40 pages • 1 hour read
Brittney CooperEloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2018A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 10-12Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 10 Summary: “Love in a Hopeless Place”
People wrongly attribute Black women’s unwanted singleness to bad individual choices instead of structural forces such as mass incarceration. Cultural factors such as toxic masculinity that stigmatizes male vulnerability, Black men’s insecurity about dating women with more education and money, and globalized disrespect of Black women in Hip Hop exacerbate the problem. Living alone is more costly, home ownership is more challenging, and building wealth is more difficult if one is single. In Cooper’s life, the dearth of potential partners has meant years of celibacy, criticism that she is too educated to find a partner, staying too long in unworkable relationships, and feeling invisible as a woman. Cooper is a proud feminist who still ended up reading self-help books, hoping to understand what Black men want. Cooper wants a world in which Black men and women learn “how to commit to the fierce pursuit of joy with one another” (244) and Black men are “allies and coconspirators” (242).
Chapter 11 Summary: “Favor Ain’t Fair”
Cooper unpacks the idea that “favor ain’t fair” (254)—the belief that God indiscriminately gives favor to the wicked and righteous alike. Despite surviving hardships such as domestic abuse and growing up in an under-resourced community in early life, Cooper also experienced favor. Her mother recognized Cooper’s giftedness early on and got Cooper into academic enrichment classes. Cooper’s Black peers accused her of being a snob and wanting to be white. Cooper attributed her achievements to God’s favor and personal responsibility.
Academic study of inequality and conversations with the former bullies taught Cooper what her peers intuitively knew: There was something wrong with a system that gave favor to so few Black children. The bullying still hurt, and anti-intellectualism in some corners of Black communities is still wrong. Cooper’s mother worked hard to remove her daughter from violence against Black girls and women, and she sacrificed to make sure Cooper got a good education. No one should expect Cooper to return to live in her under-resourced community now that her mother’s work has paid off. Neither should anti-intellectualism lead Black people to turn down the help of their educated peers, who do have a duty to use their privilege in the fight for racial justice.
Chapter 12 Summary: “Joy”
Cooper admits that “feminists and hyperwoke folks can take the joy out of everything” (273) in their quest to reveal the underpinnings of inequality. She reminds her readers that rage has creative potential, but joy is necessary for resilience. Cooper notes that in “your president’s favorite book of the Bible, Two Corinthians” (274), the scripture says that the world can’t take away joy people find for themselves. Cooper offers a benediction in which she encourages her readers to seize on creative rage, laughter, and asking good questions to fight for social justice in their own lives and communities.
Chapters 10-12 Analysis
Cooper brings an intersectional lens to bear on the many difficult topics she explores in these chapters. Her analyses continue to rely on storytelling to present key evidence. Cooper also expands on her argument about Anger as a Source of Power for Black Women by examining other emotions that shape identity and power.
Each of these three chapters is attentive to the intersection of race and gender in institutions such as politics, marriage, and the education system. Chapter 10, “Love in a Hopeless Place,” reveals how gender and class shape the possibility of finding love for Black women. No part of Black women’s social identities is proof against the gravity of structural forces. Cooper’s self-presentation in this chapter is raw and vulnerable as she recounts what it is like to want to have a partner and not have one. There is rage in this chapter, but there is also loneliness and sadness.
Chapter 11, “Favor Ain’t Fear,” also allows Cooper to explore a tender topic, what it means to be an exceptional Black person. Cooper is exceptional. She is an academic and public powerhouse. Few would question her if she used the script of Black respectability to explain why she is exceptional. Cooper instead chooses to make common cause with all her readers by exploring how one person’s life can exhibit both privilege and disadvantage. Cooper’s reading of her own journey as a gifted person allows her to show how productive an intersectional reading of one’s life can be when it comes to healing from the trauma of bullying and violence.
In Chapter 12, “Joy,” Cooper provides a Black feminist text in the tradition of the Black church to encourage her readers to see joy as a source of power as well. Cooper achieves a lighter tone in this chapter by including jokes, such as the one about Donald Trump’s bumbling discussion of what his favorite scripture might be, allowing her to create a space where readers can have the disruptive, “gut-busting belly laughter” (275) she wishes for them every day. While Cooper has a healthy suspicion of self-empowerment and self-help talk, the last chapter of her book is filled with affirmations that are likely there to counter the potentially overwhelming feeling her readers may experience as they consider how to navigate the demands of their varying social identities. Cooper’s benediction is a reminder that they are not alone in their effort to create a life filled with the power of rage and joy.
