A New York Times BestsellerA Washington Post Notable Nonfiction Book of 2020A potent and electrifying critique of today's feminist movement announcing a fresh new voice in black feminism"My wish is that every white woman who calls herself a feminist (as I do) will read this book in a state of hushed and humble respect."-Elizabeth GilbertToday's feminist movement has a glaring blind spot, and paradoxically, it is women. Mainstream feminists rarely talk about meeting basic needs as a feminist issue, argues Mikki Kendall, but food insecurity, access to quality education, safe neighborhoods, a living wage, and medical care are all feminist issues. All too often, however, the focus is not on basic survival for the many, but on increasing privilege for the few. That feminists refuse to prioritize these issues has only exacerbated the age-old problem of both internecine discord and women who rebuff at carrying the title. Moreover, prominent white feminists broadly suffer from their own myopia with regard to how things like race, class, sexual orientation, and ability intersect with gender. How can we stand in solidarity as a movement, Kendall asks, when there is the distinct likelihood that some women are oppressing others?In her searing collection of essays, Mikki Kendall takes aim at the legitimacy of the modern feminist movement, arguing that it has chronically failed to address the needs of all but a few women. Drawing on her own experiences with hunger, violence, and hypersexualization, along with incisive commentary on politics, pop culture, the stigma of mental health, and more, Hood Feminism delivers an irrefutable indictment of a movement in flux. An unforgettable debut, Kendall has written a ferocious clarion call to all would-be feminists to live out the true mandate of the movement in thought and in deed.

FANTASTIC HARDCOVER ATTENTION AND SALES: The book landed on the New York Times bestseller list four months after publication. Kendall was a guest on The Daily Show and NPR's Code Switch; the book was named a Most Anticipated book by Buzzfeed, Refinery29, MarieClaire.com, Cosmo.com, and more; and we placed serial excerpts with the NYT Sunday Review and TIME Magazine.A LEADING VOICE: Kendall is credited for sparking a global conversation "bringing the criticisms of women of color feminists to the forefront" (Atlantic.com). She has a passionately engaged Twitter following of 132k. Her exclusion from an NPR roundtable on race and online feminism-a conversation in response to her hashtag #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen-caused a Twitter firestorm resulting in NPR apologizing and extending an invitation.TOPICAL AND NECESSARY: Feminist critical writing today is enjoying a wide and ravenous readership, especially essay collections from black feminists continuing in the tradition of Audre Lorde, Angela Y. Davis, and Bell Hooks, as Mikki is surely doing.