55 pages • 1 hour read
The Other Black Girl
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Summary and Study Guide
Overview
Published in 2021, Zakiya Dalila Harris’s The Other Black Girl is a psychological thriller set in Manhattan’s competitive, predominantly white publishing scene. Harris, who worked as an editorial assistant at Alfred A. Knopf publishing house in Manhattan, draws together elements of literary realism and science fiction horror to deliver a novel in which office politics breed paranoia and natural haircare products condition more than dreadlocks. The Other Black Girl traces the experiences of five Black women at Wagner Books from 1983 to 2018 to address subjects including systemic and internalized racism, Black female experiences, workplace privilege, and the role of media in racial representations. A New York Times best seller, The Other Black Girl is being adapted into a limited series for Hulu.
Content Warning: The source material and this guide contain instances and discussions of racism and stalking. The source material contains racial slurs that are not reproduced in this guide.
Plot Summary
The Prologue opens in Manhattan in December 1983 as an unnamed narrator, later revealed to be Kendra Rae Phillips, flees New York City in terror. The only Black female editor at Wagner Books, Kendra Rae gave an interview in which she critiqued the racist structures within the publishing world.
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