By learning how to channel their rage in their areas of endeavor, they have earned game-changing respect that has transcended race and gender. Cooper points to tennis star Serena Williams, former first lady Michelle Obama, and singer Beyoncé as contemporary black feminist role models. Once uncovered and focused, however, the rage that inevitably comes from such injustices is of tremendous benefit to all.

Cooper’s feminist journey also forced her to shed cultural “baggage”-such as the racism of a white society that questioned her movements on American streets and the sexism of black society that sought to control her sexuality through the church-that limited her passage through the world. Participating in these separate battles did not blind her to the need for alliances with both groups, however they only made her more aware of the need for creating solidarity across communities to topple patriarchy. The author begins by detailing the difficult journey that led her to “disidentify with whiteness” of mainstream feminism and learn to embrace her “particular Black girl magic.” Her quest for political authenticity meant fighting with white women over racism and black men over sexism. But as her feminist foremother Audre Lorde once remarked, this anger was not only legitimate it was also “a powerful source of energy serving progress and change.” Here, Cooper brings together essays tracing her evolution as a feminist while giving voice to the political (out)rage seething within. “We are told we are irrational, crazy, out of touch, entitled, disruptive and not team players,” writes Cooper (Women and Gender Studies, Africana Studies/Rutgers Univ.). A professor explores the ways “sexism, and racism, and classism work together to fuck shit up for everybody” and how feminism can begin undoing the damage.

Book eloquent rage