Thick And Other Essays

Tressie McMillan Cottom is a professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a New York Times opinion columnist, and the author of Lower Ed and Thick (The New Press). Her work has been featured by The Daily Show, The Washington Post, PBS, NPR, Fresh Air, and The Atlantic, among others. In 2020, McMillan Cottom was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship. She lives in Richmond, Virginia.

Praise for Thick:Shortlisted for the Museum of African American History Stone Book Award "Thick is sure to become a classic of black intellectualism, one that ought to be read not only in African-American and gender studies departments across the country, although its lens is irrefutably and irresistibly black and feminist. It should be required reading for anyone interested in making 'trust black women' more than a hollow social media mantra."—The New York Times Book Review"Cottom's intersectionality is merely the work of a writer seeing the world clearly and deeply, and connecting the dots in fresh and revealing ways."—Chicago Tribune"Thick confirms McMillan Cottom as one of our most fearless public intellectuals and one of the most vital."—Literary Hub, "The 10 Best Essay Collections of the Decade""Thick gets into the messiness of US culture, exposing what Americans want to say but are sometimes too afraid or too unaware to say. . . . In essence, this book is about the compromises we make for the sake of control."—Christian Century"Incisive, witty, and provocative essays. . . . The collection showcases McMillan Cottom's wisdom and originality and amply fulfills her aim of telling powerful stories that become a problem for power."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)"The meshing of the personal and political and the author's take-no-prisoners attitude make these essays sizzle. A provocative volume bound to stir argument and discussion."—Kirkus Reviews"This book is essential for anyone who wants to think deeply about race, feminism, and culture."—BookRiot"To say this collection is transgressive, provocative, and brilliant is simply to tell you the truth. Thick is a necessary work and a reminder that Tressie McMillan Cottom is one of the finest public intellectuals writing today."—Roxane Gay, author of Hunger and Bad Feminist"Thick is gorgeous, incisive, and hard. Tressie McMillan Cottom is among America's most bracing thinkers on race, gender, and capitalism of our time and she is at her very best here. These essays enlighten and complicate and push conversations further. They are blisteringly smart and beautifully written. They are also, simply, a pleasure to read."—Rebecca Traister, author of Good and Mad and All the Single Ladies"Black women are uniquely attuned to the hydra that bell hooks names the imperialist white supremacist capitalist patriarchy. Publics should trust black women. Thick proves why readers should trust Tressie McMillan Cottom's black-people-loving writing that is as deft as it is amusing. Her words are a sword. She comes out swinging her blade at the hydra's head with unmatched courage."—Darnell L. Moore, author of No Ashes in the Fire"These essays show us the potency of actually existing black feminist analysis and expose the deep structures of racism and inequality that shape most black women's lives. With biting humor and razor-sharp political clarity, Thick is a crucial contribution to contemporary black thought."—Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, author of From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation"Reading Thick is like holding a mirror to your soul and to that of America. [S]earingly intimate and astute . . . at once painfully honest and gloriously affirming."—Dorothy Roberts, author of Killing the Black Body"Rich with layers of meaning . . . blaaaaaack and southern and country and wise [and] pulsates with wit, self-awareness, and unabashed expertise. For Professional Smart People with sense, her writing is #goals."—Soraya McDonald, culture critic at The Undefeated"Thick is aptly named, for McMillan Cottom is no intellectual lightweight—she walks heavy, bringing together her singular sociological insights with compelling and relatable storytelling."—Brittney Cooper, author of Eloquent RagePraise for Tressie McMillan Cottom's Lower Ed:"The best book yet on the complex lives and choices of for-profit students."—The New York Times Book Review