I came across this epic gem on Clubhouse. There are many self-published authors on that platform, but I was drawn after hearing her speak. $10 later, I've laughed, journaled and been inspired to new conversations.
Abstract
Black Woman, You are Fvck@d: The Only Book to Explain Why Black Women Will Remain In A System Of White Supremacy, is a Black Marxist tale of power and self love from a creative scholar named A. Maddie Dee. It is a fun, yet triggering, how-to guide on how to get free from White supremacy in heterosexual relationships. Plus, my Egyptologist friends will die a spiritual death when I tell them what I learned about King Akhenaton in this book!
Author: A. Maddie Dee
Overview
Black Woman, You are Fvck@d is written in accessible language with interesting features. For example, she cleverly titles each chapter by a song that exemplifies a theme or feeling. The playlist together is very good, but is also the airport soundtrack to an epic girls weekend. The book indicts Black men as leaders of our community, but more significantly centers the destruction of White supremacy on our communities. It did for me what reading the Honorable Elijah Muhammad's "Message to the Black Man" did for me 7 years ago. It is a problematically patriarchal, hotep ride that I will never forget!
Their writing was so colloquial that it was hard to follow, at times. However, there were also times where the message was stated so well that I was shocked it had not come from my own mind. The flow of the book moves haphazardly through anecdote, global Black history lesson, personal vignette, sociological data analysis, and qualitative data analysis. It gets the job done because the author continually ties it back to the main question, which is a call to action for Black communities. Why do we continue to have Black children in a white supremacist world?
Highlights & Synthesis
My favorite sections of this book are the history lessons on the Portuguese, the Haitians, the Zulus, the Kush and Egyptians who have fought harrowing fights against white supremacy- all led by Black men. Their explanations of the policy landscape of white supremacy through Europe, India and the the Americas is amazing. A. Maddie took me to school. Here are a sample of excerpts that shook me up;
"We can do away with labels like Marxism, socialism, capitalism, communism, conservativism, or whateverism. It's all white supremacy. No matter what you call it, they maintain power and control of systems, networks, institutions, structures, land, production, distribution, manufacturing and resources... and by extension, they maintain control of you and your reality"
"A people who exists only through the control of another's economy, will not survive" (Shoutout to Marcus Garvey) "Their system only works on our subjugation"
"Neither of us is able to truly fulfill the roles and responsibilities of manhood or womanhood, and this major misunderstanding has created a chasm of problems for, and between, us."
"Black people will remain on the bottom of any social order... if our men don't change their course of inaction..."
"A male who does not perform as a man while simultaneously submitting to another race of man has no business telling a female anything about performing as a woman"
"If Black men need Black women to sit up straight before they can make a manly move, does that not mean we are the leaders of men?"
"Why are Black men able to have a GF, wife, wifey or even random sex? At what point did the Black woman's standard of Black manhood exclude the duties to provide prosperity, protection and, above all, freedom? Why have Black men been able to enjoy the rewards of manhood without fulfilling the requirements of the role?"
"So, every time a story of our mistreatment creeps your Twitter timeline, just remember it was your Black girl magic trickery that enabled the Black male fuckery, making more Black misery."
The most important lesson I learned from this book is the cultural shifting power of words. The talking points and soundbites from this book are highly polarizing, which is evidence of its readability. I think their delivery is poignantly able to translate into normal-everyday conversation. Another thing I appreciate about this book is the articulation of the platform of Black liberation through the path of self love/harm reduction.
I need to further delve into their arguments about Black men being morally complacent while white men create gods of themselves, in an inverse relationship over time. I am also curious about the brief indictments of Black women.
"You, Black woman. You're the reason the bar of Black manhood is so low that you could roll over it in your sleep. You fawn over him, you fantasize about him, you fight for him, you fetishize and fuck him. Your pussy pacifies him like a soother does a suckling baby. Your behavior and choices to give all the goods to a group of men who are not holding up their end of manhood is keeping them docile and disinterested in doing for Black people what white men do for their people. You have crossed the line between being a constructive counterpart and coddling crutch"
All in all, I am blown away by this new addition to my Black library. It will be on the shelf with my most aggressive revolutionary inspirations.
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