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Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology
The pioneering anthology Home Girls features writings by Black feminists and lesbian activists on topics both provocative and profound. Since its initial publication in 1983, it has become an essential text on Black women's lives and writings. This edition features an updated lists of contributor biographies and an all-new preface that provides a fresh assessment of how Black women's lives have changed- or not- since the book was first published.
Includes:
For a godchild, Regina, on the occasion of her first love by Toi Derricotte
The damned by Toi Derricotte
Hester's song by Toi Derricotte
The sisters by Alexis De Veaux
Debra by Michelle T. Clinton
If I could write this in fire, I would write this in fire by Michelle Cliff
The blood - yes, the blood: a conversation by Cenen and Barbara Smith
Something Latino was up with us by Spring Redd
I used to think by Chirlane McCray
The black back-ups by Kate Rushin
Home by Barbara Smith
Under the days: the buried life and poetry of Angelina Weld Grimké by Akasha (Gloria) Hull
The black lesbian in American literature: an overview by Ann Allen Shockley
Artists without art form by Renita Weems
I've been thinking of Diana Sands by Patricia Jones
A cultural legacy denied and discovered : black lesbians in fiction by women by Jewelle L. Gomez
What it is I think she's doing anyhow: a reading of Toni Cade Bambara's The salt eaters by Akasha (Gloria) Hull
Tar beach by Audre Lorde
Before I dress and soar again by Donna Allegra
LeRoy's birthday by Raymina Y. Mays
The wedding by Beverly Smith
Maria de las Rosas by Becky Birtha
Miss Esther's land by Barbara A. Banks
The failure to transform: homophobia in the black community by Cheryl Clarke
Where will you be? by Pat Parker
Among the things that use to be by Willie M. Coleman
From sea to shining sea by June Jordan
Women of summer by Cheryl Clarke
The tired poem: last letter from a typical unemployed black professional woman by Kate Rushin
Shoes are made for walking by Shirley O. Steele
Billy de Lye by Deidre McCalla
The Combahee River Collective statement by Combahee River Collective
Black macho and black feminism by Linda C. Powell
Black lesbianbyfeminist organizing: a conversation by Tania Abdulahad ... [et al.]
For strong women by Michelle T. Clinton
The black goddess by Kate Rushin
Women's spirituality: a household act by Luisah Teish
Only justice can stop a curse by Alice Walker
Coalition politics: turning the century by Bernice Johnson Reagon
Includes:
For a godchild, Regina, on the occasion of her first love by Toi Derricotte
The damned by Toi Derricotte
Hester's song by Toi Derricotte
The sisters by Alexis De Veaux
Debra by Michelle T. Clinton
If I could write this in fire, I would write this in fire by Michelle Cliff
The blood - yes, the blood: a conversation by Cenen and Barbara Smith
Something Latino was up with us by Spring Redd
I used to think by Chirlane McCray
The black back-ups by Kate Rushin
Home by Barbara Smith
Under the days: the buried life and poetry of Angelina Weld Grimké by Akasha (Gloria) Hull
The black lesbian in American literature: an overview by Ann Allen Shockley
Artists without art form by Renita Weems
I've been thinking of Diana Sands by Patricia Jones
A cultural legacy denied and discovered : black lesbians in fiction by women by Jewelle L. Gomez
What it is I think she's doing anyhow: a reading of Toni Cade Bambara's The salt eaters by Akasha (Gloria) Hull
Tar beach by Audre Lorde
Before I dress and soar again by Donna Allegra
LeRoy's birthday by Raymina Y. Mays
The wedding by Beverly Smith
Maria de las Rosas by Becky Birtha
Miss Esther's land by Barbara A. Banks
The failure to transform: homophobia in the black community by Cheryl Clarke
Where will you be? by Pat Parker
Among the things that use to be by Willie M. Coleman
From sea to shining sea by June Jordan
Women of summer by Cheryl Clarke
The tired poem: last letter from a typical unemployed black professional woman by Kate Rushin
Shoes are made for walking by Shirley O. Steele
Billy de Lye by Deidre McCalla
The Combahee River Collective statement by Combahee River Collective
Black macho and black feminism by Linda C. Powell
Black lesbianbyfeminist organizing: a conversation by Tania Abdulahad ... [et al.]
For strong women by Michelle T. Clinton
The black goddess by Kate Rushin
Women's spirituality: a household act by Luisah Teish
Only justice can stop a curse by Alice Walker
Coalition politics: turning the century by Bernice Johnson Reagon
404 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1983
36 people are currently reading
5532 people want to read
About the author
Barbara Smith
12 books120 followersBarbara Smith (born in 1946 in Cleveland, Ohio) is an American lesbian feminist and socialist who has played a significant role in building and sustaining Black Feminism in the United States. Since the early 1970s she has been active as a critic, teacher, lecturer, author, scholar, and publisher of Black feminist thought. She has also taught at numerous colleges and universities over the last twenty five years. Smith's essays, reviews, articles, short stories and literary criticism have appeared in a range of publications, including The New York Times Book Review, The Black Scholar, Ms., Gay Community News, The Guardian, The Village Voice, Conditions and The Nation. Barbara has a twin sister, Beverly Smith, who is also a lesbian feminist activist and writer.
Source: Wikipedia.
Source: Wikipedia.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
April 10, 2016
I took my time with this one. I savored. I read slowly. I re-read. The pages are worn and dog-eared. So much was covered in these pages. My review is: Read this. Then read it again. And again. Again.
November 8, 2007
My mom knew this woman when the first edition of this was published. I have one of the original editions and this book means so much to me. It for us women of color who long to scream and fight for change.
May 24, 2023
This was a collection of speeches, short stories, essays, and poems. Some I enjoyed more than others. They were all great, but a lot of the speeches just felt more like a textbook. Not always in a bad way, but that may have been why it took me so long to get through this one. Regardless, I’m glad I read it and it was extremely educational!
Also increased my interest in reading some Audre Lorde, so that’s something to look forward to!
Also increased my interest in reading some Audre Lorde, so that’s something to look forward to!
October 8, 2007
One of the classics of Black Feminist thought. Very helpful in thinking about how to integrate our fights against racism, sexism and homophobia -- many essays are from women whose lives are at the intersection of all three.
January 12, 2022
Just finished and I'm going to try to write something here if I can manage to steady myself after having my soul rocked so hard. This book is phenomenal. Poems, memoirs, short fiction, essays; there's something here to level everyone! Before beginning this read you may like to ask yourself insofar as having your ass handed you, what's your style ? Avant-garde or abstract? Gently whispered soul shattering truths? Or perhaps, cosmic and catastrophic all consuming vengeance? Personally, I will greedily take a heaping dose of All.
This work is a compilation of Black Feminist writers, activist and lesbians handling, dissecting, exploding the white supremacist, sexist, homophobic order of the day (late 70's) which, shamefully echoes much of the order of today. These writers bare the souls of Black Lesbian Folk and what it was like for them to be a part of a coalition that although for women would rather not have Black voices added to the mix; through feminist groups that though Black would rather not have to uphold the validity of Black lesbians. They march you through the Black Civil Rights organizations that don't feel their lesbian sisters are people deserving of the same rights; through adolescent years and first experiences with girls and their homophobic families. Steeped in the wisdom, power, sorrow and transcendence, these pages are a deluge of humanity from which, once submerged, the reader may never feel the need to come up for air. Though it has great moments of judgment, it is also welcoming and tender. This reader found friends and kindred in these pages and voices that have not faded or aged a day in over 4 decades and cannot recommend this work enough.
Personal favorites were Barbara Banks' "Miss Esther's Land" about an old Black woman holding on to her farm land that her Uncle left her so white people could not take it, Toi Derricotte's "Hester's Song," inspired by her son asker her if she ever read The Scarlet Letter, Renita Weems, "Artists Without Art Form:' A Look at One Black Woman's World of Unrevered Black Women," where she discusses Sojourner Truth, Toni Morrison and Lorraine Hansberry. Alice Walker's "Only Justice Can Stop a Curse" is the only war "poem" I think I will ever refer to again and coming up on 40 years later, in the face of white men stepping out of penis ships with the promise to pollute and colonize space, her warning that "if we have any true love for the stars, planets and the rest of Creation, we must do everything we can to keep white men away from them," has a ring of doomsday to it. Lusiah Teish's, "Women's Spirituality: A Household Act," which ties in folklore and the great mystery and influence that was Marie LaVeau, the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans was a touch of the supernatural the work needed. There were honestly so many more, but if I mention them we will have a review of every piece and you really need to just go read it for yourself.
This work is a compilation of Black Feminist writers, activist and lesbians handling, dissecting, exploding the white supremacist, sexist, homophobic order of the day (late 70's) which, shamefully echoes much of the order of today. These writers bare the souls of Black Lesbian Folk and what it was like for them to be a part of a coalition that although for women would rather not have Black voices added to the mix; through feminist groups that though Black would rather not have to uphold the validity of Black lesbians. They march you through the Black Civil Rights organizations that don't feel their lesbian sisters are people deserving of the same rights; through adolescent years and first experiences with girls and their homophobic families. Steeped in the wisdom, power, sorrow and transcendence, these pages are a deluge of humanity from which, once submerged, the reader may never feel the need to come up for air. Though it has great moments of judgment, it is also welcoming and tender. This reader found friends and kindred in these pages and voices that have not faded or aged a day in over 4 decades and cannot recommend this work enough.
Personal favorites were Barbara Banks' "Miss Esther's Land" about an old Black woman holding on to her farm land that her Uncle left her so white people could not take it, Toi Derricotte's "Hester's Song," inspired by her son asker her if she ever read The Scarlet Letter, Renita Weems, "Artists Without Art Form:' A Look at One Black Woman's World of Unrevered Black Women," where she discusses Sojourner Truth, Toni Morrison and Lorraine Hansberry. Alice Walker's "Only Justice Can Stop a Curse" is the only war "poem" I think I will ever refer to again and coming up on 40 years later, in the face of white men stepping out of penis ships with the promise to pollute and colonize space, her warning that "if we have any true love for the stars, planets and the rest of Creation, we must do everything we can to keep white men away from them," has a ring of doomsday to it. Lusiah Teish's, "Women's Spirituality: A Household Act," which ties in folklore and the great mystery and influence that was Marie LaVeau, the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans was a touch of the supernatural the work needed. There were honestly so many more, but if I mention them we will have a review of every piece and you really need to just go read it for yourself.
March 22, 2022
This is really the book that changed my life.
February 27, 2019
I took my time savoring each story in the collection. Each experience, trauma, struggle, and outcry felt in some way my own or in the very least a common suffering relatable enough to keep me turning the pages. Often, I found myself flipping back to check the publication date and thinking this easily could have been writing today.
Each of the stories in the anthology are a testament to the black feminist perspective.
My favorite of them all is Pat Parker’s, “Where Will You Be?”
Boots are being polished
Trumpeters clean their horns
Chains and locks forged
The crusade has begun.
Once again flags of Christ
are unfurled in the dawn
and criess of soul saviors
Sing apocalyptic on air waves
Citizens, good citizens all
parade into voting booths
and in self-righteous sanctity
X away our right to life.
I do not believe as some
that the vote is the end,
I fear even more
It is just the beginning.
So I must make assessment
look to you and ask:
Where will you be
When they come?
They will not come
a mob rolling
through the streets,
but quickly and quietly
move into our homes
and remove the evil,
the queerness,
the faggotry,
the perservereness
from their midst.
They will not come
clothed in brown,
and swastikas, or
bearing chests heavy with
gleaming crosses.
The time and need
for roses are over.
They will come
in business suits
to buy your homes
and bring bodies to
fill your jobs.
They will come in robes
to rehabilitate
and white coats to subjugate
and where will you be
when they come?
Where will we all be
when they come?
And they will come —
they will come
because we are
defined as opposite —
perverse
and we are perverse
Everytime we watched
a queer hassled in the
streets and said nothing —
it was an act of pervasion.
Everytime we lied about
tne boyfriend or girlfriend
at coffee break —
it was an act of perversion.
Everytime we heard,
“I don’t mind gays
but why must they
be blatant?” and said nothing —
It was an act of perversion.
Everytime we let straights
make out in our bars while
we couldn’t touch because
of laws —
it was an act of perversion.
Everytime we out the proper
clothes to go to a family
wedding and left our lovers at home —
it was an act of perversion.
Everytime we heard
“Who I go to bed with
is my personal choice —
it’s personal and not political”
and said nothing —
it was an act of pervasion.
Everytime we let straight relatives
bury our dead and push our
lovers away —
it was an act of pervasion.
And they will come.
They will come for
the pervert D
& it won’t,
if you’re
homosexual, not faggot
lesbian, not a dyke
gay, not queer
it won’t matter
if you
own your business
have a good job
or are on S.S.I.
it won’t matter
if you’re
Black
Chicano
Native American
Asian
or White
it won’t matter
if you’re from
New York
or Los Angeles
Galveston
or Sioux Falls
it won’t matter
if you’re
Butch or Dem
Not into roles
Monogamous
Non Monogamous
it won’t matter
if you’re
Catholic
Baptist
Atheist
Jewish
or M.C.C
They will come
Then will come
to be cities
and to the land
to your front rooms
and in your closets.
They will come for
the perverts
and where will
you be
When they come?
Each of the stories in the anthology are a testament to the black feminist perspective.
My favorite of them all is Pat Parker’s, “Where Will You Be?”
Boots are being polished
Trumpeters clean their horns
Chains and locks forged
The crusade has begun.
Once again flags of Christ
are unfurled in the dawn
and criess of soul saviors
Sing apocalyptic on air waves
Citizens, good citizens all
parade into voting booths
and in self-righteous sanctity
X away our right to life.
I do not believe as some
that the vote is the end,
I fear even more
It is just the beginning.
So I must make assessment
look to you and ask:
Where will you be
When they come?
They will not come
a mob rolling
through the streets,
but quickly and quietly
move into our homes
and remove the evil,
the queerness,
the faggotry,
the perservereness
from their midst.
They will not come
clothed in brown,
and swastikas, or
bearing chests heavy with
gleaming crosses.
The time and need
for roses are over.
They will come
in business suits
to buy your homes
and bring bodies to
fill your jobs.
They will come in robes
to rehabilitate
and white coats to subjugate
and where will you be
when they come?
Where will we all be
when they come?
And they will come —
they will come
because we are
defined as opposite —
perverse
and we are perverse
Everytime we watched
a queer hassled in the
streets and said nothing —
it was an act of pervasion.
Everytime we lied about
tne boyfriend or girlfriend
at coffee break —
it was an act of perversion.
Everytime we heard,
“I don’t mind gays
but why must they
be blatant?” and said nothing —
It was an act of perversion.
Everytime we let straights
make out in our bars while
we couldn’t touch because
of laws —
it was an act of perversion.
Everytime we out the proper
clothes to go to a family
wedding and left our lovers at home —
it was an act of perversion.
Everytime we heard
“Who I go to bed with
is my personal choice —
it’s personal and not political”
and said nothing —
it was an act of pervasion.
Everytime we let straight relatives
bury our dead and push our
lovers away —
it was an act of pervasion.
And they will come.
They will come for
the pervert D
& it won’t,
if you’re
homosexual, not faggot
lesbian, not a dyke
gay, not queer
it won’t matter
if you
own your business
have a good job
or are on S.S.I.
it won’t matter
if you’re
Black
Chicano
Native American
Asian
or White
it won’t matter
if you’re from
New York
or Los Angeles
Galveston
or Sioux Falls
it won’t matter
if you’re
Butch or Dem
Not into roles
Monogamous
Non Monogamous
it won’t matter
if you’re
Catholic
Baptist
Atheist
Jewish
or M.C.C
They will come
Then will come
to be cities
and to the land
to your front rooms
and in your closets.
They will come for
the perverts
and where will
you be
When they come?
March 24, 2009
I've read excerpts from this during my Women's Studies days, but that was long ago and I've lived so much since then. I am totally due for re-reading!
April 2, 2019
I enjoyed this book, the perspectives of the African-American feminists, and the light it shown on their thinking in the 1970s.
I put this down for a long period of time because the publisher left out some pages right in the middle of a very interesting story.
I read this (or started reading this) as the essay collection for the 2018 Read Harder Book Riot Challenge.
I put this down for a long period of time because the publisher left out some pages right in the middle of a very interesting story.
I read this (or started reading this) as the essay collection for the 2018 Read Harder Book Riot Challenge.
December 27, 2017
Wonderful book. Especially enjoyed the voodoo at the end. The book covers many issues. I’d love to see new pieces included.
August 10, 2024
love the idea of finding small expressions of the divine to anchor yourself to. peaches, fish, sunlight whatever
September 27, 2024
BLACK FEMINIST BIBLE. my favorite essay from this book is “Home” by barbara smith. i read it everyday. so grateful to have this book in my life in my heart in my mind.
September 15, 2014
An important touchstone text in Third World Feminism.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews