SWIRL GIRL: Coming of Race in the USA reveals how a hard-headed Mixed-race “Black Power Flower Child” battles society—and sometimes her closest loved ones—to forge her identity on her own terms.
As the USA undergoes its own racial growing pains, from the 1968 riots after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, to the historic 2008 election of the nation’s first Biracially Black president, TaRessa Stovall challenges popular stereotypes and fights nonstop pressures to contort, disguise, or deny her uncomfortable truths.
As a light-skinned African American woman who is the mother of three Bi-racial sons, I was both moved and inspired by this bold, evocative memoir that deftly explores the nuances of Mixed life and America’s racial growing poins. But there is so much that everyone can learn from Swirl Girl, for it is a vital part of the conversation about multifaceted identities in an increasingly diverse world. ~ Dr. Johnnetta Betsch Cole, President Emerita of Spelman and Bennett Colleges
About the Author
TaRessa Stovall was born a Jazz Baby in Seattle, Washington. An author since the age of seven, she has written several poems, books, and plays on various topics, including racial identity. TaRessa is also an award-winning journalist whose works have been featured in USA Weekend, The Courier-Post, The Montclair Times, The Defenders Online, and several other platforms. TaRessa is the proud mother of a son and a daughter, both multi-talented writers and creatives. She lives in Atlanta and stirs things up on social media.
