A review by hollyd19
Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women White Feminists Forgot by Mikki Kendall

challenging hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

In a series of honest, uncompromising essays, author Mikki Kendall shares the ways that white feminism has failed by ignoring the basic bedrock needs of low-income communities and communities of color. With precision, Kendall lays out topics that should be included in feminist efforts ranging from housing to food security to education to gun violence. Each chapter contains an expert explanation about why a given area is relevant to the the success of women and girls and therefore why it must be part of the wider feminist narrative. Ultimately, she argues that until people are safe and adequately provisioned we cannot in good faith move on to more abstract things like “leaning in” in the workplace.

Part of what makes this book so powerful is that Kendall manages to write along a thin line between admonishment and inviting in. Her words are straightforward and unapologetic, offering the reader an honest assessment along with the opportunity to learn and grow. She does not shy away from calling out performative activism, the weaponization of whiteness, or the white feminists’ complicity in perpetuating white supremacy. Her anecdotes are powerful and her research is sound. It’d be impossible to come away from this book without an expanded imagination for what flourishing for *all* truly means and what it will take to get there.