By Theresa M. Robinson
Blaxhaustion™, Karens & Other Threats to Black Lives and Well-Being
Call it a memoir. Call it a manifesto. Call it whatever you want. But whatever you do, don’t call it fiction.
This 6 x 9 book is a powerful testimony guaranteed to have Black women everywhere proclaiming, “Guuuurrrrrrllll, yaaaaasssss!” over and over again as Theresa moves from the complexities of microaggression fatigue and weaponized whiteness to the hazards of coronaviracism™ and performative white wokeness. Standing alongside her are the powerful voices of Black women who take center stage to speak their truth. This ain’t no “make everybody else feel comfortable at Black women’s expense” kinda book. No. Not this year. Not after everything that 2020 has dished up and revealed about threats to Black lives and well-being. With unapologetic rawness and candor, this book prioritizes the voices of Black women that declare, “I wrote what I wrote” and “I said what I said.” ISBN:978-0998842080
Book Description
Call it a memoir. Call it a manifesto. Call it whatever you want. But whatever you do, don’t call it fiction.
I write for those women who do not speak, for those who do not have a voice because they were so terrified because we are taught to respect fear more than ourselves. We’ve been taught that silence would save us, but it won’t. – Audre Lorde
The most disrespected person in America is the Black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the Black woman. The most neglected person in America is the Black woman. – Malcolm X
In a year marked by the disproportionate coronavirus deaths of Blacks and the Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and George Floyd murders, Theresa M. Robinson offers a candid look at living while Black in the United States. Specifically, by giving voice to her lived experiences as a Black woman, she affirms Black women as owners of their unique narratives of oppression, marginalization, and disenfranchisement.
”I’ve written an account that I want to read as a Black woman– one that unapologetically centers Black women and our lived experiences without the tone-policing, the invalidation, and the white-washing.”
Blaxhaustion™, Karens, and Other Threats to Black Lives and Well-Being is guaranteed to have Black women proclaiming, “Guuuurrrrrrllll, yaaaaasssss!” over and over again as it moves from the complexities of microaggression fatigue and weaponized whiteness to the hazards of coronaviracism™ and performative white wokeness. Never has it been more critical than now for Black women to take center stage and raise their voices—and for everyone to listen.
This book is a “new thing” with the help of 62 incredible sistahQueens. The books aims for every Black woman to feel a part of this new thing. As a “new thing,” this book does not fit into any strict category or genre. It is stage and audience, pulpit and congregation, sermon and choir.
This is NOT a self-help book. It will NOT advise you on tips and strategies for
- getting a seat at the table
- going high when they go low
- reaching out to willfully ignorant racists
- fitting in with your white colleagues
- kissing the ass of your white boss
That stuff is NOT in the line-up. By design.
This book is a validation and affirmation of Black women’s lived experiences, a meeting and relating place, an opportunity to let the world know that Black women have plenty to say and that it should shut up and listen.
This book is part of the momentum of #MeToo, an expression and a movement that originated with a Black woman, Tarana Burke, and then was hijacked and “popularized” by white women celebrities like Alyssa Milano and Michelle Williams.
This book is part of the momentum of Black Lives Matter, founded by three Black women Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometi, two of whom identify as queer. At its inception, Black Lives Matter was intended to put LGBTQIA+ voices at the center of the conversation, even while the biggest protests have involved violence against cis hetero Black men.
This book is a nod to Black women who’ve been engaging in activism and speaking for years and years and years, and whose voices are not regarded as “mainstream” or important until whiteness or maleness steps in. It’s kinda like the way white feminism has never really served the needs of Black women. Ha! It’s exactly the way white feminism has never served the needs of Black women!
This book is a symbolic “take-off-my-earrings” for all the times Black women have held our tongues in the face of white comfort and white entitlement.
This book is an open letter to a world that has never universally and unequivocally acknowledged that Black lives matter and that Black women’s lives matter.
This book is a tall cup of tea slowly brewed and scalding hot.
Comprised of five acts consisting of varying scenes, activist poems, and the “I’m Speaking” voices of 62 women of the Black diaspora, , the book is a raw and unapologetic examination of the following:
Act I focuses on Blaxhaustion™, the cumulative exhaustion from a lifetime of racism that impacts our personal and professional life and that manifests emotionally and mentally.
Act II focuses on Karens, Her Ken, and Her Kin to shine a light on instances of weaponized whiteness that present a more immediate and impending threat.
Act III focuses on Coronaviracism™: A Tale of Two Pandemics, the intersection of covid19 and anti-Black racism, the two pandemics currently ravishing this country.
Act IV focuses on Great White Lies that perpetuate and sustain racism and white supremacy.
Act V focuses on White Complicity & Performative Woke-ness, which emphasizes so-called good white folks and fake allies who put on a show of support with empty words and small gestures—signifying and sacrificing nothing—all while maintaining the benefits of white privilege.
Book Reviews
This is not your Mama’s antiracism book
“Blaxhaustion, Karens and Other Threats to Black Lives and Wellbeing: A Black Woman’s Perspective” by Theresa M Robinson is an uncompromising exploration of Black women’s experiences with racism.
The book promises to call out the “Karen, Kens and their Kin” who have left Black women Blaxhausted – and it certainly delivers. It’s a spirited condemnation of anti-Black racism in the many, many arenas where it occurs.
When I first heard the term “Blaxhaustion” it spoke to my spirit. It’s about racism fatigue and multi-generational trauma. I was hooked from the first word. The personal section of the intro will tug at your heartstrings, and that’s before you get to the main content. Here’s what’s inside:
Act 1: Blaxhaustion™
Act 2: Karens, Her Ken, and Her Kin
Act 3: Coronaviracism™: A Tale of Two Pandemics
Act 4: Great White Lies
Act 5: White Complicity & Performative Wokeness
If you can handle large doses of truth-telling from a powerful Black woman, then by all means read this book. Make no mistake, though, Robinson’s primary audience is Black women, and Black people, and the theme of this book might as well be “I said what I said”. Robinson does not seek white approval, and does not prioritize white comfort, so if you’re a white anti-racist reader, expect to sit with some discomfort.
Blaxhaustion seamlessly switches among a number of forms of language. One minute there’s the kind of girl talk you get round the kitchen table; the next there’s an academic citation covering an aspect of Black life.
The book also includes poetry by the author and others, as well as the voices of 60+ other Black women (sistahQueens) with something to say, in callout “I’m Speaking” sections. As a whole, it’s extremely powerful and empowering.
As a Black woman, I moved between being emotionally floored by the knowledge that someone else had had the same experience as me, to pumping my fist in the air as Robinson dropped yet another truth bomb (for example, check out the “extermination playbook” – whew! – and the “cold hard truths about racism”)
“Blaxhaustion” is a must-read for Black women, and for anyone who wants to truly understand how white supremacy and white privilege harm and extinguish Black lives. Highly recommended.
WOW! A Must Have!!
I’m Speaking Now and Forever!
BLAXHAUSTION, KARENS & OTHER THREATS TO BLACK LIVES AND WELL-BEING is not your ordinary book. This is the real deal. I cannot express how much I resonate with the experiences that were discussed. Everything from the microaggressions, being black and naturally smart, family issues, etc. It’s a lot to unpack but its well worth it.
Theresa Robinson scores Again! Well Worth Reading…and giving!
The gift of truth, enlightenment, self-actualization and empowerment is the best present a Father can give to his young adult Daughters.
All this (and much more) are to be found within the carefully crafted words, wisdom and experiences in the book ‘Blaxhaustion, Karens & Other Threats to Black Lives’.
It was important that I acquire this work for my Daughters but quickly realised that this must read had to be shared with my Wife, colleagues and friends. I was immersed in this work from page 1 and am grateful for this rich tapestry.
Theresa Robinson is certainly a writer for this millennium and her works are an inspirational must read for all. Thank you for this wonderful book and I now anxiously await your next brilliant work!
If the title bothers you, you may be part of the problem.
Put your big girl panties on and (if you’re white) prepare yourself for some straight talk. Funny, serious, revelatory, vulnerable, scathing, incredulous, hopeful, inspiring and above all, HONEST, Theresa M Robinson spares no one in her demand that Black women be seen and heard and celebrated. An unflinchingly authentic account of Black women’s experience, perspective and response in a world that requires all their strength. Karen, sit down. This isn’t (all) about you. It’s about time we listened to what’s being said. This is Theresa and She’s speaking.
An Ode to Black Women Navigating the Seas of our Racist Reality
It’s Christmas time and this “Blaxhaustion” came not wrapped in neat wrapping paper with a beautifully pristine bow, but is wrapped in the REAL thoughts in my head many days. From the first words Therasia and company promises NOT to be your everyday polite conversation that sanitizes the trauma Black women have endured and survived for years. This book is a collective of sista girl conversations where no one is safe, meaning no one that has proven NOt to be safe for Black women. Read, Learn, Exhale, Cry, Pump your fists, Recharge and start again because this book proves you are not alone.
Achingly powerful read
One of the best presents I gave myself is this newly released truth-telling tome, which I learned about after finding and following the author’s content on LinkedIn.
As a white woman, I couldn’t tear myself away from her strength, vulnerability, story-telling, and raw lived experience. This is not a peer-reviewed academic text, nor is it for the faint of heart when it comes to emotion and language. Those are the author’s intentional choices, and for me they added new layers of discourse I haven’t necessarily seen elsewhere in my decades of reading so many powerful books in this sphere. From her impassioned “warning” at the beginning, to the “I’m Speaking” sections throughout highlighting Black women’s voices, and the Oppression Dictionary in the back, these words cut me to the core. And they were so necessary.
White folks especially- purchase, read, support, and amplify this crucial voice. I can’t recommend this book and its unique layout and voice highly enough.
America, Listen, do you hear that? Black Women are Speaking!
Blaxhaustion, Karens & Other Threats to Black Lives and Well-Being is a must-read for every person on this Planet if you truly want to understand and make a difference!
Truth wrapped in pain ain’t never been pretty
BLAXHAUSTION, KARENS & OTHER THREATS TO BLACK LIVES AND WELL-BEING addresses a raw conversation we need to explore if we are to honestly address the plight of America. No, Theresa M. Robinson did present this as pretty, political correct or non-problematic but neither is the mental anguish internalize by those who repress years of dealing with blatant AND subtle systematic racism. The raw eruption of emotions presented by the author should never be labeled wrong, inappropriate or not scientifically researched but rather experienced as a TRUTH! Theresa thank you for speaking without barriers, so we can perhaps approach this with toes stepped on and true mirror reflections toward liberty and change! Just get the book!