Kwakiutl L. Dreher is Associate Professor of English and Ethnic Studies at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.

"This engaging book adds an important element to discussions in popular culture about the images of Black women so loosely displayed in music videos, films, television series, and commercials. Dreher contextualizes the salacious details that often overshadow the critical contributions these entertainers have made, not only to entertainment, but also to the civil rights movements of our time." — Carol E. Henderson, author of Scarring the Black Body: Race and Representation in African American Literature

• Acknowledgments Introduction: Are We Listening to the Footsteps of the Dance on the White Page? 1. Lena Horne: The Symbol Must Stand for Something 2. Dorothy Dandridge: The Dance of the Black Female Child Entertainer 3. Eartha Kitt: The Dance of the Autobiographical Defense 4. Diahann Carroll: The Recuperation of Black Widow–Single Mother/Womanhood 5. Mary Wilson: Taking Care of the Business of Girlfriends through Autobiography 6. Whoopi Goldberg: The Black Woman Celebrity Tell-All Iconoclast Conclusion: The Dance Finale: What Have We Here? Selected Bibliography Index

Kwakiutl L. Dreher is Associate Professor of English and Ethnic Studies at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.

"This engaging book adds an important element to discussions in popular culture about the images of Black women so loosely displayed in music videos, films, television series, and commercials. Dreher contextualizes the salacious details that often overshadow the critical contributions these entertainers have made, not only to entertainment, but also to the civil rights movements of our time." — Carol E. Henderson, author of Scarring the Black Body: Race and Representation in African American Literature

• Acknowledgments Introduction: Are We Listening to the Footsteps of the Dance on the White Page? 1. Lena Horne: The Symbol Must Stand for Something 2. Dorothy Dandridge: The Dance of the Black Female Child Entertainer 3. Eartha Kitt: The Dance of the Autobiographical Defense 4. Diahann Carroll: The Recuperation of Black Widow–Single Mother/Womanhood 5. Mary Wilson: Taking Care of the Business of Girlfriends through Autobiography 6. Whoopi Goldberg: The Black Woman Celebrity Tell-All Iconoclast Conclusion: The Dance Finale: What Have We Here? Selected Bibliography Index