This is the first full-length explicitly identified autoethnographic text on African American motherhood. It shows the lived experiences of Black motherhood, when mothering is shaped by race, gender and class, and mothers must navigate not only their own, but also their children's positions in society.
* A personal and intimate look at the lived experience of black motherhood
* Examines through black feminist theory strategies for resisting entrenched social racism and sexism
* The autoethnographic method shows not just theorising about experiences of black mothers but how that looks in lived practice
The very crux of the matter-the bone, the breadth, the soul of Ferdinand's book- is that every Black woman is part of the great tapestry of stories that existed before her. That we must, without question, learn and relearn ourselves by having a simultaneous, multi-generational conversation with the Black women who raised us, those who inspired us, those who have hurt us, and those we seek to love and nurture. Renata Ferdinand's Things I Tell My Daughter is a brilliantly written, joyful and humorous endeavor-one that reimagines, unapologetically, the power of having a dangerous Black body that knows its worth. It is masterfully done. Quite simply, it is the book that we need right now.
Monique Ferrell is an award-winning writer, whose work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and received honors from the Black Caucus of The American Library Association (BCALA).
Renata Harden Ferdinand is currently Acting Chair of the Department of African American Studies at New York City College of Technology, USA. She is the recipient of the 2018 Ellis-Bochner Autoethnography and Personal Narrative Research Award from The Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction (SSSI), affiliate of the National Communication Association, for best published essay.
Foreword