story of Cottom's life" but also "a kind of manifesto". The book draws on examples from McMillan Cottom's own personal life in the form of personal essays. These essays touch on topic including sexual abuse, divorce, and the death of a child, to discuss broader issues in race, beauty, and education, such as why black women can never be seen as beautiful, why universities prefer African students to African American students, and how assumptions about wealth, competence, and pain undermine black women's efforts to achieve health and financial security.Publishers Weekly gave Thick a starred review, concluding that "the collection showcases Cottom's wisdom and originality". Rebecca Stoner, writing for Pacific Standard, praised the broad appeal of Thick, noting that McMillan Cottom "makes it possible for her readers, whether or not they are black women, to understand the interdependent nature of our oppressions". The New York Times praised "the author’s skillful interweaving of the academic with the popular" and concluded that Thick "is sure to become a classic of black intellectualism". Thick was a finalist for the 2019 National Book Award for Nonfiction. Awards 2017: Sociologists for Women in Society Feminist Activism Award 2019: American Sociological Association Doris Entwisle Early Career Award 2019: Adweek Podcast Award for Podcast Hosts of the Year 2020: American Sociological Association Public Understanding of Sociology Award 2020: Macarthur Genius Grant Winner Bibliography Books (Co-editor, with William A. Darity Jr.) For-Profit Universities: The Shifting Landscape of Marketized Higher Education (2016, Palgrave MacMillan, ) (Co-editor, with Jesse Daniels and Karen Gregory) Digital Sociologies (2016, Policy Press, )Lower Ed: The Troubling Rise of For-Profit Colleges in the New Economy (2017, The New Press, )Thick: And Other Essays (2019, The New Press, ) Selected essays "No, college isn't the answer. Reparations are." Washington Post, April 29, 2014 "The Coded Language of For-Profit Colleges." The Atlantic, February 22, 2017 "How We Make Black Girls Grow Up Too Fast." The New York Times, June 29, 2017 "The Real Threat to Campuses Isn't 'PC Culture.' It's Racism." Huffington Post'', February 19, 2018 References External links Faculty profile, Virginia Commonwealth University @tressiemcphd on Twitter "Academic Outrage: When The Culture Wars Go Digital," advice for academics facing coordinated harassment online "Hear to Slay" podcast Living people 21st-century American women writers African-American social scientists American feminist writers American sociologists American women sociologists American women academics American women essayists Feminism and education North Carolina Central University alumni Virginia