All the Women in My Family Sing

"This mosaic of women's voices inspires, heals, and offers hope in dark times. A memorable collection that will make your heart sing." - Ruth Behar, author of Lucky Broken Girl
"These perfectly chosen, Women Words are a healing gift from new sistahs, now my family, for whom I will fight, with whom I will stand and because of whom, I will build." - Alfre Woodard, Actor, Activist
" Editor Deborah Santana has assembled a rich melange of writers, including Natalie Baszile, Lalita Tademy, Nira A. Hyman and Meera Bowman-Johnson, who go deep on a range of issues that will meet you where your heart beats.." - BUST Magazine
"A song of freedom: that's what you hear as you read All the Women in My Family Sing, an anthology of essays by women of color. Sometimes the songs are heavy with loss, or staccato with righteous anger, or lilting with love. From Samina Ali's tale of re-building her life after medical incompetence left her both a new mother and disabled to Camille Hayes' story of challenging racial constructs over the years, we see women who fight passionately and gracefully for autonomy and self-definition. Some of them are new voices, others literary or socio-political lions like Marian Wright Edelman. But in all these fierce and anthemic pieces we see the true face of womanhood, in all its colors." - Farai Chideya, author of books including The Color of Our Future and The Episodic Career
"Inside the collection, trailblazing activists and writers open up about the intergenerational relationships that shaped their identities and their work in tender and brave poetry and prose. As the diversity of their voices comes together, readers acutely recognize the importance finding home can have in our journeys toward building a better world." - Carmen RiosMs. Magazine
"The voices in All the Women in My Family Sing intermingle to produce a harmony of moving experiences that taps into the rhythm of our collective desires for a more compassionate world." - Nancy Wilson, Jazz Singer; three-time Grammy Award-winner
"In their common pursuits of acceptance, friendship and social justice, these writers demonstrate that there are truths and desires that transcend lines of color, sexuality and class. In sounding common chords of humanity, their voices, together, create a mighty chorus." -USA Today
"All the Women of My Family Sing is a rousing compilation by sixty-nine women of color, featuring essays that address personal and collective identity, history, place, perspective, sexuality, immigration, and modern day life..." - Donovan's Bookshelf
"Verdict: ALL THE WOMEN IN MY FAMILY SING is a luminous collection of women speaking their truths, and speaking them loudly."- IndieReader
"An anthology of essays by women of color documenting their vast experiences around the world inside different economic, social, and geopolitical systems, including a piece written by the actress America Ferrera. (The book was also produced entirely by women of color, from writing and editing to design and promotion.) We're lucky to have a wealth of new books to help focus the mind and bring some peace, clarity, and wisdom to our daily routines.." -Vogue.com
"In their common pursuits of acceptance, friendship and social justice, these writers demonstrate that there are truths and desires that transcend lines of color, sexuality and class. In sounding common chords of humanity, their voices, together, create a mighty chorus." - USA Today
"All the Women in My Family Sing is a bold, evocative anthology that cannot be read without engaging your full heart. The essays about identity, family, love, acceptance, and fear are a testament to the times, unrelenting in their examination of personal and global pain. There's triumph here and the resilience specific to the female spirit." - Nichelle Tramble Spellman, author of The Dying Ground and The Last King Writer/Producer of The Good Wife and Justified
"The essays in this book capture the wisdom of these powerful women as they build bridges to 'heal the brokenness in today's turbulent world.'" - Black America
"The result is a highly recommended collection powerful in literary approaches, diverse in subject and presentation, yet accessible to all thinking women who look for a blend of emotion-based experiential pieces and ways of navigating through wounded pasts to better futures." - Donovan's Bookshelf
"For those who love womankind-and those seeking to understand the depth and breadth of womanhood- All the Women in My Family Sing is a timely reminder that when it comes to women of color, love is still a revolutionary act." - The Glow Up
"13 books to watch for in the first half of 2018- Mothers, sisters, daughters, grandmothers - the essays in this collection are written by women of color from around the world and range from an escape from the "killing fields" of Cambodia to stories of love and desire." - OZY.com
"All the Women in My Family Sing encompasses everything that is important about women of color -- our diversity, sacrifice, crusade for equality, and the impact we have made on the lives of others." - Jenny Bach, California Democratic Party Secretary
"This moving anthology of essays by women of color illuminates the struggles, traditions, and life views of women at the dawn of the 21st century. The 69 authors grapple with identity, belonging, self-esteem, and sexuality, among other topics." - Publishers Weekly
"All the Women in My Family Sing: Women Write the World - Essays on Equality, Justice and Freedom Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
"These brilliant and moving essays show the astonishing, brave and passionate lives of women of color as they fight for autonomy, equality and love." -Isabel Allende,
"All the Women in My Family Singis on a different beat. The anthology is a passionate blend of personal stories by women of color from all walks of life - and women of color took part in the entire production of the book."- NPR- KALW
"Whether the words pour forth like Jazz or salsa, indie rock or R&B, indigenous drums, kotos, maracas, or the sheng, they all ring out in stories of ancestry, forgiveness, struggle and victory. It is an eclectic collection where you may hear both new and familiar songs which seem to reflect Lucille Clifton's request that we 'celebrate' with her the fact that each woman writer has survived, indeed flourished through rivers bridged, mountains climbed or oceans navigated despite hurricane storms." - devorah major,poet/novelist/essayist, San Francisco 3rd Poet Laureate
"Impassioned writers bearing witness to survival, creativity, and hope." - Kirkus Reviews
"Santana has assembled and introduced a timely, geographically diverse collection of essays, often very personal in nature..." - Booklist
"A revolutionary primer for all us well-meaning white folks who haven't a clue about what it's like to be a woman of color." - Susan Gabriel, author of Trueluck Summer
"Each of these brief, poignant pieces illuminates one woman's negotiation between her aspirations and the forces that would constrict her dreams. The contributors write prophetically of their struggles and triumphs in the early years of the twenty-first century, challenging the reader with their revelations. All the Women in My Family Sing is essential reading." - Henry Louis Gates, Jr ,Alphonse Fletcher University Professor Harvard University
"There's something absolutely compelling about the stories in All the Women in My Family Sing.'They're like an addiction. Read one, and your eyes fly open. Turn to the middle and your heart sinks. Taste one at random and find a kindred spirit, then disagree with another that just doesn't touch you right. That's the appeal of this book: each of the essays in here - written by everyday women as well as those with fame - are short enough to dip into quick, you can easily skip around, and they'll all make you think and think and think. Yes, All the Women in My Family Sing is for women. It's more feminist than not. And yes, men can enjoy it, too, because reading it is like falling into a web of nourishing voices. This is a book to have, no matter who you are." - Caribbean Life News
"In this beautifully composed chorus of sixty-nine voices, Deborah Santana has given us a fascinating and compelling anthology of essays by women of color. Each of these brief, poignant pieces illuminates one woman's negotiation between her aspirations and the forces that would constrict her dreams. The contributors write prophetically of their struggles and triumphs in the early years of the twenty-first century, challenging the reader with their revelations. All the Women in My Family Sing is essential reading." ndash; Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Alphonse Fletcher University Professor, Harvard University
"Santana has compiled a truly beautiful array of voices here, with hope being the common note they all hit and sustain. This is an accessible, teachable and cherishable collection." - Dave Eggers, author of The Circle and founder of ScholarMatch and Voice of Witness
"Santana, an author, activist and filmmaker, carefully showcases the depth and breadth of women's voices on family, identity and culture." - The Root
"All the Women in my Family Sing is a very thoughtful, well-curated collection of personal essays written by women of color, spanning a variety of themes and experiences. It shares stories that spark a conversation about the human experience, rather than just bringing tales about what it's like to struggle as a woman of color" - Lenna Stites, City Book Review (San Francisco / Manhattan / Seattle)
"An anthology of essays by women of color documenting their vast experiences around the world inside different economic, social, and geopolitical systems, including a piece written by the actress America Ferrera. (The book was also produced entirely by women of color, from writing and editing to design and promotion.) We're lucky to have a wealth of new books to help focus the mind and bring some peace, clarity, and wisdom to our daily routines." - 7 Nonfiction Books to Change Your Life in 2018, Vogue.com
"The voices of women leading and stirring and instigating lasting magic towards a more just, peaceful and sustainable world remind us that there is hope even when we feel most disheartened... a symphony for troubled times!" - Kavita N Ramdas ,feminist philanthropist activist, Principal at KNR Sisters & Strategy Advisor, MADRE
" Inspiring and profound, this exciting compilation of first-person nonfiction by women of color including America Ferrera, Porochista Khakpour, and more, offers a much-needed and wide-ranging perspective on the 21st century human condition." - Essence Magazine
"An uncommonly rare and inherently compelling read from cover to cover, All the Women in My Family Sing: Women Write the World: Essays on Equality, Justice, and Freedomis an especially and unreservedly recommended addition to community, college, and university library Women's collections and supplemental studies reading lists. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject..." - Midwest Book Review