Unbossed: How Black Girls Are Leading the Way
Black girls are leading, organizing, advocating, and creating. They are starting nonprofits. Building political coalitions. Promoting diverse literature. Fighting cancer. Improving water quality. Working to prevent gun violence.
Are we ready to learn from their leadership?
""Black women are literally at the helm of every movement,"" says Tyah-Amoy Roberts, an activist and a survivor of the Parkland, Florida, school shooting. ""Every push for social justice. Every push for social change. We need to take our stories into our own hands."" In Unbossed, they do.
From Khristi Lauren Adams, author of the celebrated Parable of the Brown Girl, comes Unbossed, a hopeful and riveting inquiry into the lives of eight young Black women who are agitating for change and imagining a better world. Offering practical lessons in leadership, resilience, empathy, and tenacity from a group of young leaders of color who are often neglected, Unbossed includes profiles of Jaychele Nicole Schenck, Ssanyu Lukoma, Tyah-Amoy Roberts, Grace Callwood, Hannah Lucas, Amara Ifeji, Stephanie Younger, and Kynnedy Smith.
These are the young Black women we will be reading about decades from now. Like their foremothers in earlier freedom movements, Black girls are transformational leaders. They are pacesetters, strategic thinkers, visionaries, mobilizers, activists, and more. Their stories may often be overlooked. But Black girls are leading the way.
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"This empowering collection offers plenty of inspiration to younger readers pushing for change." ----Publishers Weekly
"Unbossed is a celebration of sistas and a field guide for making the world a better place. With wit, verve, love, and wisdom, Khristi Lauren Adams introduces us to e-ight Black girls with expansive vision and leadership acumen." --Jemar Tisby, PhD, New York Times bestselling author of The Color of Compromise and founder of The Witness, Inc.
"Khristi Lauren Adams's Unbossed is a bridge that connects the legacy of Black women trailblazers of the past to the Black girls blazing their own trails today. Reading the testimonies of these brilliant young Black leaders, one can only conclude that the kids are all right." --Ekemini Uwan, public theologian and co-host of the Truth's Table podcast
"In Unbossed, Khristi Lauren Adams offers us a textbook and a masterclass on Black girls' innate leadership wisdom. Such a gift has never been more important. If you are committed to being a powerful leader, please read this book!" --Vashti DuBois, executive director of The Colored Girls Museum
"Khristi Lauren Adams's work is truly needed in this moment in time. She has elevated the context of the Black girl's voice, moving us beyond being surprised to acknowledging and embracing the Black girl's voice as genius." --Vivian Anderson, founder and director of Every Black Girl
"Khristi Lauren Adams has captured what I have always known about Black girls and Black women. We are capable and resilient leaders. We are also vulnerable humans who are in need of love, compassion, tenderness, and support." --Natasha Sistrunk Robinson, author and president of T3 Leadership Solutions, Inc.
"This is an astounding book that centers the lives of Black girls in ways that are creative and compelling, but most of all, in ways that see them as free, cherished, loved, and inspired. This is a book I want my daughter to read and return to again and again." --Danté Stewart, author of Shoutin' in the Fire
"Unbossed needs to be on the syllabus in every home, church, and school." --Rev. Thomas L. Bowen, Earl L. Harrison Minister of Social Justice at Shiloh Baptist Church of Washington
"Unbossed is a deeply necessary resource for our time." --Drew G. I. Hart, professor, activist, author, and co-host of Inverse Podcast
"This is the kind of resource I wish I had growing up and that I look forward to sharing with the young women and girls in my life. Simply put, this book affirms the ingenuity and brilliance of one of society's most overlooked but valuable gifts." --Jennifer R. Farmer, author of First and Only
"If you care about Black women, support Black women, and want to learn wisdom from Black women, this book is for you." --Terence Lester, founder of Love Beyond Walls and author of When We Stand
"The book is a must-read for anyone interested in mobilizing others to be the change they wish to see and understanding how Black girls and Black women are leading the way." --Lori Latrice Martin, author of Black Women as Leaders and associate dean and professor at Louisiana State University
"From the very first page in the introduction, you will be inspired by the passion Khristi Lauren Adams has for Black girls. She not only captures the brilliance and courage of young Black women; she also traces the lineage of that brilliance and courage to their predecessors before them." --Phil Allen Jr., author of Open Wounds
