Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower

Brittney Cooper

Feb 2018 · Sold by St. Martin's Press

About this ebook

An Emma Watson "Our Shared Shelf" Selection for November/December 2018 • NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2018/ MENTIONED BY: The New York Public Library • Mashable • The Atlantic • Bustle • The Root • Politico Magazine ("What the 2020 Candidates Are Reading This Summer") • NPR • Fast Company ("10 Best Books for Battling Your Sexist Workplace") • The Guardian ("Top 10 Books About Angry Women")


Rebecca Solnit, The New Republic: "Funny, wrenching, pithy, and pointed."

Roxane Gay: "I encourage you to check out Eloquent Rage out now."

Joy Reid, Cosmopolitan: "A dissertation on black women’s pain and possibility."

America Ferrera: "Razor sharp and hilarious. There is so much about her analysis that I relate to and grapple with on a daily basis as a Latina feminist."

Damon Young: "Like watching the world’s best Baptist preacher but with sermons about intersectionality and Beyoncé instead of Ecclesiastes."

Melissa Harris Perry: “I was waiting for an author who wouldn’t forget, ignore, or erase us black girls...I was waiting and she has come in Brittney Cooper.”

Michael Eric Dyson: “Cooper may be the boldest young feminist writing today...and she will make you laugh out loud.”

So what if it’s true that Black women are mad as hell? They have the right to be. In the Black feminist tradition of Audre Lorde, Brittney Cooper reminds us that anger is a powerful source of energy that can give us the strength to keep on fighting.

Far too often, Black women’s anger has been caricatured into an ugly and destructive force that threatens the civility and social fabric of American democracy. But Cooper shows us that there is more to the story than that. Black women’s eloquent rage is what makes Serena Williams such a powerful tennis player. It’s what makes Beyoncé’s girl power anthems resonate so hard. It’s what makes Michelle Obama an icon.

Eloquent rage keeps us all honest and accountable. It reminds women that they don’t have to settle for less. When Cooper learned of her grandmother's eloquent rage about love, sex, and marriage in an epic and hilarious front-porch confrontation, her life was changed. And it took another intervention, this time staged by one of her homegirls, to turn Brittney into the fierce feminist she is today. In Brittney Cooper’s world, neither mean girls nor fuckboys ever win. But homegirls emerge as heroes. This book argues that ultimately feminism, friendship, and faith in one's own superpowers are all we really need to turn things right side up again.

A BEST/MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2018 BY: Glamour • Chicago Reader • Bustle • Autostraddle

Ratings and reviews

Dr. Cooper puts a lot of hard truths on display in a really beautiful way. This book speaks to a lot of people, but it's Insight on black women and girls specifically is really incredible

The "reviews" with one stars are from the people she is talking about in this book. Racist, feeble people that think the epitome of a black woman is Madea. This is a GREAT book that lets you in on the experiences of a Black woman finding power in herself and feminism. White people are so afraid of women, but especially Black women, that love and respect themselves. If you want to be educated about REAL experiences that aren't your own, get this book. It is so worth it.

"Black feminist" is all you need to know. A book of false victimhood

About the author

Brittney Cooper writes a popular monthly column on race, gender, and politics for Cosmopolitan. A professor of Women's and Gender Studies and Africana Studies at Rutgers University, she co-founded the Crunk Feminist Collective, and her work has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, Ebony.com, and The Root.com, among many others. In 2017, she was named to The Root 100 List, and in 2018, to the Essence Woke 100 List.