Traces the evolution of the black female body in the American imagination

Candid, poignant, provocative, and informative, the essays and stories in Skin Deep explore a wide spectrum of racial issues between black and white women, from self-identity and competition to childrearing and friendship. Eudora Welty contributes a bittersweet story of a one-hundred-year-old black woman whose spirit is as determined and strong as anything in nature. Bestselling author Naomi Wolf recalls her first exposure to racism growing up, examining the subtle forms it can take even among well-meaning people; bell hooks writes about the intersection between black women and feminist politics; and Joyce Carol Oates includes a one-act play in which racial stereotypes are reversed. Among the other writers featured in the collection are Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, Susan Straight, Mary Morris, and Beverly Lowry. A groundbreaking anthology that reveals surprising insights and hidden truths to a subject too often clouded by misperceptions and easy assumptions, Skin Deep is a major contribution to understanding our culture.

A revealing exploration of the origins and meanings of the mammy figure

The only one who can free him is the girl he’s hurt the most. Cursed for a youthful accident which maimed a young woman, Léon Beauregard roams his mountain as a bear, clinging to the scraps of his humanity. Too bad it’s not working. Every day he loses a little more of himself to the bear and his stupid fuzzy tail. But when Léon comes across Anwen, an enchanter scarred from an accident she doesn’t remember, she promises to free him, because she believes no one deserves this sort of punishment, no matter their crime. As the graceful enchanter tries to free him, Léon begins to realize Anwen is much more than just a passing enchanter. She’s the one he’s falling in love with. And she is the one whose life he ruined. He knows he must hide his part in Anwen’s past if he wants to keep her, but when bodies show up mauled by a large animal, even she begins to doubt his ability to be redeemed. With his heart, soul, and humanity in the balance, Léon has more to hide and everything to lose if Anwen ever learns the truth about the monster inside him.

Publishers Weekly Bestseller "If you’re tired of surface-level teaching and shallow faith, this book will ignite a fire in your soul for a deeper walk with Jesus and draw you into the depths of the Word.” ——Gretchen Saffles, founder of Well-Watered Women Why We Need Jesus More Than Compliments "You're a beautiful daughter of the Most High King." And it's true. But it's not the whole truth. The beauty of being God's daughter has backstory. If you're tired of hearing the watered-down Christian teaching and hungry for a deeper spiritual life—one that gives real answers to your hardest questions—Stop Calling Me Beautiful teaches you how. You will learn how to pursue the truths of who God is and who you are in relationship to Him how to study Scripture, and how your view of God determines how you face life's challenges how legalism, shallow theology, and false teaching keep you from living boldly as a woman of the Word how to experience God's presence in painful circumstances Jesus doesn't offer a powerless salvation. He makes your brokenness part of His whole redemption story—if you allow Him to. Don't settle for a feel-good faith. If you want victory over insecurity, fear, shame, and the circumstances you are facing, it's time to embrace Jesus. All of Him.

FEATURED ON THE COVER OF TIME MAGAZINE AS A 2021 NEXT GENERATION LEADER “A once-in-a-generation voice.” – Vulture “One of our greatest living writers.” – Shondaland A full-throated and provocative memoir in letters from the New York Times bestselling author, “a dazzling literary talent whose works cut to the quick of the spiritual self” (Esquire) In three critically acclaimed novels, Akwaeke Emezi has introduced readers to a landscape marked by familial tensions, Igbo belief systems, and a boundless search for what it means to be free. Now, in this extraordinary memoir, the bestselling author of The Death of Vivek Oji reveals the harrowing yet resolute truths of their own life. Through candid, intimate correspondence with friends, lovers, and family, Emezi traces the unfolding of a self and the unforgettable journey of a creative spirit stepping into power in the human world. Their story weaves through transformative decisions about their gender and body, their precipitous path to success as a writer, and the turmoil of relationships on an emotional, romantic, and spiritual plane, culminating in a book that is as tender as it is brutal. Electrifying and inspiring, animated by the same voracious intelligence that distinguishes Emezi's fiction, Dear Senthuran is a revelatory account of storytelling, self, and survival.

Broken on the inside: Megan Hunter has worked hard to get back on her feet, leaving the nightmare of her teenage years behind. The last thing she wants or needs in her life is a man. But when she is attacked by someone from her past, a scarred stranger intervenes, saving her life and that of her little girl. Looks can be deceiving, for despite the man's rough appearance, she feels safe with him. And for the first time in her life, she knows the stirrings of desire. Broken on the outside: Nathaniel West paid a high price serving with the Marines in Afghanistan. He returned to his family's ranch in the Colorado mountains to heal-and be alone. Disfigured as he is, he has put all thoughts of sex and romance aside. But something about Megan brings him back to life, heats his blood, makes him feel like a man again. As danger pursues her, and the truth about her past is revealed, he vows to protect her-and to heal her wounded spirit. But confronting the past is never easy-especially when it's carrying a gun. Megan will have to learn to trust Nate to survive and to claim a passion that is much more than ... Skin Deep.

In this book Brittany C. Slatton uses innovative internet research methods to reveal contemporary prejudices about relationship partners. In doing so she thoroughly refutes the popular ideology of a post-racial America. Slatton examines the 'deep frame' of white men found in opinions and emotional reactions to black women and their body types, personalities, behaviours, and styles of speech. Their internet responses to questionnaires shows how they treat as common sense radicalised, gendered, and classed versions of black women. Mythologizing Black Women argues that the internet acts as a backstage setting, allowing white men to anonymously express raw feelings about race and sexuality without the fear of reprimand.

These essays explore various critical dimensions of race from a sociological, anthropological, and literary perspective. They engage with history, either textually, materially, or with respect to identity, in an effort to demonstrate that these discourses