Salon Topic:
Why My Book Will Not Win a Pulitzer: Stories of Black Women Fighting and Winning
Kali N. Gross, PhD
Chinua Achebe’s observation in his 1958 novel, Things Fall Apart, “Until the lion learns how to write, every story will glorify the hunter,” offers a fitting metaphor for the untold stories of Black women’s history of fury, resistance and quest for justice in the U.S. In Vengeance Feminism: The Power of Black Women’s Fury in Lawless Times, Gross’s riveting history of Black women enacting “vengeance feminism” rightly shifts our gaze from that of the hunter to the lion. Gross’s sardonic salon title further highlights how contemporary scholarly gatekeepers continue to marginalize and ignore the expert writing and scholarship of Black women scholars who document the history of Black women’s struggle, pain, and fury as resistance to intersectionally oppressive systems. In 2025 where timidity in the face of injustice and oppression appear to be the order of the day, Gross’s salon will offer an inspiring counternarrative about the power of Black feminism and how Black women throughout history have leveraged their rage to seek and get the justice that racist and sexist systems deny them. There are lots of losses to be sure, but sometimes Black women do win. This is going to be another great salon, y’all. See you there!
One of the fiercest brilliant Black feminist voices writing about the rich and courageous history of Black women in the U.S., Kali Nicole Gross, PhD. is the National Endowment for the Humanities Professor and Chair of African American Studies at Emory University. She is a Distinguished Lecturer for the Organization of American Historians (OAH). An interdisciplinary scholar, her primary research explores Black women’s historical experiences in the U.S. criminal justice system. Her commentaries and opinion editorials can be found in top media outlets such as TIME, The Washington Post, The Root, and BBC News. She has also appeared on venues such as C-Span, MSNBC, and NPR. Her most recent book, Vengeance Feminism: The Power of Black Women’s Fury in Lawless Times was awarded the 2025 ASALH Book Prize, Best New Book in African American History, Association for the Study of African American Life and History.
- Gross, K. N. (2024). Vengeance feminism: The power of Black women’s fury in lawless times. Hachette Book Group.
- Berry, D. R., & Gross, K. N. (2021). Not even past: Black women’s history in the US: Past and present. https://notevenpast.org/nep-second-edition-black-womens-history-in-the-us-past-present/
- Gross, K. N. (2024). Why Kamala Harris’ promises on abortion matter so much to Black women. Time. https://time.com/7015228/black-women-reproductive-freedom/