Tending to Our Wounds

Edna Bonhomme is a critic, historian of science, and journalist. She earned a PhD in history from Princeton University and holds a Bachelor's degree in Biology and a Master's degree in Public Health from Columbia University. Her writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Esquire, The Guardian, London Review of Books, and The Nation. She is co-editor of After Sex, a literary anthology on abortion and reproductive justice, and the author of A History of the World in Six Plagues. Bonhomme has earned awards from the Andy Warhol Foundation and the Robert Silvers Foundation. She has lived in Berlin since 2017.

• PROLOGUEAfter a diagnosis of endometriosis and fibroids, Bonhomme contemplates the geographical and activist directions her life has taken and outlines what the book will be: a personal and political history of racism across borders, and an exploration into the possibilities of racial repair. PART I: BERLINChapter 1: AusländerTo be a Black person living in Germany, Bonhomme discovers, is to be both visible and invisible.Chapter 2: KulturvölkerBy examining German history, Bonhomme unravels the financial ties between the Prussian Empire and the transatlantic slave trade, German colonialism in Africa, and the new Black movement in Germany.PART II: NEW YORK CITYChapter 3: StudentAfter moving to New York City shortly before the 2008 financial crash, Bonhomme struggled to survive even as she began to discover the cultural power of Harlem as a place of refuge and a site for vice.Chapter 4: New YorkerDiving deeper into the history of Harlem, Bonhomme details the Great Migration, the Harlem Renaissance, and Pan-African debates during the civil rights movement, showing how this New York City neighborhood was and continues to be a haven for Black radicals.Part III: DIASPORAChapter 5: HaitiBonhomme navigates through the complex inner workings of her parents’ migration and Haitian history.Chapter 6: Living Under OccupationHaiti and Haitians have been punished for their freedom, and the only way forward is if France (and the United States) provide reparations to Haitians. PART IV: THE WOUNDChapter 7: SiblingBonhomme’s brother’s mental health illness, incarceration, and life have been shaped by growing up as a Black boy in Florida—and by the US government’s inclination to invest in prisons rather than mental health institutions.Chapter 8: IndebtedDebt perforates through our lives, affecting how we live, where we live, and how we relate to each other, and it disproportionately cripples Black women.PART V: REPAIRChapter 9: Reckoning with HistoryBonhomme parses the many layers of history that she has uncovered and thinks about what the future could look like.Chapter 10: The Case for ReparationsThe call for reparations is not an abstract appeal: European and North American nations must begin by paying Black people what they are owed, and an internationalist approach is part of the reparative practice.

Praise for A History of the World in Six Plagues“A searing attack on historical injustices.”—Kirkus Review“Bonhomme’s frank, timely critique of the Western medical field and our faltering health care system reveals how it is deeply entangled with colonialism and capitalism."—BookPage“Pandemics thrive on inequities and widen them, providing more kindling for future plagues … if everyone read Edna Bonhomme’s incredible, humane, insightful book—and I hope they do—we might stand a chance of actually breaking the cycle of neglect and panic.”—Ed Yong“A breathtaking journey through the intertwined histories of contagions and systemic inequities that have shaped our history. Poignantly insightful and compelling, Bonhomme not only sheds light on past injustices but challenges us to confront our history and envision a more compassionate future.”—Uché Blackstock“This meticulously researched book shows us the ways that contagious illness frustrates humankind's instinct for control, and how people have found ways to care for one another in the worst of circumstances. A powerful book that shines a light on the parts of life we'd rather ignore, and the beauty that can arise from horror.”—Sarah Jaffe“Edna Bonhomme narrates centuries of the human-microbial dance, laying out how our destinies, liberties, and values are determined by how humans negotiate life on earth with our smallest living neighbors. Brilliant, tender and illuminating.” —Steven W. Thrasher“An expansive portraiture of how colonialism and confinement have influenced our understanding of illness and humanity. Thankfully, due to the author's talent and sheer strength in combining personal narrative with history, this book is also tender as it tackles some of the most stigmatized subjects of our time."—Morgan Jerkins