Representations of Black Womanhood on Television: Being Mara Brock Akil is a powerful collaboration of Black female scholars shining light on a storyteller that has centered Black female voices for more than two decades. This text is both a picture and celebration of a Black woman who dared to dream. As such this volume marks its place in history and is guaranteed to be a resource for scholars and creatives interested in shining light on people in the shadows.

Omotayo Banjo, University of Cincinnati

In Representations of Black Womanhood on Television: Being Mara Brock Akil, Shauntae Brown White and Kandace L. Harris present an exquisite collection of scholarship--both critical interrogations and audience analyses— that not only examines Mara Bock Akil’s creative oeuvre, but also details how this media tour de force locates and makes accessible Black women’s humanity. The strength of this carefully curated volume of edited work is that the authors consider both creation and depiction to provide readers with new insights into what authentic representational inclusion means.

Robin R. Means Coleman, vice president and associate provost for institutional diversity & inclusion and the Ida B. Wells and Ferdinand Barnett Professor of Communication Studies at Northwestern University