It's Always Been Ours Rewriting the Story of Black Women’s Bodies

by Wilson MS, RD, Jessica

• ISBN13: 9780306827693
• ISBN10: 0306827697
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2023-02-07
• Publisher: Hachette Go

Summary

WE WILL REWRITE THE NARARTIVE OF BLACKNESS THAT CENTERS AND CELEBRATES OUR JOY.

In It’s Always Been Ours eating disorder specialist and storyteller Jessica Wilson challenges us to rethink what having a "good" body means in contemporary society. By centering the bodies of Black women in her cultural discussions of body image, food, health, and wellness, Wilson argues that we can interrogate white supremacy’s hold on us and reimagine the ways we think about, discuss, and tend to our bodies.

A narrative that spans the year of racial reckoning (that wasn't), It’s Always Been Ours is an incisive blend of historical documents, contemporary writing, and narratives of clients, friends, and celebrities that examines the politics of body liberation. Wilson argues that our culture’s fixation on thin, white women reinscribes racist ideas about Black women's bodies and ways of being in the world as "too much." For Wilson, this white supremacist, capitalist undergirding in wellness movements perpetuates a culture of respectability and restriction that force Black women to perform unhealthy forms of resilience and strength at the expense of their physical and psychological needs.

With just the right mix of wit, levity, and wisdom, Wilson shows us how a radical reimagining of body narratives is a prerequisite to well-being. It’s Always Been Ours is a love letter that celebrates Black women’s bodies and shows us a radical and essential path forward to rediscovering their vulnerability and joy.

Author Biography

Jessica Wilson is a Registered Dietitian and Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and a Consultant/Activist centering the voices and experiences of those most marginalized in the eating disorder field. In her work she invites practitioners, programs, activists, and allies to create environments that are more inclusive and less harmful for all. Because marginalized identities are often not represented in research, data collection, and case studies, current treatment modalities, frameworks and models often do not appropriately support many individuals, especially those most impacted by society’s messages about bodies and food.
 
Jessica’s work as a dietitian involved being an active and transformative member of the Association for Size Diversity and Health from 2012-2016, where she advocated for a new set of Health at Every Size principles that included a social justice lens and which were released in 2016. She has presented at eating disorder conferences including the Renfrew conference, spoken on panels for the International Association for Eating Disorder Professionals, including one panel with Sabrina Strings, and has given webinars including one for Alsana, an eating disorder treatment center. She co-created the viral movement and hashtag #amplifymelanatedvoices and this, along with her interview on the Dietitians Unplugged Podcast in 2020, opened up a national conversation about the impacts of whiteness in the eating disorder field and conversations about body liberation.
 
Her Instagram account has 135,000 followers and has been profiled in the New York Times, Buzzfeed, Cronkite News, Connecticut Public Radio, Capital Public Radio, and Insider magazine. Her podcast, My Black Body, reaches thousands of listeners across six continents. Jessica has written about nutrition for the Washington Post. She lives in Davis, California.