A review by jbrendanshaw
Black Madness: : Mad Blackness by Therí Alyce Pickens

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.