Killing the Black Body Audiobook By Dorothy Roberts cover art

Killing the Black Body

Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty

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Killing the Black Body

By: Dorothy Roberts
Narrated by: Shayna Small
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This is a no-holds-barred response to the liberal and conservative retreat from an assertive, activist, and socially transformative civil rights agenda of recent years - using a Black feminist lens and the issue of the impact of recent legislation, social policy, and welfare "reform" on Black women's - especially poor Black women's - control over their bodies' autonomy and their freedom to bear and raise children with respect and dignity in a society whose White mainstream is determined to demonize, even criminalize their lives. It gives its listeners a cogent legal and historical argument for a radically new, and socially transformative, definition of "liberty" and "equality" for the American polity from a Black feminist perspective.

©2014 Dorothy Roberts (P)2020 Random House Audio African American Studies Americas Black & African American Gender Studies Social Sciences Specific Demographics United States Freedom Discrimination Equality Liberalism Social justice Capitalism Birthing Justice

Critic reviews

"Brilliant, controversial, and profoundly valuable.... An important stepping-stone toward transforming the way black women and their children are treated in America.” (Kirkus Reviews)

“Chilling.... It becomes difficult to reject the author’s thesis.... that there is a sustained, and in some quarters deliberate, campaign to punish Black women - especially the poor - for having children.” (The National Law Journal)

“An important and riveting book that skillfully and compellingly explains contemporary challenges to reproductive freedom.” (Patricia Hill Collins, author of Black Feminist Thought)

Featured Article: The 10 Best Blog Moments of 2022


In 2022, the Audible editors brought you more interviews than ever, from debut and emerging talent to heavy-hitting authors, performers, and cultural icons. We highlighted essential listens on reproductive justice, launched a weekly feature for new releases, and took a moment to share some strange and wonderfully obscure picks from our own libraries. From deep-dive discussions with top creators to an exploration of the most wonderfully weird titles in audio, here are our editors' favorite blog posts from 2022.

Featured Article The 10 Best Blog Moments of 2022
Extremely Insightful Content • Excellent Narration • Illuminating Historical Perspective • Important Educational Resource
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It’s been 20 years since this book was originally published and you will be amazed by how it could have been written yesterday.

A must read

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Extremely insightful book, but somehow the author forgot to mention that not only were black and impoverished Puerto Rican women sterilized on mass, they were also used as guinea pigs to test the birth control pill without their knowledge or consent. During these tests they would double the dosage that is usually prescribed today. As a result one fith of the women developed cancer or became infertile after the test trials.

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ITS HISTORY
ITS CURRENT DAY
AND ITS FUTURE IDEOLOGY!

This book is a must have read for any Maternal Health worker , especially those working with the Black community. I even recommend this for educators as well.

Excellent!!!

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This book was a very illuminating inside view of the travesties of the birth control industry on black women’s reproductive rights. I already knew that Puerto Rican women had been the first to be experimented on with the pill. There is so much here that I didn’t realize. I highly recommend reading this. I have more distrust for the birth control industry that ever before!

Terribly sad but very informative. Highly recommend.

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While some of this feels a bit outdated, overall this book is stellar and so important. I honestly was entirely oblivious to reproductive rights along with its racial ramifications and history aside from abortion. So glad a group of fellow birth workers decided to read it together as book club! A must read if you want to do antiracism work and/or are a birth worker.

Must-read for antiracism education

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Such a heavy but necessary read! I really hope that this book becomes a mandatory read for medical students and professionals.

EVERYONE NEEDS TO READ THIS BOOK!!!

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Everyone should read this book. What affects the weakest in a society will end up affecting us all

Super informative

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Shayna Small does an excellent job of narrating a book that easily could be a text book in an ethics, ethnic or women’s studies course.

Dorothy Roberts, thank you for making me think. Thank you for taking a difficult subject, reproductive equity, and presenting it from multiple points of view.

I could go on and on but I won’t. My brain is full and some of my old beliefs have been challenged. An excellent book.

Full of facts and figures

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I am a doula and chose this book for one of my certification reads. It was wonderfully written, very informative, and full of useful information.

Must read for birth workers

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this book goes over a lot of things that I think get overlooked by most people when it comes to systemic racism. Definitely recommend!

very thorough and informative

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