cover image Embracing Sisterhood: Class, Identity, and Contemporary Black Women

Embracing Sisterhood: Class, Identity, and Contemporary Black Women

Katrina Bell McDonald. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, $27.95 (213pp) ISBN 978-0-7425-4575-5

With straightforward prose, McDonald examines the notion of sisterhood among contemporary African-American women in this rigorous academic study. An associate professor of sociology at Johns Hopkins, McDonald has conducted extensive interviews with more than 80 black women-in their homes, workplaces, local hair salons, restaurants and, occasionally, their cellblocks. As they speak of self, friendship and community, McDonald breaks down their thoughts and attitudes along universal lines, looking to find some common bond among an increasingly diverse population of female African-Americans through consideration of concepts like struggle, authenticity and roots. Though her professorial tone can be dry, McDonald has a breakout chapter in her look at talk-show host and media mogul Oprah Winfrey, who represents not just ""the most famous African-American woman the world has known,"" but also the most heavily scrutinized with regards to race and authenticity, and therefore a fitting cap to her close look at the African-American everywoman.