I Won’t Shut Up: Finding Your Voice When the World Tries to Silence You

Cover art by Erin K. Robinson

I hope that finding your voice will help you to speak the truth. And I hope that the truth will set you free.

Ally Henny, I Won’t Shut Up

An Unvarnished Perspective on Racism That Calls Black Women to Find Their Voice

Being Black in a society developed by white men to benefit white men means constantly pushing back against systems that were not constructed for your flourishing. White privilege. White cultural norms. White beauty standards. White noise. You’re made to feel that your life doesn’t matter, your opinions aren’t valid, and your entire existence is too loud. It can feel like the whole world is telling you to shut up.

To these forces, Ally Henny is here to say, “No. I am a loud Black woman, and I won’t shut up.” Ally knows what it’s like to navigate racism and racialized sexism, having spent most of her life in predominantly white spaces. She’s not taking it anymore, and she’s calling you to join her in resisting racism by speaking the truth–no matter the cost. In this compelling book, Ally tells her own story of finding her voice, pushing back against oppression, and embracing her unique perspective as a loud Black woman. And she invites you to find your voice in a world that tries to silence you.

Available June 20, 2023! Pre-order now. Audiobook will be available June 20, 2023.

Praise for I Won’t Shut Up

“Your voice has unimaginable power, and you have every right to use it. This book will show you how.”

from the foreword by Danielle Coke, illustrator, advocate, and entrepreneur

Ally Henny draws deep from the well of her own experience to show us that we do not have to silence, shrink, or contort ourselves to fit a world that was never made for us. We can live loud, love loud, and even leave loud.”

Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes, clinical psychologist, public theologian, and author of I Bring the Voices of My People and Too Heavy a Yoke

“I Won’t Shut Up isn’t just about finding your voice but amplifying it to create a more just and inclusive world.”

Jemar Tisby, PhD, New York Times bestselling author of The Color of Compromise and How to Fight Racism; professor at Simmons College of Kentucky

Losing your voice can be a frustrating, hurtful experience. You don’t have to remain silent though. You can take off the muzzle.

Ally Henny, I won’t Shut Up

“Ally Henny has given us a timely gift: a brilliant but humorous prophetic testimony and a road map for freedom in a world that often seeks to silence our voices.”

Tyler Burns, president of The Witness: A Black Christian Collective and lead pastor at All Nations Worship Assembly Pensacola

“In her refusal to let white supremacy shut her up, Ally Henny gives us permission to do the same: to not let white supremacy dictate how we live, move, and have our being in this world.”

Kat Armas, author of Abuelita Faith and host of The Protagonistas podcast

“Thank God Ally Henny won’t shut up. Like the prophets of old, she invites readers to experience transformation, hope, and the possibility of a better future, if only we have the wisdom to listen.”

Phil Snider, pastor and editor of Preaching as Resistance