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A Bound Woman Is a Dangerous Thing: The Incarceration of African American Women from Harriet Tubman to Sandra Bland
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite Poetry (2019)A revelatory work in the tradition of Claudia Rankine's Citizen, DaMaris Hill's searing and powerful narrative-in-verse bears witness to American women of color burdened by incarceration.
"It is costly to stay free and appear / sane."
From Harriet Tubman to Assata Shakur, Ida B. Wells to Sandra Bland and Black Lives Matter, black women freedom fighters have braved violence, scorn, despair, and isolation in order to lodge their protests. In A Bound Woman Is a Dangerous Thing, DaMaris Hill honors their experiences with at times harrowing, at times hopeful responses to her heroes, illustrated with black-and-white photographs throughout.
For black American women, the experience of being bound has taken many forms: from the bondage of slavery to the Reconstruction-era criminalization of women; from the brutal constraints of Jim Crow to our own era’s prison industrial complex, where between 1980 and 2014, the number of incarcerated women increased by 700%.* For those women who lived and died resisting the dehumanization of confinement--physical, social, intellectual--the threat of being bound was real, constant, and lethal.
In A Bound Woman Is a Dangerous Thing, Hill presents bitter, unflinching history that artfully captures the personas of these captivating, bound yet unbridled African-American women. Hill's passionate odes to Zora Neale Hurston, Lucille Clifton, Fannie Lou Hamer, Grace Jones, Eartha Kitt, and others also celebrate the modern-day inheritors of their load and light, binding history, author, and reader in an essential legacy of struggle.
*(The Sentencing Project)
"It is costly to stay free and appear / sane."
From Harriet Tubman to Assata Shakur, Ida B. Wells to Sandra Bland and Black Lives Matter, black women freedom fighters have braved violence, scorn, despair, and isolation in order to lodge their protests. In A Bound Woman Is a Dangerous Thing, DaMaris Hill honors their experiences with at times harrowing, at times hopeful responses to her heroes, illustrated with black-and-white photographs throughout.
For black American women, the experience of being bound has taken many forms: from the bondage of slavery to the Reconstruction-era criminalization of women; from the brutal constraints of Jim Crow to our own era’s prison industrial complex, where between 1980 and 2014, the number of incarcerated women increased by 700%.* For those women who lived and died resisting the dehumanization of confinement--physical, social, intellectual--the threat of being bound was real, constant, and lethal.
In A Bound Woman Is a Dangerous Thing, Hill presents bitter, unflinching history that artfully captures the personas of these captivating, bound yet unbridled African-American women. Hill's passionate odes to Zora Neale Hurston, Lucille Clifton, Fannie Lou Hamer, Grace Jones, Eartha Kitt, and others also celebrate the modern-day inheritors of their load and light, binding history, author, and reader in an essential legacy of struggle.
*(The Sentencing Project)
192 pages, Hardcover
First published January 15, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 171 reviews
June 30, 2018
Damaris B. Hill writes the poetry of the bound black woman across the ages in this haunting, powerful collection. What you will read here is not just poetry, though. This book offers an education. This book bears witness. This book is a reckoning.
January 19, 2019
"The speed of light is almost equivalent to love come in a hurry.
There are thieves in the temples.
In the 1862nd year of our Lord,
there were 241 lynched
torn from wives arms and wedding Chambers.
Multiply that by the rope. Count the trees they strung from
The torches. All of this
done under the armor of white
supremacy
mob violence.
This is just one of the poems written for Ida B. Wells.
An extremely powerful book. I have never read anything like this. Written in five different sections, explained in the preface. As the author states, "These poems honor black women who had experiences with incarceration. They were inspred bu current events and historical framing of Black women freedom fighter ........."
A short description of the person, an accompanying black and white photograph, and poems, someone's more than one. They will make you uncomfortable, they are in your face injustices. Some of these women I had to look up on WIKIPEDIA because I wanted to know more, see what was there.
A book that leaves a powerful and unforgettable impression.
There are thieves in the temples.
In the 1862nd year of our Lord,
there were 241 lynched
torn from wives arms and wedding Chambers.
Multiply that by the rope. Count the trees they strung from
The torches. All of this
done under the armor of white
supremacy
mob violence.
This is just one of the poems written for Ida B. Wells.
An extremely powerful book. I have never read anything like this. Written in five different sections, explained in the preface. As the author states, "These poems honor black women who had experiences with incarceration. They were inspred bu current events and historical framing of Black women freedom fighter ........."
A short description of the person, an accompanying black and white photograph, and poems, someone's more than one. They will make you uncomfortable, they are in your face injustices. Some of these women I had to look up on WIKIPEDIA because I wanted to know more, see what was there.
A book that leaves a powerful and unforgettable impression.
January 4, 2019
I honestly don’t know if I have the proper words to describe this book. I have never read a book of poetry like this. It truly is powerful and I walked away with more than I expected. Hill definitely schooled me on women & history that I knew nothing about. The read is quick for 163 pages and is one I would recommend whether you are into poetry or not. There is so much more in this book than you think.
March 27, 2019
This compact but potent collection of poetry is so good that it hurts. DeMaris B. Hill spills America’s historical shame across the printed page with the articulate rage and power of the generations she writes about. My thanks go to Bloomsbury and Net Galley for the review copy. This collection becomes available to the public January 15, 2019.
The keys to reading Hill’s poetry are in the introduction, and in additional brief introductions at the beginning of each poem. These are broken down into five sections that depict the different ways in which women of color have been bound over the centuries, and Hill points out that Black resistance didn’t start with Black Lives Matter, and it didn’t start with Dr. King and Rosa Parks either. American Black folk have been fighting for their rights for centuries, but some periods have been better publicized and more widely recognized than others.
The introduction is not long by most standards, but I found myself impatient to read poetry, so halfway through it I skipped to the poetry; read the collection; and then I went back to reread the introduction from the beginning. After that I went back over the poems a second time, lingering over my favorites. The review copy was a rough one, and it’s hard to read poetry if the spacing is whack. Your copy is almost guaranteed to be cleaner, but you may choose to read these more than once anyway. Strong poetry will do that to you.
Each poem is devoted to an African-American woman that has fought in one way or another, and the conclusion is written for Hill’s son. The book is billed as a collection that takes us from Harriet Tubman to Sandra Bland, which it does, and both of these poems are resonant and in the case of Bland, achingly sorrowful. My own favorites were those written about Eartha Kitt, who was familiar to me, and Ruby McCollum, who wasn’t. The poem about Alice Clifton made me wish I could unread it, because it is harsh and horrible, but in case it wasn’t clear from the get go: Hill isn’t writing to spare our tender feelings. She’s pissed, and she’s right to be.
These poems contain some of the finest figurative language I have read anywhere.
Highly recommended for those that seek social justice and that love excellent poetry.
The keys to reading Hill’s poetry are in the introduction, and in additional brief introductions at the beginning of each poem. These are broken down into five sections that depict the different ways in which women of color have been bound over the centuries, and Hill points out that Black resistance didn’t start with Black Lives Matter, and it didn’t start with Dr. King and Rosa Parks either. American Black folk have been fighting for their rights for centuries, but some periods have been better publicized and more widely recognized than others.
The introduction is not long by most standards, but I found myself impatient to read poetry, so halfway through it I skipped to the poetry; read the collection; and then I went back to reread the introduction from the beginning. After that I went back over the poems a second time, lingering over my favorites. The review copy was a rough one, and it’s hard to read poetry if the spacing is whack. Your copy is almost guaranteed to be cleaner, but you may choose to read these more than once anyway. Strong poetry will do that to you.
Each poem is devoted to an African-American woman that has fought in one way or another, and the conclusion is written for Hill’s son. The book is billed as a collection that takes us from Harriet Tubman to Sandra Bland, which it does, and both of these poems are resonant and in the case of Bland, achingly sorrowful. My own favorites were those written about Eartha Kitt, who was familiar to me, and Ruby McCollum, who wasn’t. The poem about Alice Clifton made me wish I could unread it, because it is harsh and horrible, but in case it wasn’t clear from the get go: Hill isn’t writing to spare our tender feelings. She’s pissed, and she’s right to be.
These poems contain some of the finest figurative language I have read anywhere.
Highly recommended for those that seek social justice and that love excellent poetry.
June 30, 2021
***3 Stars***
First off, not the book's fault but I really should have read the synopsis more closely. I had no idea this was basically a book of poetry. And it's been YEARS since my brain had to interpret poetry.
For each woman mentioned here, there's a brief introduction (sometimes a paragraph, sometimes a couple of sentences) giving a bit of background and then a poem or sometimes multiple poems.
As the author states, these poems are her love letters and it really shows. You can feel the emotion behind every word.
because of you
i stand up
in the world that gift wrapped me for ruin
i stand up
and mark the script
March 14, 2019
3.5 stars
October 20, 2019
Poetry is tricky for me. Still working on how to talk about it. Loved the historical context and prose but couldn’t always connect with the poems (more a me thing than the poems). Black women are powerful beyond any measure ever credited to them and that is loud and clear in this collection. Hill is expert at depicting that.
January 17, 2019
A very powerful unique book that is more than poetry, more than history. It’s a fast read and I don’t think I’ve ever read anything like it.
February 11, 2019
amazing
ive never read anything like this. Dr. Hill is brilliant and magnificent. I learned so many things about women I have never heard of. Powerful.
ive never read anything like this. Dr. Hill is brilliant and magnificent. I learned so many things about women I have never heard of. Powerful.
November 7, 2019
One of the best books I've Read this year for sure. Damaris Hill delivered so many GOLDEN poems here introduced me to so many amazing black women and their personal histories . I Am Excited to see what she does next.
April 28, 2019
A beautifully written book about historical, (and current) women who have been incarcerated or killed for the color of their skin. A searing book that speaks to the importance of speaking out against police brutality and wrongful incarceration. The author tells of these important women through poetry, which makes this work even more powerful.
A masterful work, that weaves together the beautiful medium of poetry, and the importance of our country's institutionalized racism. DaMaris Hill hits such important and poignant points. This book is difficult to read, but so, so important. Put it on your shelf near James Baldwin and Angela Davis, because Hill's work belongs right next to those important voices.
A masterful work, that weaves together the beautiful medium of poetry, and the importance of our country's institutionalized racism. DaMaris Hill hits such important and poignant points. This book is difficult to read, but so, so important. Put it on your shelf near James Baldwin and Angela Davis, because Hill's work belongs right next to those important voices.
Read
April 17, 2021I love this project. Hill strategically organizes the poems in this collection according to themes of incarceration and resistance, beginning with the story of her grandmother and ending with poems about her own son. Preceding each poem is a brief historical overview of the woman's life -- these were the parts I was most interested in. I most loved the section on Ida B. Wells. I am not going to rate this because really much (but not all) of the poetry was over my head. Poetry is really not my thing (not yet, anyway), but I greatly appreciate this project nonetheless.
Read
January 1, 2020Hill outlines a powerful project in her introduction to this volume of poetry about African-American women’s experiences. I liked how she drew on a wide variety of historical figures, from women like Ida B. Wells, Zara Neale Hurston and Assata Shakur, to 19th century women tried for violent crimes, as well as her own family. Thought-provoking, even if the poems themselves were often not as powerful for me as the overall project.
August 6, 2020
Coronavirus (update: Coronavirus + Rebellion 2020) book review #29 – 4.5 stars
I’m still processing this epic piece of literature. I wasn’t expecting to need a poetry collection about the incarceration of African-American women as much as I did. The highs and lows, the historic photos, the simmering rage of injustice. While it is short enough to read in one setting, I had to keep putting it down, to let it sink in.
As a Northwestern alum who lived in Frances Willard, how had I missed the Ida B. Wells connection (researching now)? And while I was intrigued by the stories of the women I already knew about, it was the nameless women lost to history, simply fighting for their own dignity, that truly touched my heart. Let us bear witness.
PS The Sonia Sanchez bio with [September 9, 1934 – Continuous Fire] made my heart sing in every possible way. I toast to you, Sonia Sanchez, a homie with a hand grenade, the gangster granny.
I’m still processing this epic piece of literature. I wasn’t expecting to need a poetry collection about the incarceration of African-American women as much as I did. The highs and lows, the historic photos, the simmering rage of injustice. While it is short enough to read in one setting, I had to keep putting it down, to let it sink in.
As a Northwestern alum who lived in Frances Willard, how had I missed the Ida B. Wells connection (researching now)? And while I was intrigued by the stories of the women I already knew about, it was the nameless women lost to history, simply fighting for their own dignity, that truly touched my heart. Let us bear witness.
PS The Sonia Sanchez bio with [September 9, 1934 – Continuous Fire] made my heart sing in every possible way. I toast to you, Sonia Sanchez, a homie with a hand grenade, the gangster granny.
Read
February 22, 2021super interesting women and a cool concept, but a lot of the poems just weren’t for me
February 25, 2019
In this poetry tribute, Hill celebrates the legacies of black women who resisted oppression and refused to be silenced throughout US history. Each woman has a black and white photo, a short biographical page about her and then a poem to celebrate her life. Hill’s subjects range from well-known activists like Assata Shakur to women I had never heard of like Ruby McCollum. I’m grateful to Hill for highlighting the strength of these women in all their rage and passion and will certainly be learning more about the ones I didn’t know about.
April 24, 2019
I really should’ve read the description better before purchasing because I was not aware that this was a poetry book! 🤦🏾♀️
Anyway, despite my unawareness, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The poems were powerful, beautiful, and often heart breaking, as they are odes to incarcerated black women over the ages. I definitely want to do more research on the women who were portrayed at the prelude of each chapter. Their short biographies were interesting and I would like to learn more about their stories.
Anyway, despite my unawareness, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The poems were powerful, beautiful, and often heart breaking, as they are odes to incarcerated black women over the ages. I definitely want to do more research on the women who were portrayed at the prelude of each chapter. Their short biographies were interesting and I would like to learn more about their stories.
December 31, 2018
"The afflicted pray for healing– just as hungry people pray for bread, but when has God ever sent bread? In my recollection of the scriptures, God has always sent a woman."
I found an advanced reading copy of A Bound Woman is a Dangerous Thing from the book bins where I work and have found many of my favorites. I read it overnight.
Dr. Damaris B. Hill has given us an ode to women whose experience being black in America denied them its fundamental promises– life, freedom and agency, to start– with the sanction of society, if not the state, and sometimes both. Her characters are real women and girls, famous and nearly anonymous, who are brilliant, clever, industrious, and even ordinary.
They are abused, incarcerated, raped and killed in experiences that pierce the narrative of America the way that Juneteenth reveals a truth about the 4th of July: some of us are still waiting to be free.
I found an advanced reading copy of A Bound Woman is a Dangerous Thing from the book bins where I work and have found many of my favorites. I read it overnight.
Dr. Damaris B. Hill has given us an ode to women whose experience being black in America denied them its fundamental promises– life, freedom and agency, to start– with the sanction of society, if not the state, and sometimes both. Her characters are real women and girls, famous and nearly anonymous, who are brilliant, clever, industrious, and even ordinary.
They are abused, incarcerated, raped and killed in experiences that pierce the narrative of America the way that Juneteenth reveals a truth about the 4th of July: some of us are still waiting to be free.
July 17, 2023
This is an Honorary Voyage nothing short of being IMMACULATE! I have wanted to read this for quite some time by DaMaris Hill. Throughout the pages, you will learn factual experiences of Women of color who were incarcerated. Along with so many important ones that paved the way for us. The stories, from Lucy Sayles to Assata Shakur, became so intense at times with such a gripping sense of emotions throughout this entire book. My favorites were about Eartha Kitt, Zora Neale Hurston, and just when I felt like I loved EVERYTHING about it. Then, here comes the Assata poems! 💫
My Favorite was Revolution: Assata Shakur in 1956. There is one most surprising story of all. Thank you, DaMaris Hill, for bringing it to "Light" the story of Hastings (pg. 74). And, also the very Special names of Sandra Bland & Gynnya McMillen. ❣️
My Favorite was Revolution: Assata Shakur in 1956. There is one most surprising story of all. Thank you, DaMaris Hill, for bringing it to "Light" the story of Hastings (pg. 74). And, also the very Special names of Sandra Bland & Gynnya McMillen. ❣️
January 17, 2019
This poetry collection is a history, a tribute, and a love letter to black women. And it’s pretty amazing.
I know poetry can seem daunting. But this collection kind of defies the traditional form. It’s history spoken in poetry. It’s a narrative written in verse. While I loved the poems dedicated to the women (a few favorites were “Black Bird Medley”, “#SandySpeaks is a Choral Refrain”, and really all the poems devoted to Assata Shakur), I was surprised by how moved I was when Hill shifted to her own personal life. The poems written to and about her son gave this collection a focused, personal touch compared to the wider scope of the odes to the women. I didn’t realize that the collection needed them until I read them.
I know poetry can seem daunting. But this collection kind of defies the traditional form. It’s history spoken in poetry. It’s a narrative written in verse. While I loved the poems dedicated to the women (a few favorites were “Black Bird Medley”, “#SandySpeaks is a Choral Refrain”, and really all the poems devoted to Assata Shakur), I was surprised by how moved I was when Hill shifted to her own personal life. The poems written to and about her son gave this collection a focused, personal touch compared to the wider scope of the odes to the women. I didn’t realize that the collection needed them until I read them.
December 24, 2018
I loved this book. It's courageous, important, and thought-provoking. Half way through I quit reading and started over because I couldn't bear to be getting close to the ending. And when I did finish, I began again.
February 17, 2019
These poems and the introduction to each poem are more little packets of history than anything. Introduced me to many historical figures and some modern ones, all black women (per the title). Definitely worth reading though less for the poetry than the history imparted.
March 18, 2019
I blessed the blog with a review on DaMaris Hill's latest poetry collection. Don't let Women's History Month pass without spending time with this book! Find out why here: http://www.tamarajmadison.com/blog/bl...
February 1, 2019
I loved Ms. Hill's idea but it left me wanting to know more about each woman. Perhaps that was her plan along...
February 13, 2019
Beautifully written. Hill weaves poetry and history seamlessly.
June 23, 2020
This book is a love letter to women who have been denied their humanity. Most of these women have been forgotten, shunned, and/or erased. Let these women dance among your days and with your nights. Dream better lives.
This novel has clipped biographies before the dynamic poems, followed with amazing photographs that not only gives visuals of the passing of time (1980's to 2016/present) but gives a very real look at what these women went through. In the preface, author DaMaris B. Hill lets the reader know what to expect going into her work. A Bound Woman is a Dangerous Thing is intense and disturbing as are the facts which these poems are written about. The author gives three breakdowns in her preface to explain her sections to help the reader get into the right head-space.
I had to re-read some of the poetry and bio's to dislodged the "I didn't just read what I think I just read," knowing full well that I did read it correctly the first time. There are some women in this collection that I will be doing more research to know and to remember their stories.
This novel has clipped biographies before the dynamic poems, followed with amazing photographs that not only gives visuals of the passing of time (1980's to 2016/present) but gives a very real look at what these women went through. In the preface, author DaMaris B. Hill lets the reader know what to expect going into her work. A Bound Woman is a Dangerous Thing is intense and disturbing as are the facts which these poems are written about. The author gives three breakdowns in her preface to explain her sections to help the reader get into the right head-space.
I had to re-read some of the poetry and bio's to dislodged the "I didn't just read what I think I just read," knowing full well that I did read it correctly the first time. There are some women in this collection that I will be doing more research to know and to remember their stories.
March 3, 2019
Informative and thought provoking. I instantly wanted to talk about it.
First Line:
What Dazzled: I really enjoyed the black and white photographs and summaries at the beginning of each chapter. This set the tone for the poem to come.
What Fizzled: A couple of editing issues mainly the switch in names in the summary about Ella Jackson.
Jots and Thoughts: Pair this with At the Dark End of the Street by Danielle L. McGuire.
First Line:
Reading about the Black women in A Bound Woman Is a Dangerous Thing will not comfort, p.xi.Hill gives readers more than twenty Black women who were bound in some way. For many that meant being incarcerated, others it meant being denied their voice, their body, their mind. The similarity is not lost on Hill as her poems give a glimpse into their psyche.
What Dazzled: I really enjoyed the black and white photographs and summaries at the beginning of each chapter. This set the tone for the poem to come.
What Fizzled: A couple of editing issues mainly the switch in names in the summary about Ella Jackson.
Jots and Thoughts: Pair this with At the Dark End of the Street by Danielle L. McGuire.
This book is a love letter to women who have been denied their humanity. Most of these women have been forgotten, shunned, and/or erased. Every time I call a name in this book, presume that the person who bears the name is loved, p. xviii.Read Harder Challenge: a collection of poetry published since 2014
May 18, 2024
What a powerful read. You can read it within an hour, and then again, and again. It is a chronicle of Black women who were incarcerated; each chapter starts off with a summary, and ends in poetry that tells the story of their lives and their struggles. What are the stories of the Black Womxn in your life? Highly recommended.
July 18, 2019
DaMaris Hill gives us a collection of poetry here honoring black women over the years who have been bound in different ways, from women like Harriet Tubman who lived in slavery, to women like Ida B. Wells who fought Jim Crow, to women like Fannie Lou Hamer and Claudia Jones who were arrested resisting segregation, to Assata Shakur being framed by the feds, to Sandra Bland being killed by the state. It's a sweeping and powerful set of poems. Highly reccomend.
January 21, 2020
Would be a very good addition to YA collections, especially in Middle and High Schools.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 171 reviews