A stirring and eye-opening celebration of the enduring legacy of one of the most acclaimed and influential albums of the 90s–The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.

Released in 1998, Lauryn Hill’s first solo album is often cited by music critics as one of the most important recordings in modern history. From being chosen by the Library of Congress for the National Recording Registry to being declared the second greatest album by a woman by NPR to influencing subsequent generations of artists such as Beyonce, Nicki Minaj, and Janelle Monae, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill has remained a cultural landmark.

Award-winning feminist author and journalist Joan Morgan delivers an expansive, in-depth, and heartfelt exploration of the seminal album, its enduring place in pop culture, and the pioneering woman behind it. Featuring exclusive interviews and in-depth research, She Begat This is both an indelible portrait of a magical moment when a young, fierce, and determined singer-rapper-songwriter made music history and a crucial work of scholarship, perfect for longtime hip-hop fans and a new generation just discovering this album.

Joan Morgan offers a provocative and powerful look into the life of the modern black woman: a complex world in which feminists often have not-so-clandestine affairs with the most sexist of men, where women who treasure their independence frequently prefer men who pick up the tab, where the deluge of babymothers and babyfathers reminds black women who long for marriage that traditional nuclear families are a reality for less than forty percent of the population, and where black women are forced to make sense of a world where truth is no longer black and white but subtle, intriguing shades of gray.

Still fresh, funny, and irreverent, When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost gives voice to the most intimate thoughts of the post-Civil Rights, post-feminist, post-soul generation.