Ride or Die

“Hubbard debuts with a standout study of how the lionization of the ‘ride-or-die chick’ negatively impacts Black women. . . . Effortlessly blending personal anecdotes, academic scholarship, and pop culture analysis, this is an authentic and cathartic call for change.”

“Candid and provocative, Hubbard’s examination of the unspoken truths about Black women’s lives is well rendered and liberating. An important book about significant issues that often go unexplored.”

“A powerful must-read book for Black women. This engaging, thoughtful book uses hip hop as a backdrop to honor our strength and healing as a collective.” 

“This beautiful brilliant Black woman bares her soul, revealing the struggle far too many of us experience. Shanita takes us into deeply intimate moments of her own life to deconstruct why being a ‘ride or die’ is problematic in ways rarely discussed. With unapologetic strength, she challenges us to see the piercing hole this generational badge of ‘honor’ leaves open and reveals why it's time to remove it and heal.”

“With clear-eyed analysis, poignant vulnerability and notable grace, Shanita Hubbard continues the decades-old work of moving the important narratives of women and genderqueer people of the hip hop generation from the margins to the center.”

"In a world that continues to do everything in its power to silence the voice of the Black woman, Shanita's book is the light the world so desperately needs. Ride or Die is honest and poignant about the lives of Black women. Shanita uses the beautifully complex world of hip-hop she was raised in and grew to love as fascinating entry points. But she ultimately holds that same world accountable for its shortcomings of its portrayal of Black women. It's the culture holding the culture responsible."

“I've never read a book that gives us as much as Ride or Die gives us. This miracle of a book challenges, affirms, heals, reveals, and loves like nothing I've ever come across before. Shanita Hubbard has opened herself to us all for the purpose of asking us to be better to and for the people around us. She is one of our preeminent master teachers, using Hip-Hop as her curriculum, and we are all better for having been given these lessons.” 

“A warm insightful examination of the music and the culture that raises Black women to be leaders and then insists that they step out of the spotlight, Ride or Die is exactly what we need right now. If we're going to listen to Black women it can't just be for clues to what will serve the needs of others, it has to be to understand and support Black women. To be ready and able to show up and show out for all Black women the way we expect them to show up for their communities. Hubbard weaves together memoir, music, and motivation to be better to each other and to ourselves.”

"Shanita masterfully navigates the complexities of Black womanhood through hip-hop’s problematic lens—as only a thought leader of her caliber can. As such, Ride or Die is much more than ‘a feminist manifesto,’ it's an impassioned testimony that implores each of us to reassess our participation in—and contributions to—the continuous destruction of Black women.”

"Ride or Die is that extremely rare 21st century book that radically explores the ties between the visible and invisible labor of Black women, and the language we use to really diminish that unfair burden of labor. It is as glorious as it is rugged. Shanita Hubbard got busy. And I am so thankful."

“Easy read. Quick read. Great book.”

“This volume serves as a multifaceted challenge for Black women to pursue self-determination, to expect accountability and reparation when wronged, to be accountable to others and make amends when in the wrong, and to recognize and break toxic behaviors that place others' well-being as more important than one's own.”