As an eating disorder clinician Jessica has an intersectional lens and a trauma-informed approach that challenges the status quo of the historically white eating disorder field and brings a much needed perspective. Jessica brings a complex and nuanced perspective that will progress the dietitian field to being accessible and supportive to all people with eating disorders. She doesn’t use a one-size-fits-all approach, but instead works with each client differently to meet their specific needs and help them understand both their individualized treatment goals and the societal forces that impact their relationship with food and their bodies. We're still early in our antiracism journey and the learning curve is steep and we have centuries of oppression to dismantle which is obviously not going to happen overnight. But THIS is how people such as ourselves, who benefit from white/social/career privilege, can help right these wrongs. This book by a Black, Queer dietitian would not only be groundbreaking but also set an example for other publishers in amplifying the voices of Black women and letting them lead conversations about body liberation.
Aside from my passionate belief that the Black Lives Matter movement is literally a matter of life and death on a fundamental human rights level, Jessica’s work specifically gut punched me as a woman who has had an eating disorder for nearly 30 years. I have been very publicly vocal about my eating disorder for many years because I feel it is my duty as a public figure to be transparent about the unrealistic beauty and body standards that I have (as a result of a debilitating mental illness) unfortunately helped perpetuate. Jessica opened my eyes to how rooted in white supremacy the eating disorder recovery field is and now I simply cannot unsee it. I’m not sure if you are aware but eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any other mental illness. And every eating disorder treatment program I’ve been in (or for that matter any that my fellow ED warriors have encountered) only center the white experience and white body/beauty norms and end up either completely excluding or causing even more harm to Black folx. On top of all the work Jessica has been doing during this particularly traumatizing year for Black folx everywhere she has also dedicated many hours of her precious time to help myself and some of my fellow actress friends start an activism pod that is trying to tackle body diversity and dangerous beauty and physical standards in our industry.
Oscar-winning actress Anna Paquin
Having known Jessica for several years a few things are irrefutable. Her analysis is astute, her call to eradicate racial injustice is dart direct and care and investment in the lives of women of color is complete. There simply is no better literary voice for this moment in history than Jessica Wilson.
activist and author of the bestselling The Body is Sonya Renee Taylor
She is both practical and scientifically factual while being body AND food positive. She recognizes that our relationships to our bodies and the foods we put in them are political...
"I could not put this book down. Throughout each page I felt seen, heard, and validated in my experiences as a Black woman who has dealt with body oppression and as an eating disorder provider, who has supported Black women in healing their relationship with our bodies. Jessica offers an accurate account of eating disorders in Black communities and allows us to experience her heart through each chapter, her passion for Black women and call for liberation is evident. This book is long overdue and an imperative read for Black women and for providers within the eating disorders field"—Alishia McCullough, (she/her) MS, LCMHC , founder of BlackandEmbodied Counseling and Consulting PLLC Sonya Renee Taylor , activist and author of the bestselling The Body is Not an Apology Anna Paquin , Oscar-winning actress Alison Pill , actress Ari Max Bachrach, NP , eating disorder medical provider
“A Black, queer dietitian and expert in disordered eating, Wilson invites readers to reflect, rethink, reclaim, resist and reimagine living a life of pure joy.”
—Ms.
2022-12-20
“Health has been connected to whiteness for over a century, it’s nothing new,” writes Wilson, a self-described “regular-degular” dietician. She continues: “Colonialism, white supremacy, and capitalism ensure that people assigned Blackness will never fit within the confines of Health.” Written “specifically for Black women,” the author’s first book makes the case for “putting Black women at the center of the narratives, rather than having our stories filtered through a white lens.” Wilson rewrites the narratives surrounding Black women’s bodies and maps a collective and individual reclamation of Black joy. After the introduction, the author presents three sections. The first, “Live, Laugh, Love,” features chapters such as “It Isn’t Diet Culture, It’s White Supremacy” and “Too Much, Yet Not Enough: Restriction.” The second section, “ ‘Solutions’/Having a Body Is Hard,” digs deeper into the myriad perils of body image and “the impacts of pathologizing people’s bodies,” and the final third, “A New Story,” is dedicated to Black joy. Wilson peppers her arguments with dashes of humor, and her directness, acerbic tone, and honesty about her personal life and struggles with seizures make for compelling reading. Many of the author’s arguments and insights are undeniable, and she unpacks them with both originality and candor—e.g., “Health disparities are not solved by teaching people how to cook quinoa and put sliced almond on salads.” She recounts her experience at the 2021 Gwyneth Paltrow’s In Goop Health summit, which gave “a glimpse of what it would mean to live a life of ease” but made her sick. She also references recent significant moments, such as Mo’Nique’s 2021 Instagram live video on respectability. The most-repeated line Wilson tells her clients is to eat more food, in hopes that they will “enjoy it without overthinking it.”
This fiery polemic and celebration stands out among contemporary books on the subject of Black women’s bodies.
