In Hood Feminism, Mikki Kendall persuasively argues that, given the ways in which race and class, disability and sexual orientation are interwoven with gender, feminists must reckon with oppression within their ranks and focus on the needs of the many, rather than a privileged few: "Instead of a framework that focuses on helping women get basic needs met, all too often the focus is not on survival but on increasing privilege. For a movement that is meant to represent all women, it often centers on those who already have most of their needs met."
Kendall breaks the book into highly digestible chapters, covering subjects like unachievable beauty standards, respectability, media coverage of missing girls and reproductive freedom. But rather than focusing only on issues that mainstream white feminists speak about regularly--if not inclusively--Kendall points to much-ignored issues millions of women and girls in the United States face every day. Drawing from research and her experience, she describes long-term hunger, poverty and gun violence as obstacles women must navigate even as they fight against sexual violence and patriarchal expectations.
This book addresses more than one audience. In turns, Kendall speaks directly to allies, to the Black community, to disabled and LGBTQ+ communities. In her closing chapter, Kendall explains the difference between being an ally and an accomplice--talking about the problems versus doing the work while letting marginalized feminists lead. Hood Feminism intentionally makes readers uncomfortable as it asks them to take that discomfort and turn it into growth and action for the benefit of all. --Suzanne Krohn, editor, Love in Panels