Kimberly C. Harper is assistant professor and associate chair of English and director of technical writing at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.

Kimberly C. Harper’s The Ethos of Black Mothers in America is an essential study in the history and rhetoric of Black women’s maternal health care. Harper shows how racist ideology has been rhetorically constructed in White political philosophy, legal decisions, and legislation. Further, she reveals the ways in which Black women have been silenced or unheard, unrepresented, or misrepresented in medical training and in popular pregnancy books. Harper opens a new domain for health communication, for feminist and womanist studies, and for social and racial justice research and education in the rhetoric and technical communication field.

• DedicationAcknowledgementsIntroductionChapter 1: Historical Representations of Black MotherhoodChapter 2: Setting the ToneChapter 3: The Legislative Decisions Governing Black WombsChapter 4: Ideology, Ethos, and SilenceChapter 5: Where are all the Black Mothers in Pregnancy Books?Chapter 6: Reproductive Justice and Black Women’s LivesChapter 7: Black Midwives & Reclaiming ChoiceChapter 8: The Will to Resist is a Form of LoveConclusionsAppendix AAppendix BAbout the Author

Kimberly C. Harper is assistant professor and associate chair of English and director of technical writing at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.

Kimberly C. Harper’s The Ethos of Black Mothers in America is an essential study in the history and rhetoric of Black women’s maternal health care. Harper shows how racist ideology has been rhetorically constructed in White political philosophy, legal decisions, and legislation. Further, she reveals the ways in which Black women have been silenced or unheard, unrepresented, or misrepresented in medical training and in popular pregnancy books. Harper opens a new domain for health communication, for feminist and womanist studies, and for social and racial justice research and education in the rhetoric and technical communication field.

• DedicationAcknowledgementsIntroductionChapter 1: Historical Representations of Black MotherhoodChapter 2: Setting the ToneChapter 3: The Legislative Decisions Governing Black WombsChapter 4: Ideology, Ethos, and SilenceChapter 5: Where are all the Black Mothers in Pregnancy Books?Chapter 6: Reproductive Justice and Black Women’s LivesChapter 7: Black Midwives & Reclaiming ChoiceChapter 8: The Will to Resist is a Form of LoveConclusionsAppendix AAppendix BAbout the Author