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For years, playwright and screenwriter Stephanie Covington Armstrong battled what's considered a "white woman's problem." In her new memoir, "Not All Black Girls Know How to Eat: A Story of Bulimia" she discusses her struggle as a black woman with a severe eating disorder. She talks with Books on the Root about bulimia, her painful childhood, why no woman is immune from an eating disorder, and healing.

Books on the Root: Can you talk a little bit about your battle with bulimia?=

Stephanie Covington Armstrong: I was born the youngest of three girls when my mother was twenty years old. She was overwhelmed with the care and feeding of all three of us. She didn't have much time to address our emotional needs and often didn't have the money for our food. I believe that because I was born with needs that my mother wasn't able to meet, it led to a hunger that would eventually turn into bulimia. When I was twelve years old with the body of a young boy, I was raped by my uncle. Being fatherless, my uncle had a larger than life place in my life and I trusted him. I believed that his raping me was some kind of indication of my value or lack of value. It made me shut down and stop trusting people. It also made me shut off from my family and as I grew older, men. Eventually I started playing around with diets, laxative and diet teas, trying to control my food. I've never been overweight so it wasn't about being skinny. I wanted one area of my life where I had control and no one could hurt me. I also had these inner beliefs that because of the rape, I wasn't worthy or deserving of love. I ate to push down the feelings of low self-esteem and shame. I really thought that not only did I invite the rape, but there was something broken in me that made it impossible for my father to love me. Then I discovered bulimia. I didn't want to get fat because then people would know that I wasn't okay. They could see the tear in my armor if I were heavy. With bulimia I could hide my pain in plain sight and you'd never know how I felt about myself.

Read the entire interview.