From funny and fearless entertainment journalist Sesali Bowen, Bad Fat Black Girl combines rule-breaking feminist theory, witty and insightful personal memoir, and cutting cultural analysis for an unforgettable, genre-defining debut.

Growing up on the south side of Chicago, Sesali Bowen learned early on how to hustle, stay on her toes, and champion other Black women and femmes as she navigated Blackness, queerness, fatness, friendship, poverty, sex work, and self-love. 

Her love of trap music led her to the top of hip-hop journalism, profiling game-changing artists like Megan Thee Stallion, Lizzo, and Janelle Monae. But despite all the beauty, complexity, and general badassery she saw, Bowen found none of that nuance represented in mainstream feminism. Thus, she coined Trap Feminism, a contemporary framework that interrogates where feminism and hip-hop intersect.

Notes from a Trap Feminist offers a new, inclusive feminism for the modern world. Weaving together searing personal essay and cultural commentary, Bowen interrogates sexism, fatphobia, and capitalism all within the context of race and hip-hop. In the process, she continues a Black feminist legacy of unmatched sheer determination and creative resilience.

Bad bitches: this one’s for you.

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Sesali was a city girl way before Yung Miami and JT hit the scene. Born and raised in Chicago, she learned how to hustle, stay on her toes, build meaningful connections, pull off a full glam transformation with just $30 and a trip to the beauty supply store, and to always bet on Black women. These sensibilities have driven her work in political organizing, sex education, grad school, and women’s media. She wrote about her beginnings and how she developed a contemporary Black feminist framework thanks to female rap and trap music in her forthcoming book, Bad Fat Black Girl: Notes From a Trap Feminist. It is trap feminism that continues to set her apart as a writer, journalist, host, fat influencer, and content creator.