Inger Burnett-Zeigler counts herself among the many today who wear the badge of strong Black woman with honor. All too often, the esteemed Northwestern University clinical psychologist says, their toughness is tied to acquaintance with suffering. 

She examines both the popular trope of strong Black women – highly successful, taking care of their families, appearing to have it all together – and the personal affliction it can obscure in a discussion of her new book Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen: The Emotional Lives of Black Women. Be it poverty, domestic or sexual abuse, childhood abandonment or regular confrontation with racism and sexism, an estimated eight in 10 African American women have endured the kind of trauma that can take a toll on physical and mental wellbeing.  

Burnett-Zeigler wants Black women, and women in general, to recognize the urgency of taking care of themselves, of letting go of expectations to sacrifice their own needs for the needs of others. 

Kaite Stover, the Library’s director of readers’ services, joins her in the public conversation.

Burnett-Zeigler is an associate profession of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern. Her clinical interests include mood and anxiety disorders, accompanying substance use disorders, stress management, and wellness and interpersonal relationships.