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A review by inkerly
When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost: A Hip-Hop Feminist Breaks It Down by Joan Morgan
4.0
This book resonated with me for many different reasons, but I left this book overall with a different moral ground on the perspective of feminism in the black community. Bronx author and self-proclaimed feminist Joan Morgan opens this book with a monologue about how the injection of hip hop into the black patriarchy as well as her personal experiences growing up in a single parent household have morphed her view of feminism throughout her adulthood. I liked how, unlike other female empowerment books, this one is blunt and doesn't skirt over the "gray" areas of feminism---Morgan poignantly addresses its racist history and the exclusion of black women, while also asking the controversial question: is it possible to partake in the movement with the conservative mindset that it isn't about being right, but being united?
From her vantage point, I completely get it. Her ancestors fought for their basic civil rights, even if the gender movement had to be pushed aside in order to elevate the pro-black male-led 'united front' against racism. She sees feminism as a tool to survive oppression, and not brow-beat with the sickle sword of identity-politics and privilege-shaming. But, she also sees it as the key to opening her eyes to the ingrained sexism in her everyday life---from the hyper sexualization and demoralization of black female bodies in hip hop, to black men viewing her feminism as an attack on the patriarchal pro-black movement. And what I found most interesting, her most pressing point that the self-destructive lifestyle of alcoholism, drugs, and violence preached by the rap giants of our generation are the biggest warning signs of depression masking itself as hypermasculinity in black men.
There were many other good points thrown here and there in the book, but again, because it was written from such a personalized perspective, I understand how the informal language and tone could throw off someone who just finished reading the Autobiography of Malcolm X. Both books are worthy of reading, but different people are drawn to different narratives.
From her vantage point, I completely get it. Her ancestors fought for their basic civil rights, even if the gender movement had to be pushed aside in order to elevate the pro-black male-led 'united front' against racism. She sees feminism as a tool to survive oppression, and not brow-beat with the sickle sword of identity-politics and privilege-shaming. But, she also sees it as the key to opening her eyes to the ingrained sexism in her everyday life---from the hyper sexualization and demoralization of black female bodies in hip hop, to black men viewing her feminism as an attack on the patriarchal pro-black movement. And what I found most interesting, her most pressing point that the self-destructive lifestyle of alcoholism, drugs, and violence preached by the rap giants of our generation are the biggest warning signs of depression masking itself as hypermasculinity in black men.
There were many other good points thrown here and there in the book, but again, because it was written from such a personalized perspective, I understand how the informal language and tone could throw off someone who just finished reading the Autobiography of Malcolm X. Both books are worthy of reading, but different people are drawn to different narratives.