In Spite of Racism  

Book Referred to During Show: Shifting: The Double Lives of Black Women in America by Charisse Jones & Kumea Shorter-Gooden, PhD. [click on book title to go to book on amazon.com]

Also Recommended: Working While Black: The Black Person's Guide to Success in the White Workplace by Michelle T Johnson.

Poems by a variety of women about Black women's hair: http://www.geocities.com/jywanza1/Blackwomenshaira.html

From an article: "Can I Touch Your Hair: On Bein' Black in New Mexico" by Virginia Lovliere Hampton

"One of those common experiences is having our hair “touched” if we have or wear our hair “nappy.” In Albuquerque--and, I hear, in Santa Fe, too--“nappy-headed” people of African descent are confronted regularly with having perfect strangers reach toward us to touch our hair or, worse, that of our young children—often without asking—like we’re dolls or other merchandise to be handled. It's unsettling, objectifying and rude, especially for those of us who, like me, are from the South, where, apparently, white folks are raised a little better. We are often too stunned to stop the behavior or say anything that doesn’t make the innocent-feeling perpetrators turned victims literally terrified for their lives.  [To read the entire article visit: http://alibi.com/index.php?story=18005&scn=feature]

See you next time on The R Word: Succeed IN SPITE OF Racism!

To Your Success,

/tracy