BLACK WOMEN WILL SAVE THE WORLD

A veteran journalist honors the contributions of Black women in America.

In this “anthem” or “love letter,” Ryan, the Washington, D.C., bureau chief for the Grio, combines an account of her struggles and triumphs as a person of color with a survey of representative Black women who epitomize “our history, our heroism, our hurt, and our Hope.” First, the author looks at the characteristics and motivations of Black leadership; second, the intersection of race and gender as they play out in the efforts of Black women to claim agency in social and political spheres; and finally, speculations on the coming ascendancy of such women in positions of power. Though she moves fluidly across eras, Ryan focuses primarily on her role as a top White House correspondent during the Trump era and her reporting of—and sometimes personal involvement in—a range of stories prompted by his incendiary reign. Among the most memorable sections of the book are her response to the White supremacist terrorist attack in Charlottesville and her own often caustic exchanges with Trump and his representatives during press conferences. Ryan is particularly effective in evocatively setting forth the terms of her calling as a journalist. She argues convincingly that her career has been dedicated to posing questions too often slighted or silenced: “Questions about civil rights. Policing. Migration. Sex trafficking. Poverty. Fairness and equality before the law.” Also cogent are her accounts of recent efforts at voter suppression and the resistance being organized by formidably committed activists. A little more nuance might have been helpful in the author’s assessments of the status of a leader such as Kamala Harris, whose reputation among Black voters seems more complicated than Ryan implies. Overall, though, the author offers compelling commentary on the significance of Black women in contemporary America.

An impassioned celebration of Black women and their roles in transforming the nation.