Super Sad Black Girl

by Diamond Sharp

Diamond Sharp’s Super Sad Black Girl is a love letter to her hometown of Chicago, where the speaker finds solace and community with her literary idols in hopes of answering the question: What does it look like when Black women are free? 

Lorraine Hansberry and Gwendolyn Brooks appear throughout these poems, counseling the speaker as she navigates her own depression and exploratory questions about the “Other Side,” as do Sandra Bland, Rekia Boyd, and other Black women who have been murdered by police. 

Sharp’s poetry is self-assured, playful, and imaginative, reminiscent of Langston Hughes with its precision and brevity. The book explores purgatorial, in-between spaces that the speaker occupies as she struggles to find a place and time where she can live safely and freely. With her skillful use of repetition, particularly in her series of concrete poems, lines and voices echo across the book so the reader, too, feels suspended within Sharp’s lyric moments. Super Sad Black Girl is a compassionate and ethereal depiction of mental illness from a promising and powerful poet.

Genres: Poetry, LGBT

Unknown Binding

First published December 27, 2022

Reviews

[chantel nouseforaname · Rating 5 out of 5]

Depressing. Brilliant.

[Fei · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerful set of poems about Chicago, being black, depression, suicide, and what's on the other side.

[Megan Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this collection of poetry.

[sav! · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this twice in one night and one more time the next day. So beautiful and reminded me of how much I love prose and poetry.

[Roger DeBlanck · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a volume of poetry consisting of only 52 pages, half of the “poems” consist of a single line that is then repeated over and over, sometimes dozens or even hundreds of times to fill up a page. Is that poetry? Does that amount to a book? As for the rest of the volume, many of the pieces feel underdeveloped. Super Sad Black Girl just does not have enough content. It simply does not have enough depth and substance. I would like more. The synopsis of the book describes Diamond Sharp’s poems as “a love letter to her hometown of Chicago.” A number of pieces are tributes, and it’s obvious she has reverence for the great Lorraine Hansberry and Gwendolyn Brooks, who are both Chicago natives, but I wanted more depth and content in this “letter.” Instead, this collection felt underwhelming.

[Danielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I would have enjoyed this more listening or watching it be performed rather than read - they were some repetitive poems that weren't as effective written down. Otherwise, I really like Sharp's voice.

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

First read for The Sealey Challenge!! I had to pick a relatively short collection tonight since I didn’t get to poetry until late. You 100% should take the title of the collection as a content/trigger warning.
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Y’all. This is super raw, crystal clear poetry. The first section is SO unique as Sharp investigates purgatory (and possibility) by visiting with Lorraine Hansberry, Gwendolyn Brooks, and Margaret (I think Walker?) in some poems; and Sandra Bland and Rekia Boyd in others (FYI both were from Illinois). Another interesting thing is that this book feels almost like an album because there are lines from early poems that repeat or come back in later poems, almost like a refrain—I found myself circling back and forth, jotting down page number connections. For example: a line of advice Lorraine gives Sharp in section 1 becomes the subject of a later poem. The second/middle section are poems of pain and desperation. [note: One of the blurbs on the back refers to Sharp being bipolar.] Sharp also digs into the fact that this is something passed down to her from other family members—an inheritance she couldn’t avoid, a birthright she doesn’t want. The depression becomes palpable. The last/third section is maybe representing life on better, but not great days—it seems to vacillate between hope and possibility vs still being in despair. There’s another conversation with Lorraine and a choice made, I think, to live, as opposed to just last. The idea of an opening to the Other Side being under the L tracks keeps popping up—what a cool image / idea.
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I’m so glad I (finally) read this. It’s damn good.

Also: why doesn’t GoodReads have the cover picture?!? This came out in 2022. They’ve had time!

[zoë · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 rounded up.

i wanted to like this a lot more than i did.
and there are certainly a handful of poems that i loved, but mostly this collection was aggressively okay. it’s a short read filled with raw poems which strike at the heart and resonate deeply, but for all that sharp explores ideas that intrigue me, there’s a glaring lack of finesse and individual voice that makes this work disappointingly indistinguishable from other social media/notes app poetry. that unrefined, semi confessional steam of consciousness style is fine, and in fact works for transient daily posts but unfortunately, makes for an unremarkable collection with little staying power.

[Myesha-Tiara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Favorite Quote: “Dying is an art and we Black girls do it so well.”~Black Lady Lazarus

This book of poems is definitely apart of therapy every Black girl should read right along with “For Colored Girls…” by Ntozake Shange.

Favorite Poems:
1. Numb
2. Dear Crazy
3. In Mourning
4. Birthright
5. Room
6. Tired
7. Never
8. I Haven’t Taken My Medication in Days
9. Black Lady Lazarus
10. Hold On
11. Stay
12. Lasting is Not
13. Leaving
14. Inheritance
15. Purgatory Room
16. Touch
17. Maud Martha

[magdalene! · Rating 3 out of 5]

tw: mentions of suicide
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as someone with a lot of suicidal ppl in my past (briefly including myself), some of the poems specifically about that felt trite. however, i think that’s because i’m a hater, and some part of me rejects even conceptual mentions of suicide so strongly now, not bc the poetry was inherently bad. 3/5 stars bc a lot of the poetry was beautiful and powerful but some of it i did not enjoy. but i liked more of it than i did not!

[Sherie Carnegie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not at all what I was expecting :\ If this book was any longer, I would have DNF'd it but it only took me 2 hours to read. Apparently the author/ main character voice was bipolar and suicidal and wanted to show us how her mind works. I appreciate her bravery but this was just not my cup of tea. I was generous with my 2 stars because at least she managed to get published.

[Kerri Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm so glad this collection of poetry exists and that I stumbled into it, even as the collection as a whole felt unfinished to me. I wanted more. In places it felt like the pages themselves wanted more.

[Four stars for Sharp's beautiful honesty and for leaving me wanting more than 52 pages of poems.]

[Dara · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title is pretty literal; it is, indeed, super sad. I always appreciate hearing from Chicago poets, and I liked the poems featuring dialogue with past Chicago writers best.

Content warning for depression / suicidal ideation.

[sna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Realistically captures depressive feelings.

Another great poet coming out of Oak Park/River Forest High School.

Jealous of the group chat with José Olivarez and Fatimah Asghar mentioned in the acknowledgements.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply phenomenal read.

[Kristina Drake · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some really beautiful poems in this collection, but many of them felt incomplete to me. I got to the end of the book and both wanted and felt like I deserved more.

[Dennie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't love it. The poems just didn't speak to me personally.

[JaTara Kelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a black female from the Chicagoland area, I really enjoyed this collection of poetry by the author. Some poems I resonated with as I have had similar thoughts and feelings!

[Jeifa Tackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Don’t eat too much grief,” she says.
“Grief will latch onto you and never leave.”

[Joseph Nicolls · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heart-wrenching, interrelated collection. In active conversation with black Chicago artists who passed away at a young age. Wonderfully captures the surreal "out-of-time" feeling of depression.

[myblackbookish_life · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rounded up to 4 stars.

I think I would have appreciated this work more hearing it performed. Part 2 is my favorite section.

[Nancy]

Alive poems. So nice to meet Chicago here. Loved the poems that refused to say more than one thing (over and over).

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many one-liners that really jumped out to me throughout Sharp's poems, evoking a lot of feeling in me throughout.
Updating to follow this author and to look out for future publications.

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imaginative and inventive, spare in form and piercing.

[AJ Immel · Rating 5 out of 5]

absolutely obliterating. an incredible sense of rhythm and form

[Annalisa Ely · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection had a really interesting way of talking about death and suicidality. Very interesting and with a good rhythm.

[pumi · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Dying is an art and we Black girls do it so well.”

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sad is right! Please use caution when reading. I would have liked it to be a bit longer of a collection.

[🖤ash🖤 · Rating 1 out of 5]

The marketing is a lie. This is actually ridiculous.

[Crystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excerpts:

I dream of leaving a sea of poppies on my bedroom floor.
My light is deteriorating.

There’s nothing
I can do but watch.

("Poppies")

I’m in constant mourning of my previous self.
I’m in constant mourning of my previous self.
I’m in constant mourning of my previous self.
I’m in constant mourning of my previous self.
I’m in constant mourning of my previous self.
I’m in constant mourning of my previous self.
I’m in constant mourning of my previous self.
I’m in constant mourning of my previous self.
I’m in constant mourning of my previous self.
I’m in constant mourning of my previous self.
I’m in constant mourning of my previous self.
I’m in constant mourning of my previous self.
I’m in constant mourning of my previous self.
I’m in constant mourning of my previous self.
I’m in constant mourning of my previous self.

("In Mourning")

I’ve come this far, why not stay?

(from “Stay”)