Life Notes: Personal Writings by Contemporary Black Women

A collection of writings, culled from the journals, diaries, and personal notebooks, presents the personal testimonies of contemporary black women who illuminate the complexities of their lives, offering unique reflections on family, work, intimacy, politics, violation, and recovery. 15,000 first printing.

A moving, eloquent assortment of personal writings from the diaries of contemporary black women, collected by Bell-Scott (coeditor: Doublestitch: Black Women Write About Mothers and Daughters, 1991--not reviewed) and including excerpts from Alice Walker, Audrey Lorde, Rita Dove, Jamaica Kincaid, and others, as well as selections from lesser-known, unpublished writers. As much about the black woman's struggle to claim a place in a racist, sexist world as about the personal history of each individual writer, the entries here include reflections on everything from abortion to apartheid. The 49 contributors range in age from a nine-year-old Nigerian to a 64-year-old retired African-American telephone operator: all narrate, with stunning candor, the stories of their lives--stories that often include episodes of childhood sexual abuse, struggles with poverty and racism, and battles with cancer. The anthology is dedicated to lesbian poet/activist Audrey Lorde, who died in 1992 and whose cancer journals are among the most arresting here. Intimate, impassioned, often heartbreaking: for general readers as well as to students of African-American literature. Reading through it is immensely rewarding--like having an hourlong, tell-all phone conversation with a close friend. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

YA-This marvelous anthology includes the unedited, uncensored journal entries of 50 black women written in the form of prose, letters, poetry, self-dialogue, or meditations. They are artists, educators, activists, lesbians, students, unemployed, homemakers, divorced, single mothers, and disabled. America, Europe, and Africa are represented. Divided into eight sections and ranging from early childhood to middle years to old age, the selections feature women's reflections on work, love, self-identity, child abuse, racial prejudice, political commentaries, and creating one's own place in this society. The memories are at times funny, raunchy, poignant, and tragic, but always speak to the human condition. Some famous authors, such as Alice Walker, Rita Dove, and Bell Hooks, have made contributions. However, Bell-Scott's goals are to honor the nameless who record their lives in the face of enormous disadvantages; share the richness of experiences lost when diversity is ignored; authenticate women's ability to speak for themselves; and encourage other generations to write for self-knowledge, empowerment, and posterity. They are beautifully met in this enriching and enlightening collection.
Pat Royal, Crossland High School, Camp Springs, MD
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This involving collection gathers more than 50 excerpts (some previously published) from the diaries and journals of black women from North America, Europe, Africa and the Caribbean islands. The writings are arranged by loose subjects such as childhood, the search for self, hardships and love. Bell-Scott, who co-edited Double stitch: Black Women Write About Mothers and Daughters , has made her selections with an emphasis on diversity. Included are pieces written by women of varying ages, backgrounds and expectations, women with disabilities and lesbians. Some of the writers are well-known (Alice Walker, Rita Dove, Audre Lorde); others are new voices. In an unusual testimony, Faith Aidele describes the time she lived as a Buddhist nun. These personal writings offer a unique look at the experience of being black and female.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Intimate, intensive, and illuminating are just a few words that describe this emotionally enriched anthology. Forty-nine writers, published and unpublished, from three continents and the Caribbean contribute excerpts from their journals, diaries, and personal notebooks. Editor Bell-Scott ( Doublestitch , Beacon Pr., 1991) has collected the work of these writers, from the famous, like bell hooks, to those unknown to American readers, in order to highlight of the complexities and obstacles faced by black women from a broad spectrum throughout their lives. Highly recommended for readers from all backgrounds interested in literature and for those involved in the fields of mental health and self-therapy.
- Gayle Leach-Bethea , Maryland House of Corrections, Jessup
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From this "unedited, uncensored womantalk," editor Bell-Scott says of this compilation of black women's voices, "we learn we are not crazy, or that we are the best kind of crazy. We bear witness, we affirm, we find our true voices, our true power. We heal. We are healed. We speak truth to power." The anthology, which presents its contents in eight sections--"Reflecting Girlhood," "Searching for Self," "Meaning and Work," "Living Love," "Naming Violation and Betrayal," "Fighting Back," "Claiming a New Self," and "Writing from a Different Place"--has four goals, Bell-Scott avers: to honor the nameless who record their lives in the face of enormous disadvantages; to share the richness of experiences lost when diversity is ignored; to authenticate self-defining women's ability to speak for themselves; and to encourage other generations to write for self-knowledge, empowerment, and posterity. In the contributions of Rita Dove, Sapphire, Audre Lorde, Jamaica Kincaid, Alice Walker and others, we see these aims beautifully realized. Whitney Scott