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Blaxhaustion, Karens & Other Threats to Black Lves and Well-Being: A Black Woman's Perspective
Call it a memoir. Call it a manifesto. Call it whatever you want. But whatever you do, don’t call it fiction.
In a year marked by the disproportionate coronavirus deaths of Blacks and the Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and George Floyd murders, Theresa M. Robinson offers a candid look at living while Black in the United States. Specifically, by giving voice to her lived experiences as a Black woman, she affirms Black women as owners of their unique narratives of oppression, marginalization, and disenfranchisement.
”I’ve written an account that I want to read as a Black woman– one that unapologetically centers Black women and our lived experiences without the tone-policing, the invalidation, and the white-washing.”
Blaxhaustion™, Karens, and Other Threats to Black Lives and Well-Being is guaranteed to have Black women proclaiming, “Guuuurrrrrrllll, yaaaaasssss!” over and over again as it moves from the complexities of microaggression fatigue and weaponized whiteness to the hazards of coronaviracism™ and performative white wokeness. Never has it been more critical than now for Black women to take center stage and raise their voices—and for everyone to listen.
This book is a “new thing” with the help of 62 incredible sistahQueens. The books aims for every Black woman to feel a part of this new thing. As a “new thing,” this book does not fit into any strict category or genre. It is stage and audience, pulpit and congregation, sermon and choir.
This is NOT a self-help book. It will NOT advise you on tips and strategies for
getting a seat at the table
going high when they go low
reaching out to willfully ignorant racists
fitting in with your white colleagues
kissing the ass of your white boss
That stuff is NOT in the line-up. By design.
This book is a validation and affirmation of Black women’s lived experiences, a meeting and relating place, an opportunity to let the world know that Black women have plenty to say and that it should shut up and listen.
This book is part of the momentum of #MeToo, an expression and a movement that originated with a Black woman, Tarana Burke, and then was hijacked and “popularized” by white women celebrities like Alyssa Milano and Michelle Williams.
This book is part of the momentum of Black Lives Matter, founded by three Black women Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometi, two of whom identify as queer. At its inception, Black Lives Matter was intended to put LGBTQIA+ voices at the center of the conversation, even while the biggest protests have involved violence against cis hetero Black men.
This book is a nod to Black women who’ve been engaging in activism and speaking for years and years and years, and whose voices are not regarded as “mainstream” or important until whiteness or maleness steps in. It’s kinda like the way white feminism has never really served the needs of Black women. Ha! It’s exactly the way white feminism has never served the needs of Black women!
This book is a symbolic “take-off-my-earrings” for all the times Black women have held our tongues in the face of white comfort and white entitlement.
This book is an open letter to a world that has never universally and unequivocally acknowledged that Black lives matter and that Black women’s lives matter.
This book is a tall cup of tea slowly brewed and scalding hot.
Comprised of five acts consisting of varying scenes, activist poems, and the “I’m Speaking” voices of 62 women of the Black diaspora, , the book is a raw and unapologetic examination of:
Blaxhaustion™
Karens, Her Ken, and Her Kin
Coronaviracism™: A Tale of Two Pandemics
Great White Lies
White Complicity & Performative Woke-ness
In a year marked by the disproportionate coronavirus deaths of Blacks and the Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and George Floyd murders, Theresa M. Robinson offers a candid look at living while Black in the United States. Specifically, by giving voice to her lived experiences as a Black woman, she affirms Black women as owners of their unique narratives of oppression, marginalization, and disenfranchisement.
”I’ve written an account that I want to read as a Black woman– one that unapologetically centers Black women and our lived experiences without the tone-policing, the invalidation, and the white-washing.”
Blaxhaustion™, Karens, and Other Threats to Black Lives and Well-Being is guaranteed to have Black women proclaiming, “Guuuurrrrrrllll, yaaaaasssss!” over and over again as it moves from the complexities of microaggression fatigue and weaponized whiteness to the hazards of coronaviracism™ and performative white wokeness. Never has it been more critical than now for Black women to take center stage and raise their voices—and for everyone to listen.
This book is a “new thing” with the help of 62 incredible sistahQueens. The books aims for every Black woman to feel a part of this new thing. As a “new thing,” this book does not fit into any strict category or genre. It is stage and audience, pulpit and congregation, sermon and choir.
This is NOT a self-help book. It will NOT advise you on tips and strategies for
getting a seat at the table
going high when they go low
reaching out to willfully ignorant racists
fitting in with your white colleagues
kissing the ass of your white boss
That stuff is NOT in the line-up. By design.
This book is a validation and affirmation of Black women’s lived experiences, a meeting and relating place, an opportunity to let the world know that Black women have plenty to say and that it should shut up and listen.
This book is part of the momentum of #MeToo, an expression and a movement that originated with a Black woman, Tarana Burke, and then was hijacked and “popularized” by white women celebrities like Alyssa Milano and Michelle Williams.
This book is part of the momentum of Black Lives Matter, founded by three Black women Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometi, two of whom identify as queer. At its inception, Black Lives Matter was intended to put LGBTQIA+ voices at the center of the conversation, even while the biggest protests have involved violence against cis hetero Black men.
This book is a nod to Black women who’ve been engaging in activism and speaking for years and years and years, and whose voices are not regarded as “mainstream” or important until whiteness or maleness steps in. It’s kinda like the way white feminism has never really served the needs of Black women. Ha! It’s exactly the way white feminism has never served the needs of Black women!
This book is a symbolic “take-off-my-earrings” for all the times Black women have held our tongues in the face of white comfort and white entitlement.
This book is an open letter to a world that has never universally and unequivocally acknowledged that Black lives matter and that Black women’s lives matter.
This book is a tall cup of tea slowly brewed and scalding hot.
Comprised of five acts consisting of varying scenes, activist poems, and the “I’m Speaking” voices of 62 women of the Black diaspora, , the book is a raw and unapologetic examination of:
Blaxhaustion™
Karens, Her Ken, and Her Kin
Coronaviracism™: A Tale of Two Pandemics
Great White Lies
White Complicity & Performative Woke-ness
- GenresPoliticsNonfiction
280 pages, Paperback
Published December 21, 2020
97 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 26, 2021
Black women... yall need this in your life!
I promise you. This is "Knuck if You Buck" meets "I Got 5 On It" meets "No Shorts No Losses." If you need a cultural reference as to what I'm talking about, then that means this book ain't for you.
This is to all the homegirls... No matter what, we got each other, and we need to hold each other down. Being divisive and talkin' sh*t on each other is not what's good. Black women have held this land down since we got here. It's in our blood. We carry so much of the world's burden on our shoulders, and get shi**ed on every step of the way. This time, is ours!
This book is a Black head nod. This book is high five on the black hand side. This book is everything you thought you was missing and then some.
This is a straight up, no chaser... I got you girl... holla if you hear me... that ‘pressure’.
Blaxhaustion, them Karen's, and these oppressors who have it out for us stay on our nerves. Teresa Robinson is not holding any punches with anybody in this book. She's speaking straight from the heart and head. She is saying all the things. No filter. As professional as we stay on a daily basis, Theresa is here to give words to all that you've wanted to say, think, and perform about race, workplace culture, and politics. She is giving us life, and giving us the permission to be ourselves here. No more holding back... all the cards are out on the table. As COVID-19 is dealing us hard blows, Black people have been disproportionately affected by this pandemic. The world is seeing first hand how whiteness has been destroying us, and now with this pandemic exposing all of the systemic racism that was known and unknown, whiteness has had to explain a few things. However, as whiteness does as whiteness does, it gets swept and diverted and converted into other things that take the spotlight out of the wrong they are doing and putting a shining light on other things to explain why there has been such inaccessibility for Black people to get and have the same things as white people.
What 2020 has done was just expose a lot of the bad wiring behind already damaged foundations. Hell, the last 4 years has brought all sorts of characters out of the woodwork. Theresa though has a loud and clear message: See me. Hear me. Know me. We are not taking it any longer. We are going to punch back. Calling Karen's and Brad's out. Ensuring corporate America hears us. Sees us. Setting boundaries and establishing guidelines to set ourselves up for success is now going to be the norm. We have had enough, and we need to not be shy anymore about what we need or want. Being confident to break ceilings. For being persistent and not giving up after a few no's. Taking time for self, and not allowing anyone or anything to interrupt you.
This book discusses topics on:
- Misogynoir
- Intersectionality
- Feminism
- Race/Coronaviracism(TM)
- Politics
- Mental health
- Karen's, Brad's, Todd, etc.
- Whiteness as a collective
- Education
- Workplace culture
- Micro/macro Aggressions
- Codeswitching, and Black Girl energy
This book was everything I didn't know I needed. It validated a host of emotions I had concerning this past year and the previous 4 years, the current election, and the deaths surrounding unarmed Black people. This book gave life to me. It hit me hard right in my feelings, and gave me a hug at the same time. We, Black women, are all as professional as we can be, and always remember the “work 2x as hard as the white folks” mantra, and continue holding down our relationships, parenthood, and basically performing at a level dangerous to our health, but we do it everyday. Theresa is giving us the space to let it all come out. Let your hair down. Drop the masks (figuratively), and just be yourself. This book is a must read. It ain't for the faint of heart, but her intentions are for the love of Black people; Black women specifically. Read this book and contemplate as you go along, and you will soon understand how needed this was for your soul. You can thank me later!
Thank you to the author Theresa Robinson for gifting me a copy of her book in exchange for a fair and honest opinion.
I promise you. This is "Knuck if You Buck" meets "I Got 5 On It" meets "No Shorts No Losses." If you need a cultural reference as to what I'm talking about, then that means this book ain't for you.
This is to all the homegirls... No matter what, we got each other, and we need to hold each other down. Being divisive and talkin' sh*t on each other is not what's good. Black women have held this land down since we got here. It's in our blood. We carry so much of the world's burden on our shoulders, and get shi**ed on every step of the way. This time, is ours!
This book is a Black head nod. This book is high five on the black hand side. This book is everything you thought you was missing and then some.
This is a straight up, no chaser... I got you girl... holla if you hear me... that ‘pressure’.
Blaxhaustion, them Karen's, and these oppressors who have it out for us stay on our nerves. Teresa Robinson is not holding any punches with anybody in this book. She's speaking straight from the heart and head. She is saying all the things. No filter. As professional as we stay on a daily basis, Theresa is here to give words to all that you've wanted to say, think, and perform about race, workplace culture, and politics. She is giving us life, and giving us the permission to be ourselves here. No more holding back... all the cards are out on the table. As COVID-19 is dealing us hard blows, Black people have been disproportionately affected by this pandemic. The world is seeing first hand how whiteness has been destroying us, and now with this pandemic exposing all of the systemic racism that was known and unknown, whiteness has had to explain a few things. However, as whiteness does as whiteness does, it gets swept and diverted and converted into other things that take the spotlight out of the wrong they are doing and putting a shining light on other things to explain why there has been such inaccessibility for Black people to get and have the same things as white people.
What 2020 has done was just expose a lot of the bad wiring behind already damaged foundations. Hell, the last 4 years has brought all sorts of characters out of the woodwork. Theresa though has a loud and clear message: See me. Hear me. Know me. We are not taking it any longer. We are going to punch back. Calling Karen's and Brad's out. Ensuring corporate America hears us. Sees us. Setting boundaries and establishing guidelines to set ourselves up for success is now going to be the norm. We have had enough, and we need to not be shy anymore about what we need or want. Being confident to break ceilings. For being persistent and not giving up after a few no's. Taking time for self, and not allowing anyone or anything to interrupt you.
This book discusses topics on:
- Misogynoir
- Intersectionality
- Feminism
- Race/Coronaviracism(TM)
- Politics
- Mental health
- Karen's, Brad's, Todd, etc.
- Whiteness as a collective
- Education
- Workplace culture
- Micro/macro Aggressions
- Codeswitching, and Black Girl energy
This book was everything I didn't know I needed. It validated a host of emotions I had concerning this past year and the previous 4 years, the current election, and the deaths surrounding unarmed Black people. This book gave life to me. It hit me hard right in my feelings, and gave me a hug at the same time. We, Black women, are all as professional as we can be, and always remember the “work 2x as hard as the white folks” mantra, and continue holding down our relationships, parenthood, and basically performing at a level dangerous to our health, but we do it everyday. Theresa is giving us the space to let it all come out. Let your hair down. Drop the masks (figuratively), and just be yourself. This book is a must read. It ain't for the faint of heart, but her intentions are for the love of Black people; Black women specifically. Read this book and contemplate as you go along, and you will soon understand how needed this was for your soul. You can thank me later!
Thank you to the author Theresa Robinson for gifting me a copy of her book in exchange for a fair and honest opinion.
January 15, 2021
Truth bomb alert.
As a white woman, I couldn't tear myself away from Robinson's strength, vulnerability, story-telling, and raw lived experience. This is not a peer-reviewed academic text, nor is it for the faint of heart when it comes to emotion and language. Those are the author's intentional choices, and for me they added new layers of discourse I haven't necessarily seen elsewhere in my decades of reading so many powerful books in this sphere. From her impassioned "warning" at the beginning, to the "I'm Speaking" sections throughout highlighting Black women's voices, and the Oppression Dictionary in the back, these words cut me to the core. And they were so necessary.
White folks especially- purchase, read, support, and amplify this crucial voice. I can't recommend this book and its unique layout and voice highly enough.
As a white woman, I couldn't tear myself away from Robinson's strength, vulnerability, story-telling, and raw lived experience. This is not a peer-reviewed academic text, nor is it for the faint of heart when it comes to emotion and language. Those are the author's intentional choices, and for me they added new layers of discourse I haven't necessarily seen elsewhere in my decades of reading so many powerful books in this sphere. From her impassioned "warning" at the beginning, to the "I'm Speaking" sections throughout highlighting Black women's voices, and the Oppression Dictionary in the back, these words cut me to the core. And they were so necessary.
White folks especially- purchase, read, support, and amplify this crucial voice. I can't recommend this book and its unique layout and voice highly enough.
August 20, 2024
This is the best book on race and anti-Black racism from both white and non-Black POCs that I’ve ever read. She tells the raw truth and articulates everything I’ve struggled to put into words. Most books on racism don’t go deep enough and are written in a way that absolves white people and non-Black POCs of their anti-Black racism. I love the “I am speaking” intros by Black women on every page. I love you, Black women. We are truly a force to be reckoned with.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews