All the Women in My Family Sing is an anthology documenting the experiences of women of color at the dawn of the twenty-first century. It is a vital collection of prose and poetry whose topics range from the pressures of being the vice-president of a Fortune 500 Company, to escaping the killing fields of Cambodia, to the struggles inside immigration, identity, romance, and self-worth. These brief, trenchant essays capture the aspirations and wisdom of women of color as they exercise autonomy, creativity, and dignity and build bridges to heal the brokenness in today's turbulent world. Sixty-nine authors - African American, Asian American, Chicana, Native American, Cameroonian, South African, Korean, LGBTQI - lend their voices to broaden cross-cultural understanding and to build bridges to each other's histories and daily experiences of life. America Ferrera's essay is from her powerful speech at the Women's March in Washington D.C.; Natalie Baszile writes about her travels to Louisiana to research Queen Sugar and finding the "painful truths" her father experienced in the "belly of segregation;" Porochista Khakpour tells us what it is like to fly across America under the Muslim travel ban; Lalita Tademy writes about her transition from top executive at Sun Microsystems to NY Times bestselling author. This anthology is monumental and timely as human rights and justice are being challenged around the world. It is a watershed title, not only written, but produced entirely by women of color, including the publishing, editing, process management, book cover design, and promotions. Our vision is to empower underrepresented voices and to impact the world of publishing in America - particularly important in a time when 80% of people who work in publishing self-identify as white (as found recently in a study by Lee & Low Books, and reported on NPR).
Show moreAll the Women in My Family Sing is an anthology documenting the experiences of women of color at the dawn of the twenty-first century. It is a vital collection of prose and poetry whose topics range from the pressures of being the vice-president of a Fortune 500 Company, to escaping the killing fields of Cambodia, to the struggles inside immigration, identity, romance, and self-worth. These brief, trenchant essays capture the aspirations and wisdom of women of color as they exercise autonomy, creativity, and dignity and build bridges to heal the brokenness in today's turbulent world. Sixty-nine authors - African American, Asian American, Chicana, Native American, Cameroonian, South African, Korean, LGBTQI - lend their voices to broaden cross-cultural understanding and to build bridges to each other's histories and daily experiences of life. America Ferrera's essay is from her powerful speech at the Women's March in Washington D.C.; Natalie Baszile writes about her travels to Louisiana to research Queen Sugar and finding the "painful truths" her father experienced in the "belly of segregation;" Porochista Khakpour tells us what it is like to fly across America under the Muslim travel ban; Lalita Tademy writes about her transition from top executive at Sun Microsystems to NY Times bestselling author. This anthology is monumental and timely as human rights and justice are being challenged around the world. It is a watershed title, not only written, but produced entirely by women of color, including the publishing, editing, process management, book cover design, and promotions. Our vision is to empower underrepresented voices and to impact the world of publishing in America - particularly important in a time when 80% of people who work in publishing self-identify as white (as found recently in a study by Lee & Low Books, and reported on NPR).
Show moreTable of Contents
Foreword by Deborah Santana
2
Introduction
4
Editing Identity:
Women of Color and Identity on Cultural Identity, Gender and
Sexuality
10
Samina Ali Labor of Love
12
Eliana Ramage — Indian
Territory
18
Camille Hayes – Zebra
20
Randi Bryant-Agenbroad – The Bad Black
22
Shyla Margaret Machanda – The Colour of Transparency
24
Sophia Remolde – Freeing My Seoul
26
La Rhonda Crosby-Johnson – From Negro to
Black
28
Ugochi Egonu — African in America
30
Janine Shiota – AWOL WOC
34
Mila Jam – Home: A Transgender Journey
36
At Home in the World:
Women of Color on Immigration, Migration and the Idea of
Home
39
America Ferrera —
All-American
40
Blaire Topash-Caldwell — Reclaiming Indigenous
Space
45
Sara Marchant – Proof of Blood
47
Fabiana Monteiro — The Perfect
Life
50
Shizue Seigel – Swimming in the New Normal
54
Tammy Thea – Escape from The Cambodian Killing Fields
60
Phiroozeh Romer – This is How You Do in Karachi
63
Sridevi Ramanathan – Truth Be Told
66
Sara Marchant – Proof of Blood
69
Porochista Khakpour – Why Persian New Year Is
Different
72
Trailblazers, Hellraisers & Stargazers:
Women of Color Talk Careers, Work and Worth
77
Marian Wright Edelman — The Tireless Indispensable
78
Belva Davis – What it Takes: A Letter To My
Granddaughter
82
Deborah J McDuffie – Forever, For Always, For Luther
84
K E Garland – You’re Hired
87
Kelly Woolfolk – Finding Home
90
Lalita Tademy – Willie
Dee
93
Charina Lumley — The Payat Paradox
96
Want Chyi – Asian American Punk
98
Kristala Jones Prather – Dreams of MIT
101
With Liberty and Justice for All:
Women of Color on the Struggle for Social Justice and
Equality
106
Alicia Garza — State of the
Union
107
Hope Wabuke — What Is Said
112
Menen Hailu — Invisible Women
115
Wanda Holland Greene – A Hairy Situation
118
Sugi Ganeshanathan – Whale
Country
122
Intisar Rabb — Sharia Law and the Civil Rights Movement
128
In a Family Way:
Women of Color on Family &
Friendship
133
Jennifer de Leon — A Pink Dress
134
Jaime Leon Lin-Yu — Offerings
139
Tara Dorabji – A Note to the Boy Who Was My Son
142
Miriam Ching Yoon Louie – Beloved
Halmoni
144
Ethel Morgan Smith – The Problem with Evolving
146
Marti Paschal – A Photograph of Martin
150
Vicki L. Ward – An Exceptional
Father
153
Meilan Carter-Gilkey – A Motherhood Journey
156
Maria Ramos-Chertok — Look Where You’re Living
160
Nuris Terrero – A Letter to my Son
163
Rhonda Turpin – Prison Parenting
166
Soniah Kamal – Scolding Other People’s
Kids
168
Nayomi Munaweera – Thoughts on Mother’s Day
171
But Beautiful…
Women of Color Address and Redress the Beauty Myth
178
Nari Kirk – Doppelganger Dreams
180
Mercy L. Tullis-Bukhari – Black Dolls for Everyone
185
Emma Talbott – The Gift of Hair, The Gift of Joy
188
Maroula Blades – Touch-and-Go
191
Charmaine Marie Branch--Stumbling Into
Beauty
194
Dera R. Williams – Not Shirley Temple Curls
196
Nira Hyman – New Year’s
Day
200
Tere Romo – Re-Searching for a Truly American
Art
203
Meet, Stay, Love:
Women of Color Talk Sex, Romance and Sexuality
205
Michelle “Mush” Lee –
stay
210
Lucreshia Grant — Phone Sex Operator
212
Tameka Norris —One Artist’s
Way
214
Veronica Kugler — The
Tunnel
216
The Cure for What Ails You:
Women of Color Transcending Illness
and
Trauma
217
Meera Bowman-Johnson— Pressing Pause
218
Kristin Leavy Miller – A Kid Like Mine
224
Nikki Abramson –
Invisibility
227
Kira Allen - On Learning to Thrive
230
Jordan Johnson – The Black Sickness
232
Lisa Jones —
Nicholas
235
A Woman's Journey is Never Done:
Women of Color on Traveling Far, Wide and Deep
243
Yessenia Funes – What’s Left in La Quebrada
244
Nashormeh Lindo- From the Middle Room to the Mountains: The Artist
Within 250
Jessica Rodriguez – From Crack to Condos
253
Rita Roberts-Turner – When Life is a Crystal Stair
256
Robtel Neajai Pailey – In a World Obsessed With a Passport
258
Denise Diaab – The Road to El
Camino
260
Roshila Nair - Small Places
265
Contributors’ Biographies
270
Endnotes
275
- We have a PR firm engaged on this title through June to take
advantage of Women's History month in March, our inclusion in
Essence magazine in April and summer reads lists.
- We will do outreach to universities that contributors are
affiliated with: Jennifer De Leon-Emerson College, MIT; Porochista
Khakpour-Columbia University; Deborah L. Plummer PhD, Vice
Chancellor for Diversity of Inclusion, U Mass Medical School; Helen
Elaine Lee, Director of the Program in Women Gender Studies and
Professor of Fiction Writing at MIT and more.
- The PR firm to date has confirmed 80 reviews set to run in
February and March, with more coming in spring. Including a
recommendation from PureWow book club set to run in March.
- There is strong interest from Carol Jenkins, award-winning
writer, producer and media consultant, for an appearance on her
CUNY TV show "Black America." Jenkins is a sought-after speaker and
writer on issues relating to the media, specifically the
participation of women and people of color in the political and
economic structures in the US, and the health of women in
developing countries, particularly on the African continent.
- Advertisements with sources such as Book Riot and other book
newsletters are running throughout February, March and April.
- Multiple events have been scheduled on the West and East coasts
through the beginning of April- including LA, New York, Boston and
San Francisco.
- All of our events to date have been very well attended and all
have sold out of books on hand. Because of this success we are
pitching editor Deborah Santana and several contributors to
conferences and we considering a second round of events in April
and May.
- Universities and colleges with diversity initiatives and strong
cultural and women's studies courses have been sent books for
review for inclusion in their programs.
- We are in conversation with several book clubs including one
global women's book club.
- Over 100 copies of the book were sent to bookstagramers and other
book influencers with large followings. They have been very
receptive to the title, with several posting even before their
official reviews go up.
Natalie Baszile, whose best-selling novel Queen Sugar was adapted for Oprah's TV channel by award-winning director, Ava Duvernay, writes of returning to Louisiana to research Queen Sugar and finding the "painful truths" her father experienced in the "belly of segregation."
Kelly Woolfolk, an attorney who acted in Spike Lee's School Daze before working in the legal department of Virgin Records & as counsel for a television production company, writes about her identity growing up with "good" hair, "piss-colored," & accused of talking white. She now sees her son's experience in Oakland in a private school with the cloud of oppression that killed Trayvon Martin & Tamir Rice.
Blaire Topash-Caldwell, a PhD student in the Department of Anthropology at U NM, writes about reclaiming Indigenous space after the history of trauma of boarding schools, the criminalization of traditional religions, the stealing of Indian children and other structural violence's have alienated indigenous communities from healthy sociality.
Lalita Tademy, NY Times bestselling author of three historical novels, writes of being the first in her family to graduate college and eventually becoming VP and General Manager of Sun Microsystems. Leaving corporate life after 20 years to write a novel based on her Louisiana family, she was rejected 13 times before finding a publisher for Cane River, Oprah's summer Book Pick in 2001, translated into 11 languages and San Francisco's One City, One Book in 2007.
Michelle "Mush" Lee is a poet and educator, recipient of the New York Hip Hop Theater Festival's Future Aesthetic Grant and Compasspoint's Next Generation Leaders of Color Fellowship. She teaches in universities across the country and is on the Board of 826 Valencia, and a Senior Teaching Artist at Youth Speaks. Her poem, Stay, is a meditation on birthing & fighting to stay put when everything in you says run.
Mila Jam believes she has made the world a better place by not masquerading and choosing to live in her truth loving the boy people thought she was and the woman she is. An award-winning NYC nightlife recording artist, entertainer and CEO of the artist collective: THEJAMFAM, Mila toured in the hit Broadway musical RENT.
Want Chyi has an MFA in fiction from Arizona State University and was the International Fiction Editor of Hayden's Ferry Review. She claims that the first time she went to a Punk concert as a sophomore in high school, she could forget she was not Asian enough, did not fit in, and was too small, too novel to be real to the 90% white town of Carmel, Indiana.
Rhonda Turpin's home is Cleveland, Ohio, but she has been in prison since 2004, serving a 15-year sentence for a white collar, non-violent offense. Murderers serve smaller sentences. Her essay, Prison Parenting, explains the increase of the female prison population of over 300% in the last decade. She wrote her first book at Alderson West Virginia Prison Camp, mentored by Martha Stewart who was in the same facility.
Marian Wright Edelman, famed founder and president of the Children's Defense Fund, lawyer, advocate for disadvantaged Americans, writes about her role models Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth, whom she wears on medallions around her neck. Other role models Ella Baker and Jo Ann Robinson remind us "of a great heritage of strength, courage, faith, and belief in the equality of women and people of every color."
Lisa Victoria Chapman Jones shares the frightening journey of her 18-month-old son's two-year fight with leukemia. Jones, a Yale graduate with a MFA in film from NYU co-wrote three books with Spike Lee, all companion books to his films: Uplift the Race: The Construction of School Daze, Do the Right Thing, and Mo' Better Blues. Her memoir is Good Girl in a Bad Dress.
Jennifer De Leon writes of her Guatemalan mother treating education like a religion in their household. De Leon is an author, editor, speaker, consultant, and creative writing instructor at Emerson College and GrubStreet Independent Creative Writing Center. She is the editor of Wise Latinas: Writers on Higher Education and much more.
Samina Ali suffered a seizure and hundreds of strokes while in labor and giving birth to her son Isham. She writes of the two and a half years it took to recover. Ali is an American author and activist and serving curator of Muslima: Muslim Women's Art and Voices, a global, virtual exhibition and co-founder of the American Muslim feminist organization Daughters of the Hajar. Her debut novel, Madras on Rainy Days was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award.
Alicia Garza reflects on Barack Obama's final State of the Union address where she sat as the guest of Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA). She was disappointed he did not the inequities of wages for Black women, and no tribute for India Clarke, a black trans woman killed in Florida last year. Garza, an African American activist and editorial writer birthed the Black Lives Matter movement with Opal Tometi and Patrisse Cullors.
Porochista Khakpour is an Iranian American novelist, essayist and writer. Her personal essays in the New York Times reflect on her experiences. Her novels are: Sons and Other Flammable Objects and The Last Illusion. Khakpour's essay is about Persian New Year, or Nowruz, is not a holiday Iranians take lightly as it is any thousands of years old with roots in ancient Indo-Persian culture.
"This mosaic of women's voices inspires, heals, and offers hope in
dark times. A memorable collection that will make your heart sing."
– Ruth Behar, author of Lucky Broken Girl
"These perfectly chosen, Women Words are a healing gift from new
sistahs, now my family, for whom I will fight, with whom I will
stand and because of whom, I will build." – Alfre Woodard,
Actor, Activist
" Editor Deborah Santana has assembled a rich melange of writers,
including Natalie Baszile, Lalita Tademy, Nira A. Hyman and Meera
Bowman-Johnson, who go deep on a range of issues that will meet you
where your heart beats.." – BUST Magazine
"A song of freedom: that’s what you hear as you read All the
Women in My Family Sing, an anthology of essays by women of color.
Sometimes the songs are heavy with loss, or staccato with righteous
anger, or lilting with love. From Samina Ali’s tale of re-building
her life after medical incompetence left her both a new mother and
disabled to Camille Hayes’ story of challenging racial constructs
over the years, we see women who fight passionately and gracefully
for autonomy and self-definition. Some of them are new voices,
others literary or socio-political lions like Marian Wright
Edelman. But in all these fierce and anthemic pieces we see the
true face of womanhood, in all its colors." – Farai Chideya,
author of books including The Color of Our Future and The Episodic
Career
"Inside the collection, trailblazing activists and writers open up
about the intergenerational relationships that shaped their
identities and their work in tender and brave poetry and prose. As
the diversity of their voices comes together, readers acutely
recognize the importance finding home can have in our journeys
toward building a better world." – Carmen RiosMs.
Magazine
"The voices in All the Women in My Family Sing intermingle to
produce a harmony of moving experiences that taps into the rhythm
of our collective desires for a more compassionate world."
– Nancy Wilson, Jazz Singer; three-time Grammy
Award-winner
"In their common pursuits of acceptance, friendship and social
justice, these writers demonstrate that there are truths and
desires that transcend lines of color, sexuality and class. In
sounding common chords of humanity, their voices, together, create
a mighty chorus." –USA Today
"All the Women of My Family Sing is a rousing compilation by
sixty-nine women of color, featuring essays that address personal
and collective identity, history, place, perspective, sexuality,
immigration, and modern day life..." – Donovan’s Bookshelf
”Verdict: ALL THE WOMEN IN MY FAMILY SING is a luminous collection
of women speaking their truths, and speaking them
loudly.”– IndieReader
"An anthology of essays by women of color documenting their vast
experiences around the world inside different economic, social, and
geopolitical systems, including a piece written by the actress
America Ferrera. (The book was also produced entirely by women of
color, from writing and editing to design and promotion.) We’re
lucky to have a wealth of new books to help focus the mind and
bring some peace, clarity, and wisdom to our daily routines.."
–Vogue.com
"In their common pursuits of acceptance, friendship and social
justice, these writers demonstrate that there are truths and
desires that transcend lines of color, sexuality and class. In
sounding common chords of humanity, their voices, together, create
a mighty chorus." – USA Today
"All the Women in My Family Sing is a bold, evocative anthology
that cannot be read without engaging your full heart. The essays
about identity, family, love, acceptance, and fear are a testament
to the times, unrelenting in their examination of personal and
global pain. There's triumph here and the resilience specific to
the female spirit." – Nichelle Tramble Spellman, author of The
Dying Ground and The Last King Writer/Producer of The Good Wife and
Justified
"The essays in this book capture the wisdom of these powerful women
as they build bridges to ‘heal the brokenness in today’s turbulent
world.’" – Black America
"The result is a highly recommended collection powerful in literary
approaches, diverse in subject and presentation, yet accessible to
all thinking women who look for a blend of emotion-based
experiential pieces and ways of navigating through wounded pasts to
better futures." – Donovan’s Bookshelf
"For those who love womankind—and those seeking to understand the
depth and breadth of womanhood— All the Women in My Family Sing is
a timely reminder that when it comes to women of color, love is
still a revolutionary act." – The Glow Up
”13 books to watch for in the first half of 2018- Mothers, sisters,
daughters, grandmothers — the essays in this collection are written
by women of color from around the world and range from an escape
from the “killing fields” of Cambodia to stories of love and
desire." – OZY.com
"All the Women in My Family Sing encompasses everything that is
important about women of color -- our diversity, sacrifice, crusade
for equality, and the impact we have made on the lives of others."
– Jenny Bach, California Democratic Party Secretary
"This moving anthology of essays by women of color illuminates the
struggles, traditions, and life views of women at the dawn of the
21st century. The 69 authors grapple with identity, belonging,
self-esteem, and sexuality, among other topics." – Publishers
Weekly
"All the Women in My Family Sing: Women Write the World — Essays on
Equality, Justice and Freedom Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
"These brilliant and moving essays show the astonishing, brave and
passionate lives of women of color as they fight for autonomy,
equality and love."
—Isabel Allende,
"All the Women in My Family Singis on a different beat. The
anthology is a passionate blend of personal stories by women of
color from all walks of life — and women of color took part in the
entire production of the book.”– NPR- KALW
"Whether the words pour forth like Jazz or salsa, indie rock or
R&B, indigenous drums, kotos, maracas, or the sheng, they all
ring out in stories of ancestry, forgiveness, struggle and victory.
It is an eclectic collection where you may hear both new and
familiar songs which seem to reflect Lucille Clifton’s request that
we 'celebrate' with her the fact that each woman writer has
survived, indeed flourished through rivers bridged, mountains
climbed or oceans navigated despite hurricane storms."
– devorah major,poet/novelist/essayist, San Francisco 3rd Poet
Laureate
"Impassioned writers bearing witness to survival, creativity, and
hope." – Kirkus Reviews
”Santana has assembled and introduced a timely, geographically
diverse collection of essays, often very personal in nature..."
– Booklist
"A revolutionary primer for all us well-meaning white folks who
haven't a clue about what it's like to be a woman of color."
– Susan Gabriel, author of Trueluck Summer
"Each of these brief, poignant pieces illuminates one woman’s
negotiation between her aspirations and the forces that would
constrict her dreams. The contributors write prophetically of their
struggles and triumphs in the early years of the twenty-first
century, challenging the reader with their revelations. All the
Women in My Family Sing is essential reading." – Henry Louis
Gates, Jr ,Alphonse Fletcher University Professor Harvard
University
”There’s something absolutely compelling about the stories in All
the Women in My Family Sing.'They’re like an addiction. Read one,
and your eyes fly open. Turn to the middle and your heart sinks.
Taste one at random and find a kindred spirit, then disagree with
another that just doesn’t touch you right. That’s the appeal of
this book: each of the essays in here — written by everyday women
as well as those with fame — are short enough to dip into quick,
you can easily skip around, and they’ll all make you think and
think and think. Yes, All the Women in My Family Sing is for women.
It’s more feminist than not. And yes, men can enjoy it, too,
because reading it is like falling into a web of nourishing voices.
This is a book to have, no matter who you are." – Caribbean
Life News
”In this beautifully composed chorus of sixty-nine voices, Deborah
Santana has given us a fascinating and compelling anthology of
essays by women of color. Each of these brief, poignant pieces
illuminates one woman’s negotiation between her aspirations and the
forces that would constrict her dreams. The contributors write
prophetically of their struggles and triumphs in the early years of
the twenty-first century, challenging the reader with their
revelations. All the Women in My Family Sing is essential reading.”
ndash; Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Alphonse Fletcher University
Professor, Harvard University
"Santana has compiled a truly beautiful array of voices here, with
hope being the common note they all hit and sustain. This is an
accessible, teachable and cherishable collection." – Dave
Eggers, author of The Circle and founder of ScholarMatch and Voice
of Witness
"Santana, an author, activist and filmmaker, carefully showcases
the depth and breadth of women’s voices on family, identity and
culture." – The Root
"All the Women in my Family Sing is a very thoughtful, well-curated
collection of personal essays written by women of color, spanning a
variety of themes and experiences. It shares stories that spark a
conversation about the human experience, rather than just bringing
tales about what it’s like to struggle as a woman of color"
– Lenna Stites, City Book Review (San Francisco / Manhattan /
Seattle)
"An anthology of essays by women of color documenting their vast
experiences around the world inside different economic, social, and
geopolitical systems, including a piece written by the actress
America Ferrera. (The book was also produced entirely by women of
color, from writing and editing to design and promotion.) We’re
lucky to have a wealth of new books to help focus the mind and
bring some peace, clarity, and wisdom to our daily routines."
– 7 Nonfiction Books to Change Your Life in 2018,
Vogue.com
"The voices of women leading and stirring and instigating lasting
magic towards a more just, peaceful and sustainable world remind us
that there is hope even when we feel most disheartened… a symphony
for troubled times!" – Kavita N Ramdas ,feminist
philanthropist activist, Principal at KNR Sisters & Strategy
Advisor, MADRE
" Inspiring and profound, this exciting compilation of first-person
nonfiction by women of color including America Ferrera, Porochista
Khakpour, and more, offers a much-needed and wide-ranging
perspective on the 21st century human condition." – Essence
Magazine
"An uncommonly rare and inherently compelling read from cover to
cover, All the Women in My Family Sing: Women Write the World:
Essays on Equality, Justice, and Freedomis an especially and
unreservedly recommended addition to community, college, and
university library Women's collections and supplemental studies
reading lists. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of
students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an
interest in the subject..." – Midwest Book Review
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