Staff Pick: Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall

Mikki Kendall addresses the gaps between mainstream feminist priorities and the survival basics that they overlook in her essay collection, Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot (2020). These issues include access to quality education and medical care, neighborhood violence, food insecurity, and living wages. Kendall argues that modern feminism needs to prioritize these concerns in order to become more intersectional and make a real impact.

She also connects feminism to the affordable housing crisis, inequities in black maternal health outcomes, and addressing systemic poverty in black communities. Kendall gives insight into why these issues are important and how white feminists can take clear steps to become intersectional allies.

Kendall’s book is essential reading for anyone who considers themselves feminists. Her writing is poignant, straightforward, approachable, and passionate. She writes about how many of these issues have personally affected her and her family and connects them to greater societal changes that need to happen. 

Reviewed by Lauren Todd, Engineering Librarian