About this item
"Dear Dope Black Girl, You don't know me, but I know you. I know you because I am you! We are magic, light, and stars in the universe." So begins a letter that Tamara Winfrey Harris received as part of her Letters to Black Girls project, where she asked black women to write honest, open, and inspiring letters of support to young black girls aged thirteen to twenty-one. Her call went viral, resulting in a hundred personal letters from black women around the globe that cover topics such as identity, self-love, parents, violence, grief, mental health, sex, and sexuality. In Dear Black Girl, Winfrey Harris organizes a selection of these letters, providing "a balm for the wounds of anti-black-girlness" and modeling how black women can nurture future generations.
About the Author
Tamara Winfrey-Harris is a writer who specializes in the ever-evolving space where current events, politics and pop culture intersect with race and gender. She says, "I want to be a storyteller of the Black female experience and a truth-teller to all those folks who got us twisted - tangled up in racist and sexist lies. I want my writing to advocate for my sisters. We are better than alright. We are amazing."Well-versed on a range of topics, including Beyoncé's feminism; Rachel Dolezal's white privilege; and the Black church and female sexuality, Tamara has been published in media outlets, including The New York Times, The Atlantic, Cosmopolitan, New York Magazine and The Los Angeles Times. And she has been called to share her analysis on media outlets, including NPR's "Weekend Edition" and Janet Mock's "So Popular" on MSNBC.com, and on university campuses nationwide.Tamara's first book, The Sisters Are Alright: Changing the Broken Narrative of Black Women in America was published by Berrett-Koehler Publishers in 2015 and called "a myth-busting portrait of Black women in America" by The Washington Post. The book won the Phyllis Wheatley Award, IndieFab Award, Independent Publishers Living Now Award and the IPPY Award. Her sophomore effort Dear Black Girl: Letters From Your Sisters On Stepping Into Your Power is forthcoming in March 2021 from Berrett-Koehler Publishers.Her essays also appear in The Lemonade Reader: Beyonce, Black Feminism and Spirituality (Routledge, 2019) ; The Burden: African Americans and the Enduring Impact of Slavery (Wayne State University Press, 2018) and The Arlington Reader: Fourth Edition (Bedford/St. Martin's, 2013) .Tamara is a native of Gary, IN, and a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, Sorority, Inc. She graduated with a BA degree from the Greenlee School of Journalism at Iowa State University.
