“We had thought that telling the truth about money might divide us by revealing how different we were; we had not considered that the same honesty might unite us against whatever forces still kept us apart. The disclosure of my sliver of shame, the ejection of this tiniest morsel of my potential undoing, was liberating beyond expectation. I had shared myself free.”
With previously unpublished essays by trailblazing writers, activists, and women, such as Alice Walker, Rachel Cargle, Tressie McMillan Cottom, Tracy McMillan, Cameron Russell, Sonya Renee Taylor, Adrienne Maree Brown, and more, WOMEN TALK MONEY: Breaking the Taboo lifts the veil on how women talk about money and unflinchingly recounts the power of money to impact health, define relationships, and shape female identity. Rebecca Walker has edited and compiled a collection of deeply resonant essays full of courage and vulnerability as these writers explore the far reaches of the shame, humiliation, anxiety—or sometimes joy or relief—that can surround the taboo topic of money. But these essays and the experiences they recount are about far more than just money: some contributors write about the wounds of white supremacy and the assumption that if you’re Black or Brown you must have made your money illegally. They write about class-crash, family shame, and what money can buy you on the Reservation. They write about the intersection of money with immigration, assimilation, and more. In the shadow of a pandemic that has hit women—particularly women of color—extraordinarily hard, Walker’s collection offers an honest, urgent exploration of how women can demystify the role money plays in all of our lives. WOMEN TALK MONEY is a revelation and a resonant call to action, offering readers a guide to transforming our deepest fears about money into powerful models for change.
Walker comes to the Busboys’ screen to share her belief that until women begin to talk freely about money and all of its implications, women’s contributions will continue to be unrecognized and undervalued, and women’s compensation will continue to pale in comparison to their male counterparts’. Along with Helena Andrews and Johnica Rivers, Rebecca joins us to do just what she recommends: talk money!
This event is free and open to all, accessible through our Facebook and Youtube pages (@busboysandpoets).
The program will begin at 7PM with an introduction from a member of our team.There will be time for Q&A with the audience before the end of the program, and you can purchase a copy of WOMEN TALK MONEY. Copies of the book are available for purchase through Eventbrite before, during, and after the program.
We recommend that viewers RSVP in order to receive direct links to the event from Busboys and Poets Books.
Rebecca Walker is the author of several bestselling books; a speaker who has appeared at over four hundred universities, literary conferences, and corporate campuses; and a DEI consultant for several Fortune 500 companies. She is the co-founder of the Third Wave Fund, an organization that gives grants to women and transgender youth working for social justice. Walker was named by Time magazine as one of the most influential leaders of her generation. She lives in Los Angeles.
Helena Andrews-Dyer is a senior culture writer for The Washington Post, covering the intersection of popular culture, race, politics and art in the nation’s capital. So she’s written about Vice President Kamala Harris’s deep connection to her Black sorority, the singer Brandy’s “come back,” the cultural legacy of Aunt Viv, and the portrayal of black fatherhood in the film “King Richard.”She lives in Washington with a husband whose laugh can be heard for miles and two equally carefree daughters.
Johnica Rivers is a writer and researcher currently working in-residence at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University. While at CDS @ Duke, she is taking a deep dive into the life and work of visual artist Elizabeth Catlett and exploring the tradition of Black women's travel as a creative practice. When she's not on campus at Duke, she lives and works itinerantly between Los Angeles and her hometown of Fort Worth, Texas.