We Refuse to Be Silent

"In this collection, Angela P. Dodson has gathered some of the finest women writers available to address the egregious injustices that Black men confront every day. The women speaking on their behalf express empathy and deep emotional pain over the daily indignities, the slights, and the all-too-frequent extrajudicial killings that their fathers, husbands, sons, and other Black men in their lives face. These women also bring a wealth of fresh reporting, authoritative data, and disciplined analysis to the topic. Their work will help deepen the conversations about justice and help guide the way to solutions." --Dorothy Butler Gilliam, author of Trailblazer: A Pioneering Journalist's Fight to Make the Media Look More Like America, social justice advocate, media diversity expert, and the first Black female reporter at the Washington Post "Whatever the class or profession, there is no Black woman in America who has not been impacted by the police brutality and inequities within the criminal justice system on the lives of the Black men she loves. In this powerful collection of diverse and often searing essays, thirty-five women writers--from journalists and poets to professors and novelists--raise their voices in one single chorus to sound the alarm, refusing to be silent on an issue that threatens to destroy their very community. This important anthology is a clarion call to action, in the wake of the anger unleashed by an unjust justice system." --Edward Lewis, cofounder and former publisher of Essence magazine "Leave it (again) to Black women to be the strongest voices in the room--not the loudest. Still, these essays roar in emotion and perspective. They are sensitive and bold, revealing, . . . and they illuminate a common theme: maleficence against Black men is a perpetual burden taken on by the Black woman in multiple, painful ways." --Curtis Bunn, journalist at NBC BLK, best-selling author, and founder of the National Book Club Conference "A must-read for mothers and sisters and for fathers and sons. This book helps others to understand the weight Black women carry for our Black men. It gives voice to the fears, anxiety and anger that live in all of us because of the continued 'tiny cuts' that eventually lead to the death of our men.... This book uncovers how the unaddressed collective impact of the deaths of Black boys and men is a communal overt act of negligence." --Katina R. Beard, MSPH, chief executive officer, Matthew Walker Comprehensive Health Center, Inc. "We Refuse to Be Silent: Women's Voices on Justice for Black Men is a brilliant collection of essays edited by Angela P. Dodson, which shines a much-needed light on the injustices Black men face daily in our society. Written from the perspective of Black women who witness the physical violence and psychological trauma that Black men routinely endure, this anthology adroitly lays out the impact of police brutality in ways that very few compilations master." --Bonnie Newman Davis, author of Truth Tellers: The Power and Presence of Black Women Journalists Since 1960 "The contributors to this anthology include academics, artists, and journalists. Indeed, the women are accomplished. Yet their status does not protect them from traumas of losing Black male family members to violence. Among eight themed chapters, 'Special Circumstances,' as in special needs, is a reminder about misunderstood targets. Mothers stand daily watch for trouble. We Refuse to Be Silent is a code-red call for solutions." --Wayne Dawkins, professor of professional practice, Morgan State University, and author of Black Journalists: The NABJ Story