Perils & Promises (Spring 2026)
I’m pleased to share that the University Press of Kentucky will publish the essay anthology Perils and Promises: Black Women Reflect on Friendship with White Women in fall of 2025! (UPDATE: spring 2026)
In 2021, the idea that would eventually become this essay anthology descended on me with such gravity and grace that I knew this idea was my sacred invitation into a not-yet-known journey.
While I am the editor of (and contributor to) this anthology, I am far from the sole author. This anthology is composed of the voices of many contributors! My heart is filled with gratitude for each contributor who said, “Yes!” to being part of this audacious endeavor. Thank you! Little did we know that we were doing far more than writing essays; we were building a community. Ultimately, this endeavor carried with it the power to heal. Truly, we need more ideas in our world that carry the power to heal.
Funding and support from the Louisville Institute and the Collegeville Institute enabled me to turn this dream into something real. Thanks immensely to both of those organizations, thanks for hearing me share my idea and saying you wanted to help support its unfolding. To receive support for one’s dream is a beautiful, cannot-be-quantified thing.
Brief Description of Perils & Promises edited by Patrice Gopo
Is it possible for Black women to have thriving friendships with white women in a world marred with racial brokenness? If one definition of friendship is the presence of mutuality, can such friendships exist in the presence of racial hierarchy? Award-winning essayist Patrice Gopo pondered these questions amid her struggles with several friendships with white women. Rather than seeking answers in isolation, she turned to a community of intergenerational Black women and asked them to share their own reflections.
Perils & Promises Contributors from Left to Right: Oluwatomisin Oredein, Patrice Gopo (editor), Chichi Agorom, Kathryn Stanley, Paula Owens Parker, Quantrilla Ard, Dorena Williamson, Deidra Riggs, Kadeisha Mariah Bonsu, Velynn Brown
