Labor of Love, Labor of Sorrow

Jones did an admirable job on this book. We used this in African-American history because my professor wanted to ensure we learned about the history of women not just men. At the time I took the class (late 80's)there were not a whole lot of offerings. We also had a Black women's reading circle and this book inspired a lot of debate. We discussed this book in depth and a few people felt she was trying too hard to explain social woes. There was even debate about her race; some people thought she was too apologetic because she was a white woman who was trying to be extra sensitive. A professor told our group that Jones was Black and that we were off base. The discussions and interest in the topic of Black Women's history her book inspired were important. It also dragged in a few places but talented researchers are not always great writers. Now there are many more offerings in this area; I would suggest "When and Where I Enter" by Paula Giddings as an alternative or as the book to read after Labor of Love Labor of Sorrow.

Had to read this for a class on women's history. It has some hard to read areas, mainly the quotes from the blacks of the late 1800's and early 1900's, but the information is very well organized and is one that could be kept as reference for more indepth research.

Overall, Jones presents a broad analysis of black female labor history with special attention to familial life. Her work gives greater meaning to the quote, "Women have always worked," because she contends and demonstrates the unique nature of black women's work from a historical perspective. The strongest quality of this book is the way Jones' analyzes the how race, gender, class, and work dynamics interconnect, thus affecting black women's lives in various ways over time and space. The weakest quality of Labor of Love, Labor of Sorrow is that at times this analysis is too broad and too focused on black women's familial lives. The most unique quality of this text is how Jones attempts to address contemporary issues (the "supersexist," racist welfare system, black single mothers, black feminist, momism, and Supermomism, affirmative action), while taking into account past historical events, such as slavery. It would be interesting to continue the dialogue and research on black women's labor from 1985 to the present and assess to what extent black women have strengthened and accelerated their collective politicization. Jones suggests black female collective politicization would be inevitable.

i love to read history and general nonfiction, and this is one of the best i've ever read --- well-written, engrossing, and enlightening.