Cassava Ideas makes first acquisition

Cassava Ideas, the new non-fiction imprint at Cassava Republic Press, will publish Sold Out: How Black Feminism Lost Its Soul by Chardine Taylor Stone as its first title. 

The title will be published in autumn 2021 under the new imprint, established to "offer in-depth looks at ideas that shape society, covering topics such as race, gender and economics in an easily digestible format." Layla Mohamed, acquiring editor, bought world rights direct from the author. 

Sold Out: How Black Feminism Lost Its Soul is described as a "critical analysis of the Black feminism of today, and its departure from its socialist, anti-capitalist and internationalist roots." Taylor Stone will examine how a new wave is finding its voice on social media under a "dark cloud of austerity and right-wing ascendancy." She will argue that 21st-century black neo-liberal feminism is nothing more than "White feminism in blackface". 

Mohamed said: "I am thrilled to have acquired this bold and insightful writer and activist, bringing her voice to a wider audience through this timely and urgent book. Sold Out is not only a necessary critique of Black neo-liberal feminism but provides an alternative framework for Black feminist activism that draws from history and is grounded in dismantling inequality at a structural level. Coming at a time where movements for black lives are hitting the mainstream and are subsequently being co-opted and diluted, Chardine’s analysis, drawing from her own history of organising, is a much-needed wake up call." 

Taylor Stone commented: “I'm so pleased to be part of the new Ideas series by Cassava Republic; now more than ever publishing houses that are led by radical Black women are needed. The team understood exactly what Sold Out was about and why it was needed, and I couldn't be more excited to have them support my first book."