The Black Women I'm Learning From

It's long past time to listen to, learn from, and follow the lead of Black women

As we enter the new year, have you made intentional choices about what initiatives you will support? If you value articles like these and want to see more, especially as the new regime takes power, consider becoming a paid subscriber today. You’ll get one month for FREE!!

---

Black women have been the most consistent supporters of the Democratic party and the staunchest defenders of democracy for decades.

In the 2024 presidential election, Black women voted for Democratic candidate Kamala Harris at a staggering 92 percent—the highest rate of any single demographic.

They organized historic Zoom calls, fundraised, and got in formation not just for another Black woman, but for democracy and the common good.

As they have been doing for centuries.

I wrote about the indispensable contributions of Black women to the Black freedom struggle—including an entire chapter on Black women of the Civil Rights movement—in my latest book The Spirit of Justice.

It is because Black women have been organizing so long and on behalf of others that they felt the most exhaustion when the results of the election came through.

I’ve been quoting this statement by author and public scholar, Brittney Cooper ever since she posted it.

Last week the country voted for generations of this (bc of course if he doesn’t manage to install himself as a dictator, the damage will far outlast him.) And what I feel is tired. While I am very glad that there are organizers who are apocalypse ready, I do not feel ready. Like so many Black folks, I have seen violence and trauma up close my whole life. And what I didn’t interpersonally experience, I committed my work to studying. Past and present. So we would neither forget it nor repeat it.

But we are on the brink of repeating it, on the brink of subjecting Black folks to the brutality that our ancestors prayed and fought for us to never have to experience again. Each day I wake up and dread having to watch a madman make decisions that I know will hurt many folks. Last time he had the office, he presided over a pandemic that killed 1 million people living in this country but folks skipped over that like those lives didn’t matter, like they wouldn’t be here but for better policy…

I came here to say that I have never been short on hyper vigilance and anxiety. (I go to therapy.) And I came here to say, that we deserved a victory lap not a marathon tacked on to us at the 26 mile mark. And I came to say, that I still don’t know how to hold all the demands, traumas, and needs of all these liberations. And I came here to say that the only folks I see trying to hold it all are Black women. To greater and lesser degrees of success…

My tired is tired. My perennial resilience is somewhere in a corner giving me the side eye. Every day I wake up and make the choice that there is enough here worth living for despite being in a world without my mother, who was everything to me. And every day for the last 8 days that calculation has been harder. I ain’t saying I want to die. I’m saying I’m tired and scared. I am terrified of the onslaught to come. That is here. Can we say that?

Yes, Professor. We can say that.

In the weeks since the election, I have been trying to pay attention to more Black women and what they are saying.

This is a short and incomplete list, but these are some of the Black women who have been offering me wisdom and perspective in this moment.

Chanequa Walker-Barnes

Through her Substack No Trifling Matter and books like I Bring the Voices of My People, Chanequa Walker-Barnes offers a crucial womanist lens on faith, racial reconciliation, and self-care. Her work shines a light on the spiritual and emotional burdens carried by Black women, calling for a holistic liberation that nurtures body, mind, and soul. In an era where burnout and division are common, Walker-Barnes reminds us that self-care is a necessary part of pursuing justice, especially for those consistently on the front lines.

Substack: No Trifiling Matter

Books
I Bring the Voices of My People: A Womanist Vision for Racial Reconciliation
Too Heavy a Yoke
Sacred Self-Care: Daily Practices for Nurturing Our Whole Selves

Truth’s Table - Dr. Christina Edmondson & Ekemini Uwan

These are my good friends. My sistas. As co-hosts of the Truth’s Table podcast and co-authors of Truth’s Table: Black Women's Musings on Life, Love, and Liberation, Dr. Christina Edmondson and Ekemini Uwan provide prophetic wisdom and incisive social commentary. With candor and conviction, they discuss everything from race and gender to faith and politics, offering a space where Black women’s voices are central and sacred. Their contributions are vital for anyone seeking to understand the intersection of justice and faith in today’s society.

Podcasts
Truth’s Table
Get in the Word

Book
Truth's Table: Black Women's Musings on Life, Love, and Liberation

Yamileh Barnett

I have the honor of calling Yamileh Barnett a close colleague and guide. She is as multi-talented as she is intelligent. Known as @yamzbsayin on Instagram, she uses her platform to amplify bold and unfiltered truths about racial justice, community care, and everyday Black experiences. Her work bridges the personal and political, drawing attention to the emotional toll of being a Black woman in U.S. while celebrating resilience and joy. In an age of curated perfection, Barnett’s raw honesty challenges us to stay grounded, authentic, and courageous.

Instagram: @yamzbsayin

Carol Anderson

You know I have to shout out the history folks. Historian Carol Anderson, author of One Person, No Vote, is a leading voice on voter suppression and the systematic erosion of democracy. Anderson’s detailed research exposes the policies and practices that disenfranchise Black voters, and illuminates how these tactics undermine democracy for people of all races and ethnicities, including white folks. Her work is indispensable as voting rights face renewed attacks, and she equips us with the knowledge to confront these injustices head-on.

Book
One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression Is Destroying Our Democracy

Mariame Kaba

I first learned of the work of Miriam Kaba as a graduate student studying for my PhD in history. She is a leader in prison abolition and I paid close attention to her work as I taught in Mississippi prisons. I also had the honor of hearing her in person at a conference on campus that one of my dissertation committee members organized. Kaba’s Letters to a Young Organizer and her tireless work as an abolitionist inspire hope and action in movements for justice. She advocates for transformative change by imagining a world beyond punishment and incarceration. Her teaching is particularly urgent in this national moment, when communities are calling for safety rooted in care and justice rather than punitive systems that replicate brutality and injustice.

Substack
Letter to a Young Organizer

Martha S. Jones

Another historian here. Through her book Vanguard, historian Martha S. Jones sheds light on the long-overlooked role of Black women in the fight for voting rights and equality. Jones reveals how Black women American democracy even as they were excluded from it. In our current context, Jones’s work is a reminder of the enduring contributions of Black women to democracy and the ongoing struggle for equality. And I got to meet her when she came to the University of Mississippi for a presentation!

Book
Vanguard: How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, and Insisted on Equality for All

Keisha Blain

Last historian, I promise…Historian Keisha Blain’s Until I Am Free talks about one of my historical heroes, Fannie Lou Hamer, and brings her prophetic voice into our present state of politics. Blain connects Hamer’s work to today’s struggles for voting rights, anti-poverty initiatives, and racial equality. She also understand the role faith played in activism like Hamer’s. Blain’s work reminds us of the power of perseverance, grassroots organizing, and the essential contributions of pan-African women worldwide.

Book
Until I Am Free: Fannie Lou Hamer's Enduring Message to America

Jia Johnson

Jia Johnson has a become a friend in the struggle. She first came to my attention because of her clear, actionable, and effective wellness practices. Through the Freedom Dream Collective, Johnson fosters spaces for healing, organizing, and liberation. Her work emphasizes the power of collective imagination in shaping a just future, centering the creativity and wisdom of marginalized communities. She is especially adept at somatic practices that treat our bodies as integrally connected to our minds and spirits.

Website: Freedom Dream Collective

Instagram: @freedomdreamcoach

Newsletter: Embodied Living

Stacey Abrams

You know Stacy Abrams as the woman who should have been the governor of Georgia. She put together a historic ground campaign in a state that many had written off as irrevocably Republican. Years later, she continues to be a champion for democracy, whether through political strategy, organizing, or her new podcast Assembly Required. She is a bestselling author, a former state rep., and the first Black woman to be the gubernatorial nominee for one of the two major parties. Abrams has mobilized millions to vote and brought national attention to voter suppression. She is the kind of politician who inspires hope in a time ripe for cynicism.

Podcast
Assembly Required

Joy-Ann Reid

If you’re not following Joy-Ann Reid on social media, you’re missing out. She is a journalist who has not compromised her role as a truth-teller. Nor has she capitulated to the misguided notion that journalism is supposed to present “both sides” as equally valid when one of the sides traffics in lies and fear-mongering. She provides sharp analysis of politics, race, and culture at critical time when honest voices are needed. She is the host of The Reid Out on MSNBC brings visibility to issues that other mainstream media outlets often overlook. He reporting is unapologetic, holds power to account, and keeps the focus on truth and justice.

Instagram
@TheReidOut

Joy-Ann Reid

More Than Admiration, Action

As we listen to and learn from Black women, we must also recognize the unfair burden they carry. Time and again, they have shouldered the weight of integrity, justice, and democracy, often without the recognition or support they deserve.

While their leadership has been indispensable, it should not be inevitable that Black women bear the load for all of society’s work.

Following the lead of Black women means more than admiration—it requires action.

It means standing alongside them, sharing the struggle, and ensuring that their wisdom and labor are met with freedom, rest, and the flourishing they, too, deserve.

Obviously, we can add more Black women to this list. Who are you learning from? Let us know in the comments!

I made sure to include plenty of Black women for kids to learn from in I Am the Spirit of Justice and Stories of the Spirit of Justice. Pre-order today!