Reviews

Killing the Black Body by Dorothy Roberts

marieintheraw's review against another edition

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4.0

Worth the read; however, there was a power-imbalance between historical and sociological read in some parts.

shay_janae's review against another edition

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challenging informative sad slow-paced

2.75

The books does a great job of shining light on the country’s biases and how they effect reproductive rights in Black communities. Felt like I was reading a collection of college essays and not a book.

sunshine_sophia's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative medium-paced

4.5

for its time, it seems to have been revolutionary and serves as an incredible foundation for future research and commentary. given that it was written in the 90s, there are some obvious drawbacks such as not being entirely intersectional when discussing the lgbtq+ community, especially trans folks. I'm sure black trans and lgbtq+ individuals were also adversely impacted by these racist laws and programs. 

i really liked how it walked the reader through a timeline of this history of reproductive coercion and control from enslavement to the present day (the 90s). i would be interested in some further academic analysis of how these things have impacted folks in the 2000s and 2010s.  i am especially interested to see what the impacts of this will be for people of color in a post-roe world. overall, this was a fascinating read. while not totally surprising that many programs are rooted in racism, it is still important to acknowledge. this is a great read for anyone already fairly well-versed in intersectional feminism and the history of reproductive coercion. 

snitcl's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

excellent_taste's review against another edition

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informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.5

drsquared's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective slow-paced

5.0


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mklipfel's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective slow-paced

4.5

claire2024's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

shancarr's review against another edition

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informative slow-paced

4.25

11corvus11's review against another edition

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5.0

Even though there are some missed opportunities to discuss ableism, and some ableist comments, as well as frequent quoting of big name terfs like Janice Raymond (despite the better alternative of Black radfems offering information oddly,) it was written in the 90s and includes so much important and we'll researched information and analysis still unfortunately applicable to today, so 5 stars. I learned a ton from this book that I had not from the books that have come after it and have likely been inspired by it. This and Medical Apartheid are both required reading for sure, especially for USAmericans.