
The Strong Black Woman
How a Myth Endangers the Physical and Mental Health of Black Women
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $13.75
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Diana Blue
-
By:
-
Marita Golden
About this listen
The Strong Black Woman Syndrome. For generations, in response to systemic racism, Black women and African American culture created the persona of the Strong Black Woman, a woman who, motivated by service and sacrifice, handles, manages, and overcomes any problem, any obstacle. The syndrome calls on Black women to be the problem-solvers and chief caretakers for everyone in their lives. Never buckling, never feeling vulnerable, and never bothering with their pain.
Black women face a hidden mental health crisis of anxiety and depression. To be a Black woman in America is to know that you cannot protect your children or guarantee their safety, that your value is consistently questioned, and that even being "twice as good" is often not good enough. Consequently, Black women disproportionately experience anxiety and depression. Studies now conclusively connect racism and mental health - and physical health.
Time to take care of your emotional health. Because you deserve to be emotionally healthy for yourself and those you love. More and more young Black women are reexamining the Strong Black Woman syndrome and engaging in self-care practices that positively change their lives.
©2021 Marita Golden (P)2021 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
-
Thicker than Water
- A Memoir
- By: Kerry Washington
- Narrated by: Kerry Washington
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
While on a drive in Los Angeles, on a seemingly average afternoon, Kerry Washington received a text message that would send her on a life-changing journey of self-discovery. In an instant, her very identity was torn apart, with everything she thought she knew about herself thrown into question.
-
-
Technical issues are ruining an otherwise good story
- By Lindsay on 09-27-23
By: Kerry Washington
-
Black Fatigue
- How Racism Erodes the Mind, Body, and Spirit
- By: Mary-Frances Winters
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 6 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the first book to define and explore Black fatigue, the intergenerational impact of systemic racism on the physical and psychological health of Black people - and explain why and how society needs to collectively do more to combat its pernicious effects.
-
-
Great Book— For Certain Audience
- By Taylor on 05-06-21
-
The Unapologetic Guide to Black Mental Health
- Navigate an Unequal System, Learn Tools for Emotional Wellness, and Get the Help You Deserve
- By: Rheeda Walker PhD, Na'im Akbar PhD - foreword
- Narrated by: Janina Edwards
- Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There is an unaddressed Black mental health crisis in our world today. In The Unapologetic Guide to Black Mental Health, psychologist Reeda Walker offers a comprehensive guide to help African Americans combat stigma, increase awareness around mental illness, practice emotional wellness, and get the best care possible for Black people in an unequal system.
-
-
Great Book!
- By Ginger on 12-20-20
By: Rheeda Walker PhD, and others
-
Worthy
- By: Jada Pinkett Smith
- Narrated by: Jada Pinkett Smith
- Length: 14 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jada Pinkett Smith was living what many would view as a fairy-tale of Hollywood success. But appearances can be deceiving, and as she felt more and more separated from her sense of self, emotional turmoil took hold. Sparing no detail, Worthy chronicles her life.
-
-
Budda
- By Tamiko on 10-18-23
-
I'm Not Yelling
- A Black Woman’s Guide to Navigating the Workplace
- By: Elizabeth Leiba
- Narrated by: Zoleka Vundla
- Length: 6 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
I'm Not Yelling is part strategy for savvy black business women navigating a predominantly white corporate America and part vessel empowering black women to find their voices in toxic work environments and be successful business women. Statistical and anecdotal evidence guide the way. Explore the data and hear the accounts of Black women in business who face, work through, and rise above workplace discrimination. Finding your voice as women entrepreneurs. Successful business women use their voice to become strong Black leaders who instill positive change in the workplace culture.
-
-
SPEAK UP!!!!
- By Anonymous User on 04-03-23
By: Elizabeth Leiba
-
Self-Care for Black Women
- 150 Ways to Radically Accept & Prioritize Your Mind, Body, & Soul
- By: Oludara Adeeyo
- Narrated by: Angel Pean
- Length: 5 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Between micro- and macro-aggressions at school, at work, and everywhere in between, it’s tough to prioritize physical and mental wellness as a Black woman, especially with a constant news cycle highlighting Black trauma. Now, with The Self-Care for Black Women you’ll find more than 150 exercises that will help you radically choose to put yourself first.
-
-
Great book for mental health
- By Madame Butterflyy on 06-15-22
By: Oludara Adeeyo
-
Thicker than Water
- A Memoir
- By: Kerry Washington
- Narrated by: Kerry Washington
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
While on a drive in Los Angeles, on a seemingly average afternoon, Kerry Washington received a text message that would send her on a life-changing journey of self-discovery. In an instant, her very identity was torn apart, with everything she thought she knew about herself thrown into question.
-
-
Technical issues are ruining an otherwise good story
- By Lindsay on 09-27-23
By: Kerry Washington
-
Black Fatigue
- How Racism Erodes the Mind, Body, and Spirit
- By: Mary-Frances Winters
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 6 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the first book to define and explore Black fatigue, the intergenerational impact of systemic racism on the physical and psychological health of Black people - and explain why and how society needs to collectively do more to combat its pernicious effects.
-
-
Great Book— For Certain Audience
- By Taylor on 05-06-21
-
The Unapologetic Guide to Black Mental Health
- Navigate an Unequal System, Learn Tools for Emotional Wellness, and Get the Help You Deserve
- By: Rheeda Walker PhD, Na'im Akbar PhD - foreword
- Narrated by: Janina Edwards
- Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There is an unaddressed Black mental health crisis in our world today. In The Unapologetic Guide to Black Mental Health, psychologist Reeda Walker offers a comprehensive guide to help African Americans combat stigma, increase awareness around mental illness, practice emotional wellness, and get the best care possible for Black people in an unequal system.
-
-
Great Book!
- By Ginger on 12-20-20
By: Rheeda Walker PhD, and others
-
Worthy
- By: Jada Pinkett Smith
- Narrated by: Jada Pinkett Smith
- Length: 14 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jada Pinkett Smith was living what many would view as a fairy-tale of Hollywood success. But appearances can be deceiving, and as she felt more and more separated from her sense of self, emotional turmoil took hold. Sparing no detail, Worthy chronicles her life.
-
-
Budda
- By Tamiko on 10-18-23
-
I'm Not Yelling
- A Black Woman’s Guide to Navigating the Workplace
- By: Elizabeth Leiba
- Narrated by: Zoleka Vundla
- Length: 6 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
I'm Not Yelling is part strategy for savvy black business women navigating a predominantly white corporate America and part vessel empowering black women to find their voices in toxic work environments and be successful business women. Statistical and anecdotal evidence guide the way. Explore the data and hear the accounts of Black women in business who face, work through, and rise above workplace discrimination. Finding your voice as women entrepreneurs. Successful business women use their voice to become strong Black leaders who instill positive change in the workplace culture.
-
-
SPEAK UP!!!!
- By Anonymous User on 04-03-23
By: Elizabeth Leiba
-
Self-Care for Black Women
- 150 Ways to Radically Accept & Prioritize Your Mind, Body, & Soul
- By: Oludara Adeeyo
- Narrated by: Angel Pean
- Length: 5 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Between micro- and macro-aggressions at school, at work, and everywhere in between, it’s tough to prioritize physical and mental wellness as a Black woman, especially with a constant news cycle highlighting Black trauma. Now, with The Self-Care for Black Women you’ll find more than 150 exercises that will help you radically choose to put yourself first.
-
-
Great book for mental health
- By Madame Butterflyy on 06-15-22
By: Oludara Adeeyo
-
Finding Me
- A Memoir
- By: Viola Davis
- Narrated by: Viola Davis
- Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In my book, you will meet a little girl named Viola who ran from her past until she made a life-changing decision to stop running forever. This is my story, from a crumbling apartment in Central Falls, Rhode Island, to the stage in New York City, and beyond. This is the path I took to finding my purpose but also my voice in a world that didn’t always see me.
-
-
Absolutely beautifully Written❤️
- By Love bug23 on 05-02-22
By: Viola Davis
-
Rest Is Resistance
- A Manifesto
- By: Tricia Hersey
- Narrated by: Tricia Hersey
- Length: 5 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What would it be like to live in a well-rested world? Far too many of us have claimed productivity as the cornerstone of success. Brainwashed by capitalism, we subject our bodies and minds to work at an unrealistic, damaging, and machine‑level pace—feeding into the same engine that enslaved millions into brutal labor for its own relentless benefit. In Rest Is Resistance, Tricia Hersey, aka the Nap Bishop, casts an illuminating light on our troubled relationship with rest and how to imagine and dream our way to a future where rest is exalted.
-
-
What an experience
- By makeba jones on 10-26-22
By: Tricia Hersey
-
The Light We Carry
- Overcoming in Uncertain Times
- By: Michelle Obama
- Narrated by: Michelle Obama
- Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There may be no tidy solutions or pithy answers to life’s big challenges, but Michelle Obama believes that we can all locate and lean on a set of tools to help us better navigate change and remain steady within flux. In The Light We Carry, she opens a frank and honest dialogue with listeners, considering the questions many of us wrestle with: How do we build enduring and honest relationships? How can we discover strength and community inside our differences? What tools do we use to address feelings of self-doubt or helplessness? What do we do when it all starts to feel like too much?
-
-
Very Disappointing—Too Ego-filled
- By Patricia Webb on 11-29-22
By: Michelle Obama
-
The 1619 Project
- A New Origin Story
- By: Nikole Hannah-Jones, The New York Times Magazine, Caitlin Roper - editor, and others
- Narrated by: Nikole Hannah-Jones, Full Cast
- Length: 18 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The New York Times Magazine’s award-winning “1619 Project” issue reframed our understanding of American history by placing slavery and its continuing legacy at the center of our national narrative. This new book substantially expands on that work, weaving together 18 essays that explore the legacy of slavery in present-day America with 36 poems and works of fiction that illuminate key moments of oppression, struggle, and resistance.
-
-
Comprehensive and Cutting
- By Thomas Ray on 12-30-21
By: Nikole Hannah-Jones, and others
-
The Black Girl's Guide to Financial Freedom
- Build Wealth, Retire Early, and Live the Life of Your Dreams
- By: Paris Woods
- Narrated by: Paris Woods
- Length: 5 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Are you tired of spinning your wheels following financial advice that leaves you feeling broker than before? Are you pulling your hair out trying to follow the complicated instructions offered by the gurus? In The Black Girl's Guide to Financial Freedom, Paris Woods takes the guesswork out of wealth-building and presents a plan that anyone can follow. This audiobook is perfect for Black women of any age, including young professionals just starting to set financial goals and mid-career women who are tired of following the same old rules.
-
-
If you want to hear stories.
- By Melissa H. on 10-21-22
By: Paris Woods
-
The Pain We Carry
- Healing from Complex PTSD for People of Color
- By: Natalie Y. Gutiérrez LMFT, Jennifer Mullan PsyD - foreword
- Narrated by: L. Malaika Cooper
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Pain We Carry, you'll find powerful tools to help you understand and begin healing from repeated trauma. You'll discover ways to feel safer in your body, build self-compassion and resilience, and reclaim your health and wellness by reconnecting with your sense of self and your ancestral wisdom. You'll learn how trauma is connected to grief, how it can affect both the mind and the body, and how it can persist from one generation to the next.
-
-
Affirming
- By Yaz on 06-15-23
By: Natalie Y. Gutiérrez LMFT, and others
-
Right Within
- How to Heal from Racial Trauma in the Workplace
- By: Minda Harts
- Narrated by: Minda Harts
- Length: 7 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In workplaces nationwide, women of color need frank talk and honest advice on how to deal with microaggressions, heal from racialized trauma, and find relief from invisible workplace burdens. Filled with Minda Harts’ signature wit and warmth, Right Within offers strategies for women of color to speak up during racialized moments with managers and clients, work through past triggers they may not even know still cause pain, and reframe past career disappointments as opportunities to grow into a new path.
-
-
A delivery from the delivered
- By Tasha Robinson- White on 12-01-23
By: Minda Harts
-
Sisterhood Heals
- The Transformative Power of Healing in Community
- By: Joy Harden Bradford PhD
- Narrated by: Joy Harden Bradford PhD
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sisterhood is that sacred space where all the masks that are worn for the world fall off. Dr. Joy Harden Bradford has been doing the work to help Black women heal together for over twenty years. In a sisterhood community with more than half a million members, she’s the go-to therapist for Black women looking to prioritize their mental health and become the best possible versions of themselves. Now she’s sharing all she’s learned using the tenets of psychology and group therapy to help us foster relationships that are not only positive, but transformative.
-
-
Great and Amazing Insight
- By Jessica on 07-09-24
-
The Memo
- What Women of Color Need to Know to Secure a Seat at the Table
- By: Minda Harts
- Narrated by: Minda Harts
- Length: 4 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Memo is the much-needed career advice guide for women of color specifically, finally ending the one-size-fits-all approach of business books that lump together women across races and overlook the unique barriers to success for women of color. In a charismatic and relatable voice, Minda Harts brings her entrepreneurial experience as CEO of The Memo to audio, as well as her past career life as a fundraising consultant to top colleges across the country.
-
-
Must read (listen) for EVERY woman
- By VJ Smith on 08-28-19
By: Minda Harts
-
You Are Your Best Thing
- Vulnerability, Shame Resilience, and the Black Experience
- By: Tarana Burke, Brené Brown
- Narrated by: Tarana Burke, Brené Brown, the Contributors, and others
- Length: 6 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tarana Burke and Dr. Brené Brown bring together a dynamic group of Black writers, organizers, artists, academics, and cultural figures to discuss the topics the two have dedicated their lives to understanding and teaching: vulnerability and shame resilience.
-
-
Listen up...
- By HeyJude on 04-29-21
By: Tarana Burke, and others
-
All About Love
- New Visions
- By: bell hooks
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 6 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
“The word ‘love’ is most often defined as a noun, yet we would all love better if we used it as a verb,” writes bell hooks as she comes out fighting and on fire in All About Love. Here, at her most provocative and intensely personal, renowned scholar, cultural critic and feminist bell hooks offers a proactive new ethic for a society bereft with lovelessness--not the lack of romance, but the lack of care, compassion, and unity. People are divided, she declares, by society’s failure to provide a model for learning to love.
-
-
A vocabulary about love
- By Jess on 04-13-24
By: bell hooks
-
Black Girls Must Die Exhausted
- A Novel (Black Girls Must Die Exhausted, Book 1)
- By: Jayne Allen
- Narrated by: Marcella Cox
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tabitha Walker is a black woman with a plan to "have it all." At 33 years old, the checklist for the life of her dreams is well underway. Education? Check. Good job? Check. Down payment for a nice house? Check. Dating marriage material? Check, check, and check. With a coveted position as a local news reporter, a "paper-perfect" boyfriend, and even a standing Saturday morning appointment with a reliable hairstylist, everything seems to be falling into place. Then Tabby receives an unexpected diagnosis, jeopardizing the keystone she took for granted: having children.
-
-
Not What I Expected
- By R. Cartwright on 10-16-21
By: Jayne Allen
What listeners say about The Strong Black Woman
Highly rated for:
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Bebe
- 02-10-23
A really good selection for book club
In her book "The Strong Black Woman..." Dr. Golden has her pulse on the mental and physical health experiences of Black women in the Diaspora. It is a book filled with stories of joy, sadness, but most important, models of women who are surviving it all by acknowledging their challenges while not enabling themselves or others to exploit or exhaust their strengths. She interviews several women mental health practitioners who share anonymous case study outcomes. In these cases, with help gaining perspective, participants often come to recognize the barriers to good mental and physical health that they and other women may be experiencing, and how they might overcome those barriers in family, work or community situations.
The unfortunate downside of the audio version of this book is voice of the reader, Diana Blue, whose reading style is halting, grating and as a result, I had to really concentrate to avoid its distraction from the book's message. With an often tremulous voice, she "over pronounced" each word with no inflection instead of reading phrases with the appropriate emphases. More practice reading aloud could help her. After listening to Dr. Golden's soothing voice on YouTube as she discussed this book, however, some of us wondered why she did not read her own work.
I highly recommend "The Strong Black Woman" in both text and audio versions for book discussion groups. It is direct, compassionate and inspiring enough for every woman to refer to parts of it from time to time.
Bebe Williams
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Wendy Bailey
- 07-02-22
strong advice
I love being a strong Black woman and this book confirms why. I am not strong because I want to be or because society tells me to be, I am strong because I must be.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ade's Kites (not just kites)
- 02-23-25
outside looking In
This book lets you see, your life from the outside in. from the start. I had, no I hungered to know more about myself.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- PT
- 05-25-23
Fantastic
It was nice to hear stories like my own! I really appreciated this impactful book!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Rhonda
- 07-03-23
ABSOLUTELY AMAZING
I want to thank Marita Golden sooooo much for this book. From start to finish I just couldn’t stop listening. I took so many notes and I can’t wait to utilize the tools I’ve obtained. Thank you again. I L❤️VE IT❣️
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 07-23-24
The plethora of information was empowering!
I thoroughly enjoyed the knowledge-base of the author and the authenticity in which it was presented.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sue
- 08-12-24
A must read for black women!
So many aspects of this story explains who black women make themselves "strong" as a reaction to institutionalized racism. This book will help women better understand themselves and intimately love ourselves.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Review Girl
- 07-14-23
A must!!!!
Absolutely amazing. I connected with the author’s stories, pain and trauma. I hing onto every word. Such an amazing literary work. Highly recommend.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ame
- 07-08-23
Healing!
Excellently covers so much of African American women’s experience, evenly, inclusive of men, family, all age groups. As a healthcare professional providing care for black women it’s a necessary read.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- v dixson
- 02-06-23
AMAZING!!
Every Black woman should read this book. Thought provoking and informative, this book will change your thinking for the better.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!