You Are Your Best Thing: Vulnerability, Shame Resilience, and the Black Experience

The essays in this anthology develop the theme of Vulnerability as Resistance. How does vulnerability function as resistance? How is this seen in the personal lives of the writers and in a larger context?

What role does courage play in the stories presented in this anthology?

How are white supremacy and patriarchal values connected? Can one exist without the other? Why or why not?

What are strategies to dismantle shame? What does this process look like in the lives of the writers in this collection?

What are the effects, or outcomes, of confronting shame? What outcomes are expressed in the anthology? What other outcomes occur when individuals and society confront shame?

Many of the authors talk about the difference between choosing to be vulnerable and being made vulnerable by others. What is the difference between these two types of vulnerability, and what differing impacts do they have?

How does the body hold and manifest shame? How do authors in the book highlight the connection between their bodies and their process of healing?

How does shame present itself differently for each person? In what ways is shame functional, and in what ways is shame damaging?