What Brenda E. Stevenson manages to do with What Sorrows Labour in My Parent's Breast is unlike anything I've ever read before. Stevenson weaves together history, politics, and untold slave narratives to paint a painstakingly honest picture of the realities of what the Black family has endured over time. Even with the evils and the impact of the legacy of slavery she is able to tell this social history with a lens that also honors the strength and connection between families in the midst of trauma, violence, and constant separation. Told through a historical timeline, readers are really able to connect the dots between the past and the present challenges Black families face. I am honestly in awe at how much ground Stevenson was able to capture in one text.

What Sorrows Labour in My Parent's Breast is more than a Black history book- it's the untold story of the many challenges our ancestors had to face in order to bring new life into the world while finding the spiritual strength to sustain their own life source.

I know that after reading this book many of us will pause to judge our parent's shortcomings and become more curious about why we do the things we do, say the things we say and struggle to fight stigma around mental health and many other isms after reading.

Thank you so much to the publisher and author for the e-arc copy!