  In An Introduction to Africana Philosophy—Cambridge Introductions to Philosophy (2008), Gordon asserts that Cooper, “is without question the most sophisticated thinker on what is known today as black feminist thought from the late nineteenth century into the early twentieth century” (Gordon 2008, 71).  More specifically, Gordon explains how Cooper’s A Voice from the South “articulated the argument that continues to resonate in black feminist thought, namely, that black women must become agents of their own future, and that much of the health of their community rests on their shoulders because of the burdens they are forced to carry.  This argument is advanced through her theory of worth, which she issues in response to racist arguments against the value of black people.” Cooper’s theory of worth, described by Gordon as “an efficiency theory of worth” is especially evident in her essay “What Are We Worth?” (Gordon 2008, 71).  Gordon places Cooper’s philosophical insights here in conversation with Marx (“Cooper, like Marx, was in fact working with a model of alienation that did not require the category of oppression, although subjugation and correlates with slavery were hallmarks of their thought”) and Nietzsche (both explored the relationship between worth and health—those benefiting from absence of adversity are less healthy than those facing and overcoming adversity).