social reasons leading to many Black women being single and how many of the approaches Black women have learned growing up from their mothers and grandmothers will keep them single and their daughters single in some cases for the rest of their lives.

Whatever happened to the regular Black girl? The one who works a 9 to 5 or maybe owns her own business or is completing her master's. Or how about the one who is figuring out how to be a good mom or wife or daughter? Or the one that's doing all of the above? Hi, that's a lot of us. Black women are doing it all, and it's not just the Oprahs and Beyonces. There's an entire group of us that are just, well, regular. We're handling things like figuring out if this is the right time to speak up in that work meeting and risk our opinion now being the "voice" for all Black women at our job or if this is the right night to introduce our silk hair bonnet to our nighttime routine in the relationship that is just getting serious. These experiences range from impactful to trivial life decisions, but they shape who we are. So where is our place for this type of girl-talk and unfiltered sharing? Gail Hamilton Azodo is your thirty-something, corporate-ladder-climber turned entrepreneur, mom, wife, and Black Girl IRL. In her dinners, happy hours, and group texts with Black women they shared everything from motivational quotes to the latest on Black girl advice on how to cut ties with friends who no longer aligned with our purpose. In short, providing each other with a how-to on successfully navigating life as everyday Black women. Gail is here to share these authentic stories of being everyday Black women—with a fair number of frills but mostly regular life. It's going to be long, soul-nourishing evening.