So A Black Women’s History of the United States is the latest in a series from Beacon Press that I absolutely love. The first one I read was An Indigenous People’s History of the United States, by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, which btw is also stupendous and y’all should all buy it. Since then I have acquired several other books in the series, so the queer one and the disability one are ON MY SHELVES WAITING FOR ME. Having read two of these books, I would like to report that they are both amazingly concise, readable, and filled with information. I would struggle to think of books that have taught me more things in fewer pages. If Beacon Press had a subscription service that was like “we’ll send you our two very best books each season for $50” I would for sure subscribe to that. REALLY. Why is Beacon Press so great?
This book is clearly a labor of love, as are all the books in this series. The task of summarizing all of American history down to fewer than 300 pages is, in itself, a phenomenal accomplishment. Berry and Gross manage it by pinning each chapter to a specific Black woman’s life and experiences. Those experiences then serve as a jumping-off point for a more detailed examination of a given period in American history. Notably, the women who give their names to each chapter aren’t famous. Though some of them achieved fame in their lifetimes, they aren’t household names, and it’s clear this is a deliberate choice by the authors. These women typified, in some way, the lives that Black American women lived in the era under consideration, and the authors are lifting up their names as a reminder of the central role that Black women have always played in our country’s history, culture, and imagination.
Nor do the authors limit themselves to straight, cis, able-bodied women. Part of the project of this book is exploring the multiplicity of intersecting identities fall under the umbrella of Black womanhood. One chapter begins with the story of Millie and Christine McKoy, conjoined Black twins born to enslaved parents in 1851. Though the McKoy twins were duly emancipated in 1865, they spent years of their lives under the control and influence of various showmen, or were offered up for examination by pruriently inquisitive doctors. (The authors use the term “differently abled” in this section, a term which many disabled activists dislike.) Another chapter details the story of Frances Thompson, a trans or intersex Black woman who fought for her personhood in the aftermath of the Memphis Riots.
I in fact got quite emotional about the fact that every chapter bears the name of an unfamous Black woman. The central philosophy of this book is to say the names of the Black women whose lives typified America’s development as a nation. I was particularly struck by the story of the enslaved woman, Maria, who was captured by Francis Drake’s crew. She was raped or gang-raped and abandoned on an island, pregnant, along with two other Black men. After that, she disappears from history. A Black Women’s History is at heart a reclamation project, a reminder that while history chose not to value these women, their names are remembered.
All of this has sounded quite sad, so let me say that another thing that inspired and amazed me about this genuinely excellent book is the way the authors keep focus not just on Black women’s struggles but on their successes. Black joy matters as much, in their telling, as Black suffering. Like, I loved this anecdote:
In addition to self-liberation, Black women found ways to express themselves and experience pleasure. In Northern communities like upstate New York, they participated in Pinkster Festivals, where they mocked their enslavers, dressed like Europeans, gave political speeches, told stories, and participated in festivities involving dance, music, and food.
The focus on Black women’s achievements is a central theme of the book. They tell the story of Mary Bowser, an enslaved woman with an eidetic memory who worked in Jefferson Davis’s home and passed on his secrets to Ulysses S. Grant; of Edmonia Lewis, a sculptor who received international acclaim; of Alice Coachman, the first Black woman to win an Olympic gold medal. Black women have faced so many challenges throughout American history that this book might have felt like a slog, but it felt instead like a celebration. I loved it.