Mikki Kendall

Mikki Kendall
Born (1976-10-23) October 23, 1976 (age 48)
Chicago, Illinois, United States
OccupationWriter
LanguageEnglish
GenresEssays
Cultural critic
Notable workAmazons, Abolitionists, and Activists
Hood Feminism
Website
mikkikendall.com

Mikki Kendall (born October 23, 1976) is an author, activist, and cultural critic. Her work often focuses on current events, media representation, the politics of food, and the history of the feminist movement. Penguin Random House published her graphic novel Amazons, Abolitionists, and Activists in 2019, while her political nonfiction book Hood Feminism was released in early 2020.[1]

Early life and education

Kendall was born in Chicago, Illinois[1] on October 23, 1976[2] and was raised in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago.[3] Kendall is a 2005 graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign.[4][better source needed] Kendall also has a Masters in Writing and Publishing from DePaul University.[5][6]

Career

A veteran of the United States Army,[3] Kendall worked in government service until 2013 when she left her job at the Department of Veterans Affairs[7] to pursue her writing career full-time.

Kendall is currently an essayist and cultural critic. She has written for The Guardian,[8] The Boston Globe,[9] NBC News,[10] The Washington Post,[11] Bustle,[12] Essence[13] and Eater[14] (with her essay in Eater "Hot Sauce in Her Bag" named a Best Food Essay by the Association of Food Journalists[15]). She has appeared as a cultural commentator on NPR,[16] Al Jazeera English,[17] and the BBC.[18]

She is recognizable as a member of Black Twitter.[19] Kendall is also the creator of the viral Twitter hashtags #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen,[20] which criticized racism in the feminist movement,[21] as well as #FastTailedGirls, a reference to the hypersexualization of Black girls, and #FoodGentrification, about the marginalization of traditional foods by commercial interest.[3]

Kendall edited the science-fiction anthology Hidden Youth for Crossed Genres Press in 2016.[22] Kendall's graphic novel history Amazons, Abolitionists, and Activists: A Graphic History of Women's Fight for Their Rights was released in November 2019 by Ten Speed Press[23] and her political-nonfiction book Hood Feminism: Notes From the Women That a Movement Forgot was released in February 2020 by Viking Books.[24] It criticizes the feminist movement for being largely "the province of the privileged" and ignoring problems that disproportionately impact communities of color, including poverty, housing, medical care, and racism.[25]

Awards and honors

  • 2017: Best Food Essay Award from the Association of Food Journalists for "Hot Sauce in Her Bag: Southern Black identity, Beyoncé, Jim Crow, and the pleasure of well-seasoned food"[26]

Bibliography

Books

Title Publisher Year ISBN Note
Hidden Youth: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History[27] Crossed Genres Publications 2016 ISBN 9780991392124 Editor (with Chesya Burke)
Amazons, Abolitionists, and Activists: A Graphic History of Women's Fight for Their Rights[28] Ten Speed Press 2019 ISBN 9780399581793 illustrated by A. D'Amico
Hood Feminism: Notes From the Women That a Movement Forgot[29] Viking Press 2020 ISBN 9780525560548

Recent essays

Title Publication Date Note
When Black Girls Hear That ‘Our Bodies Are All Wrong’ The New York Times February 21, 2020 [30]
Feminism Claims to Represent All Women. So Why Does It Ignore So Many of Them? Time February 24, 2020 [31]
The Neoliberal Misunderstanding of Black Education Literary Hub February 27, 2020 [32]

References

  1. ^ a b "Authors N.K. Jemisin and Mikki Kendall". Chicago Public Library. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
  2. ^ Kendall, Mikki [@Karnythia] (October 23, 2018). "I'm 42 today" (Tweet). Retrieved February 24, 2020 – via Twitter.
  3. ^ a b c "Mikki Kendall and Her Online Beefs with White Feminists by Theodore Ross". Vice News. May 30, 2014. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
  4. ^ Jha, Rega (January 27, 2014). "After Being Denied A Snow Day, University Of Illinois Students Respond With Racism And Sexism". BuzzFeed.com. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
  5. ^ Kendall, Mikki (February 27, 2020). "The Neoliberal Misunderstanding of Black Education". Literature Hub. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  6. ^ "DEPAUL WELL REPRESENTED ON NEWCITY LIT 50 LIST". DePaul Newsline. August 19, 2020. Retrieved June 23, 2021.
  7. ^ "I've seen what a mess Veterans Affairs is. Ronny L. Jackson can't fix it by Mikki Kendall". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
  8. ^ The Guardian Page for Mikki Kendall, accessed September 20, 2019.
  9. ^ Racists’ under-the-radar recruitment by Mikki Kendall, The Boston Globe, August 18, 2017.
  10. ^ Beyoncé's 'Brown Skin Girl' is controversial because of its inclusionary vision of female beauty by Mikki Kendall, NBC News, July 25, 2019.
  11. ^ There are two Americas. In one, you can get arrested for sitting in a Starbucks by Mikki Kendall, The Washington Post, April 17, 2018.
  12. ^ "Mikki Kendall Author Page, Bustle". Archived from the original on February 2, 2023. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
  13. ^ Mikki Kendall Author Page, Essence, accessed September 20, 2019.
  14. ^ Hot Sauce in Her Bag by Mikki Kendall, Eater, February 10, 2016.
  15. ^ "AFJ winners in 2018 Food Journalism Competition". Association of Food Journalists. Archived from the original on May 6, 2021. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
  16. ^ Five Years In, Should The First Lady Do More? NPR, December 4, 2013.
  17. ^ One example is Quraishi, Ash-har (host); Kendall, Mikki; Brown, Lizz; Tau, Byron & Robinson, Rashad (panel guests) (August 23, 2014). Al Jazeera English: Listening Post—Ferguson and the Media (streaming TV segment). Doha, Qatar: Al Jazeera Media Network. Event occurs at Unknown time.
  18. ^ Fidan Hajiyeva; Is feminism racist?, BBC News, accessed September 20, 2019.
  19. ^ The Black Feminists Who Saw the Alt-Right Threat Coming by Rachelle Hampton, Slate, April 23, 2019.
  20. ^ Kendall, Mikki (August 14, 2013). "#SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen: women of color's issue with digital feminism". The Guardian. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
  21. ^ #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen Creator, Mikki Kendal, Speaks About Women Of Color, Feminism, Huffington Post, August 23, 2013.
  22. ^ Review of Hidden Youth, edited by Mikki Kendall and Chesya Burke, Publishers weekly, July 11, 2016.
  23. ^ Page for Amazons, Abolitionists, and Activists Penguin Random House, accessed September 20, 2019.
  24. ^ Page for Hood Feminism Penguin Random House, accessed September 20, 2019.
  25. ^ Hood Femiism: Notes From the Women a Movement Forgot(Chicago: Penguin Random House, 2020) p.223
  26. ^ "Mikki Kendall In Conversation with Ashley Finley via YouTube". Penguin Random House. February 23, 2021. Retrieved June 23, 2021.
  27. ^ "Out of Print Titles: Hidden Youth". Crossed Genres Publications. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
  28. ^ "Amazons, Abolitionists, and Activists". Kirkus Reviews. September 10, 2019. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
  29. ^ Taylor, Ericka (February 26, 2020). "'Hood Feminism' Is A Call For Solidarity In A Less-Than-Inclusive Movement". NPR. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
  30. ^ Kendall, Mikki (February 21, 2020). "When Black Girls Hear That 'Our Bodies Are All Wrong'". The New York Times. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
  31. ^ Kendall, Mikki (February 24, 2020). "Feminism Claims to Represent All Women. So Why Does It Ignore So Many of Them?". Time. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
  32. ^ Kendall, Mikki (February 27, 2020). "The Neoliberal Misunderstanding of Black Education". Literary Hub. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
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