Black Fatigue: How Racism Erodes the Mind, Body, and Spirit Paperback – Illustrated, September 15, 2020

This book is definitely researched based, and provides information to access documentation on things like the disparities in health , education, and workforce that are often spoken about but you can never find the documentation. The suggestions for solutions to the problem of White Supremacy are only imagined because there is a lack understanding as to how White Supremacy was established and maintained, or a fear to speak of it.....White Supremacy was established by brute military physical force, and that is the only way it will EVER be resolved. It is maintained because Black People deep down really understand this. Yes we can be resilient, and keep bouncing back century after century until we are gone, because in2020, there is no African Person on planet earth who knows life without The System of White Supremacy, so a start to getting rid of it is to tell each other the truth about how it was established, and what must be done to dismantle it, for it is a matter of life or death for Black People, and one thing we can be sure of is, as dogs bark, birds chirp, cows moo, White Supremacist will always and forever practice White Supremacy. The problem of White supremacy/Racism is a problem for Black People to solve.

This book is just so well laid out. Dr. Winters introduces a lot of concepts and she does a great job of making it all very digestible. It’s great because she doesn’t fire hose you with all the info, it’s like little bites that she walks you through. And then she references additional material to learn from if you want to expand further on the topic.Also don’t get me wrong when I say bite sized. It’s not like she’s like providing one sentence on microaggressions and leaves it at that (ps she calls to get rid of the antecedent “micro” and just call it aggression, insult, and invalidation). She introduces a concept, keeps it easy to understand, walks you through examples or anecdotes of how it is relevant in the daily lives of BIPOC individuals, and then provides a solution or further resources.It’s truly a great book. Our therapy practice is using it as a book study, but I think it needs to be incorporated into the high school, college, and grad school classrooms as well. Gift it to your white friends! This is our work to do, and I think this book will help us do a better job by beginning the process of understanding just how fatiguing it is to be a BIPOC individual living in systemic racist structures and societies

I personally think it's a great read and not just for people of color. Anyone who enjoys reading and broadening their culture of others

A book that everyone should probably read, especially white people. Very eye opening, and everything presented is truly fact with supporting evidence.

I think this was, overall, a good intro about Black Racial Fatigue for NonBlack (Mostly white) people. No high theory language and there were plenty of concrete examples. I appreciated Winters adding the “justice” aspect to DEI and explaining why it “Fails” to persuade organizations to “do diversity” solely based on profit margins.I think what would have been more poignant in the book is to really interrogate capitalism’s role in all of this and if DEIJ are actually compatible with organizations who frame everything through, and want to invest in, neoliberal capitalism (or any type of capitalism, for the most part). She writes of “Decolonization”, which is a great term to introduce as well as “justice”, when thinking of DEI, however, I’d argue that decolonization and capitalism are not compatible, so it’s hard for me to imagine any white dominated organization, ensconced in capitalism (which is just about every Fortune 500 business in the USA) would every actually commit to both decolonization and justice since it would probably mean having to be anti-capitalist.

Anyone who’s serious about making real and lasting change toward a more racially just and equitable future should read Mary-Frances Winters’s latest book, Black Fatigue: How Racism Erodes the Mind, Body and Spirit.Racism is real in America. Black American communities have endured and thrived through persistent struggle against systemic racism on many fronts. Intergenerational trauma has caused “repeated variations of stress,” contributing to Black fatigue, the collective exhaustion over the ongoing need to assert the dignity and value of Black lives.Winters illustrates the many ways that “sublime ignorance” props up white supremacist attitudes that impact Black Americans’ access to educational, economic, workplace, leadership and other opportunities. She combines key learnings from social sciences research with personal narratives that showcase her expertise in diversity and inclusion. Winters offers volumes of evidence of race-based trauma while highlighting awareness about intersectionality, noting the damaging effects of overlapping systems of oppression such as racism, sexism, ableism, and homophobia. Winters leverages her deep background in advising top leaders to focus on solutions as she gifts the reader with actionable ways for white people and non-Black people of color to acknowledge and understand their privilege in order to interrogate and change racist systems.Note: This review was originally published in San Francisco Review of Books.

Among the numerous recent helpful books about racism in America and the toll it is taking on all of us—White, Black, and Brown—this is one of the most illuminating. At just over 200 pages, it is not long, but it is well-researched, well-documented, highly readable, and filled not only with summaries of myriad research studies, but also with the author’s own findings, her personal stories, and the stories of others that, collectively, highlight the prejudices and obstacles that people of color experience every day. Any person who has any doubt about the existence of systematic racism in our country and how it is affecting all of us, but especially people of color, should read this book.

Can’t wait to get to the other books written by this author. Thanks for lots of inspirations and insights.

Sometimes one just needs to acknowledge what one is going through and feeling and there is comfort in knowing you are not alone