Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall is a must-read book for anyone interested in understanding the intersectionality of feminism and anti-racism. Kendall clearly and conversationally explains how the feminist movement over time has failed BIPOC women and begins to discuss what can be done to address this in the future. If you are truly an ally of either movement, this is a must-read book.

As a white woman, this was an exceedingly challenging, yet obviously very, very much needed, book to read. I'm grateful to Mikki Kendall for the clear way she lays out her case for how the feminist movement much too often centers a certain kind of woman and their experience at the expense of others.

Hood Feminism asks the white reader to consider women outside of their own experience, and I'm so glad that I read it. Kendall touches on feminist issues such as gun violence, education, housing crisis, hunger and more, and weaves her personal experience in throughout.

The book certainly encourages self reflection and is a call to action when it comes to community-based solutions. I've revisited sections several times since first reading and I know I will continue to do so. I appreciate the author giving me context and examples to continue my own education.

A wonderful book. A great resource for anyone who is looking to further educate themselves on important topics and issues.

Ever since I was only partially through, I have been recommending it to my peers, wannabe peers, clients, and anyone with an interest in the topic.

Mikki puts so many of my and countless other black women’s thoughts and experiences in this book. She does not mince words. If someone is not Black (even nonblack POC) and wants to talk feminism with me, they need to read this first.

I'm a longtime follower of Kendall's thoughtful Twitter account, She writes beautifully and inclusively, no matter the format, and covers a lot of ground in this excellent essay collection.

I really appreciate feminism being explained from a Black woman’s point of view and touching on subjects that are directly affected when other feminists don’t stand up for or include Black women or LGBT women.

This book was incredibly informative, and elevated my thinking about the experiences of Black women in society. As a Black woman myself, I found my own sense of understanding about the ways that our lived experiences have been silenced in the mainstream white feminist movement. I highly recommend this book for folks who want to know how to be more inclusive in their quests to be feminist, or have a general desire to understand the numerous issues that Black women and other women of color deal with on a daily basis.

Hood Feminism offered a thought provoking look at how Black women are viewed in society. Kendall touches on subjects ranging from education to housing; specifically how an inadequate amount of each plays a large part in the disenfranchisement of Black women. While most people in society will agree that ALL women have a ways to go in achieving true equality, Kendall intelligently espouses that BLACK women have an even farther journey to travel.

A lucid and compelling argument for big-tent feminism. Kendall lays out the way white feminism fails to account for diversity in lived experiences of Black, Latinx, and Indigenous women through a series of essays on topic ranging from hunger and homelessness, to the school-to-prison pipeline, to Americanized beauty standards.

I had been waiting impatiently for this book for a long time and it did not disappoint. As a White woman, I want to be a better ally and advocate for all women, and this book brilliantly explains how traditional feminism ignores many social issues affecting women. Kendall is rightfully angry and her voice is honest, powerful and much-needed. This book is a challenge to all women to work to make the feminist movement more inclusive for all of us, not just White women. This is hard work that we must do. The essays in this book discuss hard issues like poverty, hunger, the school to prison pipeline and more; issues that we might not immediately think of when thinking of feminism. That has to change.

Hood Feminism is powerful and eye-opening, and I will be thinking about this book for a long time.

It is clear from the outset of Hood Feminism that Nikki Kendall is a strong voice in the newest iteration of the feminist movement. She proclaims not to mince words and that definitely comes through in her voice throughout this book; She has formed her own opinions, she has seen the issues, and she is not going to shy away from letting you know what she thinks. In a movement so often slowed down by niceities, this is refreshing and necessary. But while Kendall obviously has what it takes to help bring more light to the issues she discusses here -- namely that changes need to be made to the infrastructures that keep things like education, medical care, and basic necessities like safe communities and healthy food out of the hands of many underprivileged women -- I found myself wondering who exactly this book was written for. It seems to be aimed toward white women feminists who are unaware of the above issues and need education. But it seems to me that many of the white women who would be inclined to pick up this book in the first place would have more of a grasp on these problems than Kendall seems to believe. I also felt like some of the essays here meandered a bit, losing steam with repetitive and sometimes clumsy writing. I think this would have the biggest impact on teen feminists (could make for great class discussions) or for white women who are just coming into the feminist movement for the first time and want to learn to be better allies and focus their gaze on intersectionality.

This was one of the first books I requested on Netgalley when I made an account (and subsequently requested 25 books not thinking ANYONE would want me to read their texts…). I was drawn to the topic mainly because I try to make these issues integral aspects of my curriculum. I was hoping I could use an essay or two as standalone, nonfiction works in the classroom to supplement some of the fiction we read throughout the year.

Kendall structures the book in a way that makes this entirely possible. Each essay addresses a different aspect of the feminist movement, sometimes appearing so disparate to what is commonly touted as “feminism” as to be unrelated, like issues surrounding housing and gun violence in the black community. However, Kendall details the connections between issues surrounding black women struggling with these other social issues and how it impacts their view of feminism and challenges white feminist ideals.

But throughout the book, I found myself wondering, “Who is this book written for?” My first instinct is to say it’s intended for white women, but I fear that this book would only appeal to an educated subgroup of those people. That’s fine; however, as someone who humbly claims to be part of the latter, I found that I was already aware of much of this information. And while certainly warranted in some places, her tone towards white women generally was a bit polarizing. I’ll be the first to acknowledge that there are many problems with this group, but the rhetoric seemed strange given what I perceived to be the intended audience.

My favorite parts of the book were actually the moments that verged on memoir of Kendall’s real life experiences and her connections of those experiences to the social movement. There are important ideas here, perhaps for a younger white woman who has yet to experience these ideas in an academic setting yet. I’ll be putting this book on my free-choice nonfiction list for my AP Lang students for sure.

A very honest, strong read.

This book housed a collection of essays all featuring femininity. Kendall spoke in a loud, clear voice throughout the novel. Her values and concerns were clearly spoken. Race, class, sexual orientation were also addressed. She asks a variety of questions and ponders the answers. She also draws from her own experiences when making her arguments.

An essential read for any feminist!

Each essay was eye opening for me. Some aspects I knew, some aspects I thought I knew, and some aspects I had no idea. All essays were educated me and were helpful to understand things outside of my realm. Sometimes paragraphs were repetitive of what had already been said in the essay but overall everything was extremely articulate and well written. I think this book would be great for a number of college courses.

Mikki Henderson does a good job of pointing out how often “feminism” means more rights for upper-middle-class working women who need nannies, while forgotten African-American women, lesbians, transgendered women and working-class women of all races. Issues that are definitely feminist ones — housing, living wages, food security and more — are thought of as labor issues when we should instead operate from a mindset of intersectionality.

I enjoyed Hood Feminism, but I didn’t find it as inspiring as either Ijeoma Olou’s So You Want to Talk About Race, Roxane Gay’s Bad Feminist or Baratunde Thurston’s How to Be Black.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley, Penguin Group and Viking in exchange for an honest review.

Excellent addition to the genre of feminist literature. A much needed voice about the diversity and breadth of challenges that face modern feminists.

Here is a trip into discovery and triumph. The collective speaks to every element of discovery. Learning who you are how those who raised you hold sway over all the different avenues you pursue. The topics explored here have all the moments we have come to be revealed through essays on minority life and surviving being black female alone, married, divorced, single parent, and back to rising above above mentioned challenges. I found this voice unrepentant, adult and matter of fact. In short this is a female voice that shouts but does not dull her moment in fury. Enjoy

This book should be required reading for everyone. All feminists aren’t doing the work for all women. Hood feminism shows that feminism is not everybody all together and there’s a privilege to that title. This book also represents the struggles that Black women have had and continue to experience. It clearly outlines issues with the movement and intersectionality. She confronts issues of trying to deal with life in this country and what it means to be a Black woman. Everybody needs to read this text especially white women who consider themselves feminists.

Honestly a tough book to review. It is a raw, often difficult read especially if you are going to be willing to address your privilege. Ms. Kendall does not sugar coat or mince her words. She is direct and honest about the difference between what true feminism should look like and what it currently looks like.

I think it is a necessary read for just about anyone. Each chapter is a standalone essay. Some better than others. Ms. Kendall gets overly wordy from time to time and some of the essays where she feels more passionate than others are quite noticeable.

Thought provoking and well done.

Hood feminism is a must read for anyone with an interest in intersectional-feminism. It's revelatory and brings to the forefront so many issues that are often ignored in the wider feminist space.