Shahrazad Ali (born April 27, 1954) is an American author of several books, including a paperback called ''The Blackman's Guide to Understanding the Blackwoman''. The book was controversial bringing "forth community forums, pickets and heated arguments among Black people in many parts" of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

when it was published in 1989.

Book reviews

Stories about the book appeared in the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', ''

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'', ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', ''

Newsday ''Newsday'' is an American daily newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI", and f ...

'', and ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

''. Ali appeared on ''

Tony Brown's Journal ''Tony Brown's Journal'' is an American talk show hosted by journalist Tony Brown. The program, which began on PBS in 1978, was the successor to the series '' Black Journal'', which had aired on the television network's NET and then PBS since 196 ...

'', the '' Sally Jessy Raphaël Show'', ''

The Phil Donahue Show ''The Phil Donahue Show'', also known as ''Donahue'', is an American television talk show hosted by Phil Donahue that ran for 26 years on national television. Its run was preceded by three years of local broadcast on WLWD in Dayton, Ohio, and i ...

'', Oprah Winfrey, and '' Geraldo'' TV programs—and was parodied on ''

In Living Color ''In Living Color'' is an American sketch comedy television series that originally ran on Fox from April 15, 1990 to May 19, 1994. Keenen Ivory Wayans created, wrote and starred in the program. The show was produced by Ivory Way Productions in ...

''. The book reportedly brought black bookstores new business, while other black bookstores banned it. It also provoked a book of essays (called ''Confusion by Any Other Name'') that explored the negative impact of ''The Blackman's Guide''. A sample passage of her book, amongst others quoted in the media, describes African American women referred to as the "Blackwoman", using the parlance of the

Nation of Islam The Nation of Islam (NOI) is a religious and political organization founded in the United States by Wallace Fard Muhammad in 1930. A black nationalist organization, the NOI focuses its attention on the African diaspora, especially on African ...

stating: Ali stated, "I wrote the book because black women in America have been protected and insulated against certain kinds of criticism and examination." Critics complained that book offered no factual data to substantiate her views or information about how she came to her conclusions and was essentially as a vanity-press product that would have been ignored by black people and others had it not been for the media attention its novelty and outrageousness created.

Kimberlé Crenshaw Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw (born May 5, 1959) is an American civil rights advocate and a leading scholar of critical race theory. She is a professor at the UCLA School of Law and Columbia Law School, where she specializes in race and gender iss ...

has argued that Ali's views mirror a claim made by several commentators and public figures that many social problems in African-American communities are caused by "the breakdown of patriarchal family values", including

William Raspberry William Raspberry (October 12, 1935 – July 17, 2012) was an American syndicated public affairs columnist. He was also the Knight Professor of the Practice of Communications and Journalism at the Sanford Institute of Public Policy at Duke Uni ...

George Will George Frederick Will (born May 4, 1941) is an American libertarian-conservative political commentator and author. He writes regular columns for ''The Washington Post'' and provides commentary for NBC News and MSNBC. Gold, Hadas (May 8, 2017)." ...

, Daniel Patrick Moynihan in his report '' The Negro Family'' and

Bill Moyers Bill Moyers (born Billy Don Moyers, June 5, 1934) is an American journalist and political commentator. Under the Johnson administration he served from 1965 to 1967 as the eleventh White House Press Secretary. He was a director of the Counci ...

Guest commentator

In August 2013, Ali re-emerged in the media as a guest commentator on the HLN program ''

Dr. Drew on Call ''Dr. Drew On Call'', previously titled ''Dr. Drew'', was an American current affairs program hosted by Dr. Drew Pinsky that aired Monday through Thursday nights on HLN. The program premiered on Monday, April 4, 2011, and aired Monday through Th ...

''. She was also interviewed on ''

The Trisha Goddard Show ''The Trisha Goddard Show'' (also stylized as ''Trisha'') is an American syndicated tabloid talk show hosted by Trisha Goddard. It was a spin-off of '' Maury'' and was based on Goddard's UK show. The show premiered on September 17, 2012. It a ...

'' along with white supremacist

Craig Cobb Paul Craig Cobb is a white nationalist and white supremacist who created the video sharing website Podblanc. He states "my race is my religion", and advocates " racial holy war" in accordance with the tenets of the Creativity religion. Cobb has ...

, agreeing with Cobb that the black and white races should be separated.

Personal life

Ali is the mother of 12 children, nine of them adopted.

Selected bibliography

* ''How Not to Eat Pork (Or Life without the Pig)'', 1985 () * ''The Blackman's Guide to Understanding the Blackwoman'', 1989 () * ''The Blackwoman's Guide to Understanding the Blackman'', 1992 () * ''Are You Still a Slave?'' 1994 () * ''Day by Day'', 1996 () * ''How to Tell If Your Man Is Gay or Bisexual'', 2003, () In addition she has written some books no longer in print. * ''Urban Survival for the Year 2000'' * ''How to Prepare for the Y2K Computer Problem in the 'Hood''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ali, Shahrazad 1954 births Living people African-American non-fiction writers American non-fiction writers African-American women writers American religious writers Female critics of feminism Members of the Nation of Islam Women religious writers American women non-fiction writers American reparationists 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women