The Real Lives of Strong Black Women : Transcending Myths, Reclaiming Joy

Rating:
Summary: Strong Black Women
Review: The best thing about this book to me is from top to bottom, from the first to the last page, you read the material, and you find yourself knowing some of the people's stories very well, maybe even your own. For me, I saw some of my mother, a little of my ex, some of my co-workers, some from other black women I've come across in my life, and so forth. At the beginning of the book he talks about three types of love: platonic, romantic, and self-love. There's a simple way of evaluating how much of each you have in your lives, and I found myself asking that question as I read the book. The book is sort of in the mold of works by bell hooks and other writers, speakers, and such who are advocates of self-love. There are stories about the mother/daughter relationship, stories about dating, and some about what men want from Strong Black Women today. That section really caught my attention, because I was eager to see what some men had to say about sisters and so forth. This section, as well as the others, gets very in-depth, so you should be able to take a piece from every section and apply it to your life and situation. The author interviewed people in the ages from as early as their 20s to as late as their 80s and 90s, so there is a diverse collection of stories, comments and such in the book. There are many lessons which can be taken from this book, so that in itself makes it worth checking out.

Rating:
Summary: Getting to the root of it all
Review: There are so many definitions of what a strong black woman is or is not and whether it's a positive or negative attribute. I enjoyed reading Thompkins perspective on the evolution of strong black women and how they can be strong, yet also live a satisfying life for themselves. He provides a source of reflection that I believe all black women would find helpful in revitalizing their lives and strengthening the bonds of sisterhood.

Rating:
Summary: I Am Woman
Review: Toby Thompkins showcases the lives of strong black women in THE REAL LIVES OF STRONG BLACK WOMEN: Transcending Myths, Reclaiming Joy. Thompkins takes us on a journey through the lives of women who are considered strong and demonstrates how that strength, in some cases, can be a detriment to our joy and well-being. Through interviews with both women and men from all walks of life, we are seen as the caregivers and nurturers of everyone from family to friends to co-workers at the expense of our own happiness. We are so good at it we do not realize that our destiny is at stake.

The contents include three relationships that are paramount to our lives, the romantic love, platonic love and self-love. Thompkins asserts that often we take care of the romantic and platonic love and discount the self-love. In each, subjects such as the wonder women, mother/daughter power struggle, dating with your eyes wide open and straight and lesbian sister relationships, just to name a few, are illustrated and provide powerful messages for change in our behavior. Finally, Thompkins offers suggestions for breaking the stranglehold we have on this age-old behavior in order to reclaim joy and peacefulness for ourselves.
Thompkins writing includes historical aspects of the helping behavior and his writing is candid as are the interviews of the women and men; there is no sugar coating within the interviews. This is a wonderful self-help analysis of the daily lives of strong black women and how we can overcome an often-negative behavior to live a full and meaningful life. (RAWSISTAZ Rating: 4.5)

Reviewed by Dawn R. Reeves
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers