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A review by ebbiebooks
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
hopeful
informative
inspiring
4.5
Is this the best non-fiction about race? I'd say no, but it's damn good.
This was not my first rodeo on the subject, nor with this author, and yet it didn't felt like it was a "beginner's guide", but it wasn't too advanced for beginners either.
The author is skillfull at presenting her chapters with real life example, real life talking points, advices that can easily be applicable, etc. I was pleasantly surprise at how much I felt like I've been given actual tools to take action in my day to day life, which is something I think is hard for most people, be it newcomer in discussion of race that want to do better, but even people that have been having these discussion and are still struggling. The author doesn't shy away from her own struggles, which was really helpful to put into words many things I've been feeling and experiencing, recently and in the past.
I'll have to go back an annotate more of the book, because I've read this through audiobook while being on walks and running outside, which wasn't the best for me to be able to highlight. And on top of said advices and tools to use, I've actually learn some new things and angles on how to approach "difficult-er" discussion with well meaning or left leaning people that use, sometimes without realizing it, very high level mental gymnastic to justify them talking over or taking all the space in discussion about race, or reproducing some of white supremacy more subtle discourses to keep people divided. Notably, I really like how the model minority chapter was presented. It's a subject that is easy to quickly gloss over with the usuals (it's harmful, it's too much pressure, "the leopard ate my face", disparities in success and wealth within a seemingly homogeneous group, etc.), but I liked how, after these were presented, we also got more about how it's a tool to keep racialized folks divided by either making them put all their energy in an alienating moving goalpost game or telling PoC that those model minorities don't care about them and never will. I'm not paraphrasing it super well to be fair, but when reading this part, it made me realize something big, just like when you first learn about internalized hatred.
Ijeoma Oluo has a style that is lively and intimate in the sense that you feel like she's talking to you like a friend would. I think I prefer this one over Mediocre, even though Medicore is a super important book as well. I'm really looking forward to "Be A Revolution".
This was not my first rodeo on the subject, nor with this author, and yet it didn't felt like it was a "beginner's guide", but it wasn't too advanced for beginners either.
The author is skillfull at presenting her chapters with real life example, real life talking points, advices that can easily be applicable, etc. I was pleasantly surprise at how much I felt like I've been given actual tools to take action in my day to day life, which is something I think is hard for most people, be it newcomer in discussion of race that want to do better, but even people that have been having these discussion and are still struggling. The author doesn't shy away from her own struggles, which was really helpful to put into words many things I've been feeling and experiencing, recently and in the past.
I'll have to go back an annotate more of the book, because I've read this through audiobook while being on walks and running outside, which wasn't the best for me to be able to highlight. And on top of said advices and tools to use, I've actually learn some new things and angles on how to approach "difficult-er" discussion with well meaning or left leaning people that use, sometimes without realizing it, very high level mental gymnastic to justify them talking over or taking all the space in discussion about race, or reproducing some of white supremacy more subtle discourses to keep people divided. Notably, I really like how the model minority chapter was presented. It's a subject that is easy to quickly gloss over with the usuals (it's harmful, it's too much pressure, "the leopard ate my face", disparities in success and wealth within a seemingly homogeneous group, etc.), but I liked how, after these were presented, we also got more about how it's a tool to keep racialized folks divided by either making them put all their energy in an alienating moving goalpost game or telling PoC that those model minorities don't care about them and never will. I'm not paraphrasing it super well to be fair, but when reading this part, it made me realize something big, just like when you first learn about internalized hatred.
Ijeoma Oluo has a style that is lively and intimate in the sense that you feel like she's talking to you like a friend would. I think I prefer this one over Mediocre, even though Medicore is a super important book as well. I'm really looking forward to "Be A Revolution".