The New Black Woman

“Love—whether it is loving others or yourself—is the most important thing. It is a doorway for compassion, kindness, gratitude and well-being. Marita Golden’s moving personal narrative invites you to step through a new door; to be with yourself, and ultimately, to love yourself in only the way you know how.”


—Bridgitte Jackson-Buckley, blogger, interviewer, memoirist, and author of The Gift of Crisis

“Golden is adept in her prose and delivers a bold, honest, unflinching gaze at the myriad issues impacting Black women. She emboldens her readers to become New Age Strong Black Women who prevail over their history and rise from the ashes of the past with a brave understanding of what it means to be Black and female in the world today. These essays are creative, inventive, and necessary.”


—M.J. Fievre, educator, editor, playwright, and author of the Badass Black Girl series

“Golden’s journey is along a road that, in the end, is filled with trees bearing fruit of a very special life and lives, thankfully shared by one of our most powerful writers.”


—Charlayne Hunter-Gault, American civil rights activist, journalist, and former foreign correspondent for NPR, CNN, and PBS

“It illuminates the present while scouring the past, and points to a future where Black women can be vibrant, healthy, and equally considered members of society.”


—Karen Arrington, coach, mentor, philanthropist, and author of NAACP Image Award-winning Your Next Level Life

“Bravo for writing a book that will long benefit us all.”


—Zelda Lockhart, author of the novel Fifth Born

“Black, White, man, woman, and child—who wants to remain healthy and survive in a world that wants otherwise.”


—DeNeen L. Brown, award-winning writer for The Washington Post and producer of the documentary Tulsa: The Fire and the Forgotten

“Marita Golden brings us full circle—to the hard, joy-filled, secret, fragile and fierce spaces within us—to bestow that love, that care and empathy we are known to so readily share, back to ourselves.”


—Erica Vital-Lazare, editor of the McSweeney’s series Of the Diaspora

“Golden has come with this new powerful and transformative book to help us break through, to unmuzzle ourselves, soothe our souls and sing a song filled with joy and victory—to sing our own Freedom Song.”


—Jonetta Rose Barras, author of Whatever Happened to Daddy’s Little Girl?: The Impact of Fatherlessness on Black Women

“Golden asks readers to humanize Black women; we aren’t unfeeling superheroes, but women who need to be listened to, supported, and respected. She also leaves them with an important challenge: lighten the load for the Black woman in your life. It’s a challenge that, should it be met, can create a society that benefits all people, especially those who have borne the brunt for centuries.”


—Monique L. Jones, author of The Book of Awesome Black Americans

“We experience her tears as she shares her story and stories of Black women to unpeel layers of complexities, traumas, grief, and closeted taboos, ranging from colorism and obesity to sexual assault. Saying their names and reimagining stories of Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Fannie Lou Hamer and Patrisse Cullors, Golden breathes triumphant humanity into lives of Black women who made Black America matter and made America a better nation. Golden creates a path for all those who heed her call to search for joy.”


—Marilyn Holifield, senior partner at Holland & Knight LLP, cofounder of Miami MoCAAD, and coauthor of Seven Sisters and a Brother: Friendship, Resistance, and Untold Truths About Black Student Activism in the 1960s

“I have been waiting for a well-researched and thoughtful book that provides a deep look into the experiences of Black women. Marita Golden gives us that book, one in which she develops the vision and possibility of a woman who is self-reflective enough, gracious enough, and self-loving enough to heal and be healthy. A book that is a call to arms. A book that will empower any man or woman reading it.”


—Dr. Goldie Byrd, director of the Maya Angelou Center for Health Equity at Wake Forest University

“This book is gonna save some sisters’ lives. Hallelujah!”


—Patrice Gaines, author of Laughing in the Dark

“The New Black Woman is so important for Black Women today. I love this book because it gives Black women permission and tools to learn how to take better care of themselves, particularly in a world that discourages them from doing so. Marita Golden's work is refreshing and enlightening, as it encourages more Black women to deeply know their worth and understand what self-care practices can look like. I'm so happy for more women to have this knowledge and these strategies.”




—Dr. Amber Thornton, clinical psychologist specializing in motherhood mental health

“Marita Golden has done it again!  With grace, wisdom and fortitude, she’s written another powerful love letter to Black women. The New Black Woman is a how-to guide on extracting the essentials for fulfillment, first and foremost, from within. Through the pages of this new work, she issues a call to arms, entreating Black women not to be strong and relentless (as we are every day), but to be honest and introspective. That is the first step to radical resilience and  tapping into our physical, mental and spiritual health to soar. This book, like so many of Marita’s expositions, takes us on a journey of truth and discovery. It is an easy read that travels full circle and ends up in a new place of awareness and connectedness. In the end, she challenges us to be who we are and, in so doing, that person we are destined to become.”




—Gwen McKinney, creator of Unerased | Black Women Speak 

“The New Black Woman isn’t one of those books you read, put on a shelf, and forget about—you can’t. At least you shouldn’t, because if you do, you are missing the point. This is one of those books you read and re-read, letting the words slip, sit, and settle into the too-long-neglected and dark corners of your soul. This is one of those books you read every day, for thirty days, allowing the words to silently work their magic, simultaneously soothing your spirit and stirring you into self-honoring actions. This is one of those books that, in its brilliance and brevity, causes a beautiful and inevitable internal, then external shift in your beingness. This is one book that speaks truth to the power of your own self-care, self-love, self-worth, self-compassion, self-esteem, self-support, self-discovery, self-indulgence, self-preservation, self-confidence, and self-honor. This is one book you can’t forget because it guides you to who you really are. It will transform your emotional life, if you will just open up all of your many selves to the goodness and selfless wisdom that is Marita Golden.”




—Michelle Petties, food story coach and author of Leaving Large: The Stories of a Food Addict