You Won’t Break My Soul: Black Women’s Contemporary Anti-Work Philosophies and Post-Work Experiences

Abstract

The Great Resignation represented a shift in employee attitudes toward work. While many workers sought new employment, some workers are increasingly withdrawing from work altogether. This article explores the unique ways in which Black women are adopting an anti-work stance and creating post-work experiences for themselves. Using qualitative content analysis of the works of writer, author, and activist Tricia Hersey and content creator and public intellectual Stephanie Perry, the article identifies three core elements of the emerging Black women’s anti-work movement and three popular pathways that reflect Black women’s post-work choices. The article also considers the ways in which Black women’s contemporary post-work philosophies represent a shift away from collective action and policy intervention and a shift toward individual responses to the problem of work.