Shifting: The Double Lives of Black Women in America

Commemorating its 20th anniversary with a new Introduction and updated content, Shifting explores the many identities Black women must adopt in various spaces to succeed in America.

Based on the African American Women's Voices Project, Shifting reveals that a large number of Black women feel pressure to compromise their true selves as they navigate America's racial and gender discrimination. Black women "shift" by altering the expectations they have for themselves or their outer appearance, a set of coping mechanisms explored in detail within these pages. They modify their speech. They shift "white" as they head to work in the morning and "Black" as they come back home each night. They shift inward, internalizing the searing pain of the negative stereotypes they encounter daily. And sometimes they shift by fighting back. In commemoration of its twentieth year in print with a new Introduction and updated content throughout, Shifting is a much-needed, clear, and comprehensive portrait of the reality of Black women's experiences with bias today.

This foundational text on the emotional well-being of Black women breaks down key concepts, including:

• The Sisterella Complex: A groundbreaking look at the unique manifestation of depression common among Black women, fueled by the pressure to overachieve while denying their own needs.
• The Lily Complex: An analysis of the pressure Black women feel to conform to Eurocentric beauty standards, from altering hair texture to navigating body image.
• Black Women in the Workplace: An exploration of how women "shift" to survive, dealing with everything from microaggressions to being overlooked for promotions in professional settings.
• Mothering Black Children: A look into the specific challenges of raising children to cope with a society still struggling with prejudice, and how mothers teach the ABCs of shifting for survival.