littlefemur's review
4.75
“…[O]ne cannot get beyond either madness or Blackness but rather must find the spaces where excess, unknowability, and insanity do not account for them in all their complexity.
The only way out is through”
Excerpt From
Black Madness :
Therí Alyce Pickens
Phew!!! Heady stuff. The only reason it’s not a 5 is because I have a suspicion that even though the subject matter is super complicated and the theory thick, the author could have made their writing clearer. Like using “omit” instead of “elide.” But I could also just be totally missing the point of using the specific words. Anyway, it was really good
The only way out is through”
Excerpt From
Black Madness :
Therí Alyce Pickens
Phew!!! Heady stuff. The only reason it’s not a 5 is because I have a suspicion that even though the subject matter is super complicated and the theory thick, the author could have made their writing clearer. Like using “omit” instead of “elide.” But I could also just be totally missing the point of using the specific words. Anyway, it was really good
ngwagwa's review
5.0
Top favorite books, ever. Seriously invites readers to think outside of the way Blackness and disability is taught/structured by the academy. Was very refreshing to read, and even inspired my own theories around Blackness and disability.
jbrendanshaw's review
5.0
A compelling and sprightly examination of the ways in which the figure of/concept of Mad Blackness might unsettle linear progress narratives and undo the idea of "humanity" often placed at the center of discussions of disability and race. Pickens uses Black speculative fiction examples to demonstrate other ways of presenting madness (in its many valences) and Blackness which don't rely on the two concepts as mutually constituted or always tending towards "cure" or solution. At times the examples were a bit quickly presented but the arguments and the precision with which Pickens considers multiple fields of study was stunning. Definitely a book that I finished and left me invigorated to do more reading and writing to try and match this rigor.
stevendedalus's review
3.0
A twisting jargon-heavy romp through the (self-admittedly) confusing interplay outside normativity that are Blackness and madness, Pickens sometimes stretches and wends, but still manages to dig and provoke.
The latter half is the strongest, where her examples struggle less to depict Blackness and madness (Butler and Hopkinson don't conform easily to white normativity or to theses). But throughout there are some great thoughts and barbs as to how we view the world and how much work can be done to examine and upturn those paradigms.
Pickens admits she does not have answers, and foregrounds so much thought, like a lot of academic writing, in previous thinkers that it bogs down at times, but it's definitely something you can return to, and will add some great books to your reading list.
The latter half is the strongest, where her examples struggle less to depict Blackness and madness (Butler and Hopkinson don't conform easily to white normativity or to theses). But throughout there are some great thoughts and barbs as to how we view the world and how much work can be done to examine and upturn those paradigms.
Pickens admits she does not have answers, and foregrounds so much thought, like a lot of academic writing, in previous thinkers that it bogs down at times, but it's definitely something you can return to, and will add some great books to your reading list.
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