Skin Deep: Women Writing on Color, Culture, and Identity

This anthology contains 48 selections about being a woman of color in the United States.

The first section, “The Paradox of Color: Living in an ‘Unsane’ World,” considers the emotional amputations as well as the spiritual powers that are derived from the woman’s struggle to “be” in her skin. The second section, “On Becoming ‘AdNormal’: Finding, Creating, and Accepting Wellness,” suggests ways of unlearning destructive behaviors and attitudes that affect people of color, and moving toward self-defined emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual health.

There is no homogeneity among women of color in the United States. The women represented in this collection are African, Asian, Sephardic Jew, Latina, Middle Eastern, Native Hawaiian, First Nation, and various mixtures. Some have never before been published; others are well-known to many. Their perceptions are presented to encourage women to be more accessible to each other. A 52-item reading list and a 51-item resource list are included.