Ethos of Black Motherhood in America - (Lexington Studies in Health Communication) by Kimberly C Harper (Paperback)

About the Book

This book discusses existing problems with Black maternal health and the rhetorical implications of ethos in American society.

Book Synopsis

This book discusses existing problems with Black maternal health and the rhetorical implications of ethos in American society.

Review Quotes

Dr. Kimberly Harper's The Ethos of Black Motherhood in America: Only White Women Get Pregnant resonates loudly with components of America's #BlackLivesMatter. Harper's poignant words offer a reminder that living while Black in America has always been a challenge as she considers what many images, publications and media have neglected, the Black Woman as Black Mother. This text offers Harper's candid, subjective perspective from her own personal experiences as a Black mother in America. She validates the Black mother as worthy, but also as seen. Not since Patricia Hill Collins' Black Feminist Thought has a book defiantly explored this overlooked content matter. Harper recognizes the castigation of Black women, especially in their intentional exclusion from pregnancy publications; further she seeks to interrogate the causes for the absence of Black mothers as she explores existing maternal health publications as well as the media which promotes this scholarship. Harper posits that while many health experts don't recognize the impact of inclusionary media, simultaneously they neglect the narrative of others maternal experiences like those of Black Mothers. Her research insists all readers see the absence of Black mothers, acknowledge it, and demand they listen to those who have historically been omitted from this maternal discourse narrative. The Ethos of Black Motherhood in America: Only White Women Get Pregnant is a must-read for any audience, but especially those who don't realize that more than just white women get pregnant, but also Black Women too.

Kimberly C. Harper illustrates how her own personal experiences motivated this much-needed exposé of the problems black women face in their medical care. Her book provides valuable information for scholars of rhetoric and discourse analysis, medical professionals, and reproductive justice activists; and in the conclusion, she posits that the subject of black women and health care requires much more scholarly exploration.

Kimberly C. Harper's The Ethos of Black Mothers in America is an essential study in the history and rhetoric of Black women's maternal health care. Harper shows how racist ideology has been rhetorically constructed in White political philosophy, legal decisions, and legislation. Further, she reveals the ways in which Black women have been silenced or unheard, unrepresented, or misrepresented in medical training and in popular pregnancy books. Harper opens a new domain for health communication, for feminist and womanist studies, and for social and racial justice research and education in the rhetoric and technical communication field.

About the Author

Kimberly C. Harper is assistant professor and associate chair of English and director of technical writing at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.