Black Fatigue, Second Edition: How Racism Erodes the Mind, Body, and Spirit

by Mary-Frances Winters, Mareisha N. Reese

The pioneering book that exposed the intergenerational health impacts of systemic racism is back—with 50 percent new content to meet the demands of our post-2020 reality.

This updated edition delivers urgent tools for survival, including two new chapters, a significantly expanded discussion guide, and updated research, case studies, and real-world examples.

Black people are exhausted. The toll of living within systems designed to exclude them devastates minds, bodies, and spirits. Award-winning diversity, equity, and inclusion leader Mary-Frances Winters—now joined by Mareisha Winters Reese—addresses this ongoing crisis with an urgent update to her bestselling book.

Since the first edition sold over 50,000 copies, the world has shifted dramatically. COVID-19 laid bare devastating health disparities. Corporate DEI commitments proved fragile and temporary. Political shifts continue to threaten hard-won progress. In this second edition, Winters and Reese incorporate new data, fresh case studies, and expanded tools to reflect today's realities.

This edition, with 50 percent new content, includes the
Four new chapters on current challenges facing Black communitiesUpdated research on racism's health impacts in a post-COVID worldNew stories and case studies that illuminate lived experienceA revised discussion guide for workplaces, classrooms, and communitiesUpdated models reflecting today's most relevant findingsWith unflinching honesty and a practical lens, Winters and Reese document the enduring toll of “living while Black” while also equipping readers with strategies for personal healing and organizational transformation. The research is current, the case studies are real, and the tools are designed to create lasting systemic change.

336 pages, Paperback

Expected publication June 23, 2026

About the author

Mary-Frances Winters is the founder and president of The Winters Group, Inc., a 36-year old global diversity, equity and inclusion consulting firm. She is a passionate advocate for justice and equity; a provocateur not afraid to have the difficult conversations. Mary-Frances has over three decades of experience working with corporate leaders in support of enhancing their understanding of what it is like to be the “other.”

Ms. Winters is a master strategist with experience in strategic planning, change management, diversity, organization development, training and facilitation, systems thinking and qualitative and quantitative research methods. She has extensive experience in working with senior leadership teams to drive organizational change.

Mary-Frances Winters has served on national not-for profit, corporate and university boards. Among her many awards and distinctions, she was named a diversity pioneer by Profiles in Diversity Journal in August 2007 and received the Winds of Change award from the Forum on Workplace Inclusion in 2016. Ms. Winters was also featured in Forbes’ June 2016 publication, which honored some of the DC Metro area’s most powerful women. In November 2019, she was named by Forbes as one of 10 trailblazers in diversity and inclusion. She has served as a torch bearer for the Olympics and has previously been recognized as an Athena Award winner from the Chamber of Commerce for her contributions to women and the community.