Overworked and Undervalued

In this collection, editors Davis and Bowman present an ensemble of Black women professionals offering their perspectives on gendered racism in America. This text is refreshingly conversational while underscoring its main points with scholarly citations--which in itself speaks to a recurring refrain throughout the book: Black women have been writing about intersectional oppression for quite some time. The book is a demonstration of Black women's scholarly creativity, in that contributing authors use narrative form in unique ways. The personal examples throughout the book span a lifetime, from early childhood to the present. This collection serves as a powerful reminder that certain concepts with "fancy" academic labels (for example, "stereotype threat" and "privilege" will be familiar to many readers) represent pervasive lived experiences in everyday, ordinary interactions. The editors conclude their introduction with an incredibly practical application section, something often glaringly missing from other texts on similar topics. They outline how various different types of readers can and should use the text--explicitly addressing a range of possible readers from administrators to employers, including educators and lay (white) people, and of course, Black women. Highly recommended. All readers. -- "Choice Reviews" In Overworked and Undervalued: Black Women and Success, the authors illuminate readers by presenting the personal stories of a group of Black women professionals who shed light on the dismal statistics surrounding Black women's rates of suicide and health care problems relative to our racial and gender counterparts. At various points in their ascension, they faced unfair, egregious acts of racial/gender discrimination and bias. They have been questioned by teachers, supervisors, and managers about their mere presence in certain settings, not to mention their presumed competence. Even at senior levels, they continue to experience the dehumanizing acts. The authors also recount the impacts of these 'slights' on their esteem, confidence, and sense of humanity. The biggest 'slight' is the one that lurks beneath the surface of individual acts by a single individual or group and entails the ubiquitous expectation that they work well beyond the call of duty--an expectation they found themselves personally embodying... This book is a gift to those who want to know the essence of psychological liberation. --Chalmer E. F. Thompson, Indiana University-Purdue University