It feels to me like the most eloquent rage I've ever heard.' That began a moment of reckoning for me, around how to grapple with my own anger as a person - and as a black woman, also battling the angry black woman stereotype and not wanting to succumb to it. So I tell the story in the book of this very mild confrontation that we have where she calls me out for this anger (in a good way) and says, 'I see it. She was a black girl looking for modes of connection in a predominantly white institution, and for her, that rage felt authentic. she felt my anger radiated through the way that I lectured. POPSUGAR: What does the term 'eloquent rage' mean to you?īrittney Cooper: That term comes from one of my students, actually.

POPSUGAR caught up with Cooper by phone shortly after Eloquent Rage was released in late February 2018, and a transcript of that wide-ranging conversation (lightly edited and condensed for clarity) is below. Timely, powerful, and an absolute page-turner, Eloquent Rage is destined for a gilded spot in the feminist canon, and further cements Cooper's role as one of the most important voices in America today. With her book, Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower, she traces her own personal journey toward embracing the anger that drives her forward, as well as what she learned about society along the way. As one of the brightest stars in academia - and as a blogger, commentator, and author - Cooper has inspired millions with her words on race, feminism, and culture.

Brittney Cooper isn't afraid to speak her mind.

Eloquent rage cooper