Dear Inkwell Book Club,

Black Girls Rock! You don’t need this beautifully produced, inspiring new book edited by Beverly Bond to tell you that. But you’re going to want it anyway, because these testimonies will uplift your spirits and shine a powerful light on the journeys of women who have overcome remarkable odds to be in positions of influence and power. The beauty of this book goes beyond the particular insights shared by these seventy-two women, however. The real beauty is that you will see elements of your own journey reflected in these pages—the ways you have come to embrace your own black girl magic, the lessons your mother and aunties have passed on to you, the grace with which you handle micro- and macroaggressions, the light in your own physical beauty.

I’m confident passages of this book will resonate with you. Whether it’s Michelle Obama recollecting how she decided to “rewrite those tired old scripts that define too many of us”; Maxine Waters reminding us that it is “difficult to be a change-maker if you are too afraid to speak up or unwilling to ruffle some feathers”; or Ava DuVernay urging us to remember that we are a “small but mighty tribe,” the women in this book are wonderfully wise.

Join the book club and let’s read this book together. Let me know at BookBrunch@gmail.com which passages inspire you the most.

We’ll be sure to have some great Inkwell Book Club experiences with this one—the first being the book launch at the Brooklyn Museum on March 3.

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