The Sisters Are Alright: Changing the Broken Narrative of Black Women in America

By her own admission, Winfrey Harris is angry. This slim debut offering displays the author's well-deserved frustration for stereotypes like the subservient Mammy, emasculating Sapphire, and immoral Jezebel, and how each is portrayed in pop culture. In relating how these stereotypes (and others such as the Welfare Queen) affect black women, Winfrey Harris uses numerous anecdotes from peers to demystify the "strong black woman" and "angry black woman" as well as media fascination with the "black marriage crisis." Of note is the chapter on health, which explores the taboos of depression and suicide within the black community and the prominence of food deserts in certain areas. Unfortunately, Harris's information comes from a limited focus group; the only notable women mentioned are Beyoncé and Michelle Obama, which makes one wish pre-21st-century icons were included.