A Bound Woman Is a Dangerous Thing : The Incarceration of African American Women From Harriet Tubman to Sandra Bland

**Nominated for an NAACP Image Award** **A __Publishers Weekly__ Top 10 History Title for the season** **__Booklist__'s Top 10 Diverse Nonfiction titles for the year __BookRiot__'s "50 Must-Read Poetry Collections" Most Anticipated Books of the Year--****__The Rumpus, Nylon__** **A revelatory work in the tradition of Claudia Rankine's __Citizen__, DaMaris Hill's searing and powerful narrative-in-verse bears witness to American women of color burdened by incarceration.** "It is costly to stay free and appear / sane." From Harriet Tubman to Assata Shakur, Ida B. Wells to Sandra Bland and Black Lives Matter, black women freedom fighters have braved violence, scorn, despair, and isolation in order to lodge their protests. In A Bound Woman Is a Dangerous Thing, DaMaris Hill honors their experiences with at times harrowing, at times hopeful responses to her heroes, illustrated with black-and-white photographs throughout. For black American women, the experience of being bound has taken many forms: from the bondage of slavery to the Reconstruction-era criminalization of women; from the brutal constraints of Jim Crow to our own era's prison industrial complex, where between 1980 and 2014, the number of incarcerated women increased by 700%.\* For those women who lived and died resisting the dehumanization of confinement--physical, social, intellectual--the threat of being bound was real, constant, and lethal. In A Bound Woman Is a Dangerous Thing, Hill presents bitter, unflinching history that artfully captures the personas of these captivating, bound yet unbridled African-American women. Hill's passionate odes to Zora Neale Hurston, Lucille Clifton, Fannie Lou Hamer, Grace Jones, Eartha Kitt, and others also celebrate the modern-day inheritors of their load and light, binding history, author, and reader in an essential legacy of struggle. \*The Sentencing Project Nominated for an NAACP Image Award A Publishers Weekly Top 10 History Title for the season Booklist 's Top 10 Diverse Nonfiction titles for the year BookRiot 's "50 Must-Read Poetry Collections" Most Anticipated Books of the Year-- The Rumpus, Nylon A revelatory work in the tradition of Claudia Rankine's Citizen , DaMaris Hill's searing and powerful narrative-in-verse bears witness to American women of color burdened by incarceration. "It is costly to stay free and appear / sane." From Harriet Tubman to Assata Shakur, Ida B. Wells to Sandra Bland and Black Lives Matter, black women freedom fighters have braved violence, scorn, despair, and isolation in order to lodge their protests. In A Bound Woman Is a Dangerous Thing, DaMaris Hill honors their experiences with at times harrowing, at times hopeful responses to her heroes, illustrated with black-and-white photographs throughout. For black American women, the experience of being bound has taken many forms: from the bondage of slavery to the Reconstruction-era criminalization of women; from the brutal constraints of Jim Crow to our own era's prison industrial complex, where between 1980 and 2014, the number of incarcerated women increased by 700%.* For those women who lived and died resisting the dehumanization of confinement--physical, social, intellectual--the threat of being bound was real, constant, and lethal. In A Bound Woman Is a Dangerous Thing, Hill presents bitter, unflinching history that artfully captures the personas of these captivating, bound yet unbridled African-American women. Hill's passionate odes to Zora Neale Hurston, Lucille Clifton, Fannie Lou Hamer, Grace Jones, Eartha Kitt, and others also celebrate the modern-day inheritors of their load and light, binding history, author, and reader in an essential legacy of struggle. *The Sentencing Project A Publishers Weekly Top 10 History Title for the season A revelatory work in the tradition of Claudia Rankine's Citizen , DaMaris Hill's searing and powerful narrative-in-verse bears witness to American women of color burdened by incarceration. " It is costly to stay free and appear / sane." From Harriet Tubman to Assata Shakur, Ida B. Wells to Sandra Bland and Black Lives Matter, black women freedom fighters have braved violence, scorn, despair, and isolation in order to lodge their protests. In A Bound Woman Is a Dangerous Thing , DaMaris Hill honors their experiences with at times harrowing, at times hopeful responses to her heroes, illustrated with black-and-white photographs throughout. For black American women, the experience of being bound has taken many forms: from the bondage of slavery to the Reconstruction-era criminalization of women; from the brutal constraints of Jim Crow to our own era's prison industrial complex, where between 1980 and 2014, the number of incarcerated women increased by 700%.* For those women who lived and died resisting the dehumanization of confinement--physical, social, intellectual--the threat of being bound was real, constant, and lethal. In A Bound Woman Is a Dangerous Thing , Hill presents bitter, unflinching history that artfully captures the personas of these captivating, bound yet unbridled African-American women. Hill's passionate odes to Zora Neale Hurston, Lucille Clifton, Fannie Lou Hamer, Grace Jones, Eartha Kitt, and others also celebrate the modern-day inheritors of their load and light, binding history, author, and reader in an essential legacy of struggle. *(The Sentencing Project) Poetry,History A sharp and entertaining essay collection about the importance of multiple forms of love and friendship in a world designed for couples, from a laser-precise new voice. Sometimes it seems like there are two American creeds, self-reliance and marriage, and neither of them is mine. I experience myself as someone formed and sustained by others' love and patience, by student loans and stipends, by the kindness of strangers. Briallen Hopper's Hard to Love honors the categories of loves and relationships beyond marriage, the ones that are often treated as invisible or seen as secondary--friendships, kinship with adult siblings, care teams that form in times of illness, or various alternative family formations. She also values difficult and amorphous loves like loving a challenging job or inanimate objects that can't love you back. She draws from personal experience, sharing stories about her loving but combative family, the fiercely independent Emerson scholar who pushed her away, and the friends who have become her invented or found family; pop culture touchstones like the Women's March, John Green's The Fault in Our Stars , and the timeless series Cheers ; and the work of writers like Joan Didion, Gwendolyn Brooks, Flannery O'Connor, and Herman Melville ( Moby-Dick like you've never seen it!). Hard to Love pays homage and attention to unlikely friends and lovers both real and fictional. It is a series of love letters to the meaningful, if underappreciated, forms of intimacy and community that are tricky, tangled, and tough, but ultimately sustaining. For Black American Women, The Experience Of Being Bound Has Taken Many Forms: From The Bondage Of Slavery To The Reconstruction-era Criminalization Of Women; From The Brutal Constraints Of Jim Crow To Our Own Era's Prison Industrial Complex, Where Between 1980 And 2014, The Number Of Incarcerated Women Increased By 700%.* For Those Women Who Lived And Died Resisting The Dehumanization Of Confinement--physical, Social, Intellectual--the Threat Of Being Bound Was Real, Constant, And Lethal. From Harriet Tubman To Assata Shakur, Ida B. Wells To Sandra Bland And Black Lives Matter, Black Women Freedom Fighters Have Braved Violence, Scorn, Despair, And Isolation In Order To Lodge Their Protests. In A Bound Woman Is A Dangerous Thing, Damaris Hill Honors Their Experiences With At Times Harrowing, At Times Hopeful Responses To Her Heroes, Illustrated With Black-and-white Photographs Throughout. Damaris B. Hill. Includes Bibliographical References.