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    How to Be Black
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    How to Be Black
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    How to Be Black
    Ebook292 pages3 hours

    How to Be Black

    By Baratunde Thurston

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    New York Times Bestseller

    Baratunde Thurston’s comedic memoir chronicles his coming-of-blackness and offers practical advice on everything from “How to Be the Black Friend” to “How to Be the (Next) Black President”.

    Have you ever been called “too black” or “not black enough”?

    Have you ever befriended or worked with a black person?

    Have you ever heard of black people?

    If you answered yes to any of these questions, this book is for you. It is also for anyone who can read, possesses intelligence, loves to laugh, and has ever felt a distance between who they know themselves to be and what the world expects.

    Raised by a pro-black, Pan-Afrikan single mother during the crack years of 1980s Washington, DC, and educated at Sidwell Friends School and Harvard University, Baratunde Thurston has more than over thirty years' experience being black. Now, through stories of his politically inspired Nigerian name, the heroics of his hippie mother, the murder of his drug-abusing father, and other revelatory black details, he shares with readers of all colors his wisdom and expertise in how to be black.

    “As a black woman, this book helped me realize I’m actually a white man.”—Patton Oswalt

     

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateJan 31, 2012
    ISBN9780062098047
    Author

    Baratunde Thurston

    Baratunde Thurston is the director of digital at The Onion, the cofounder of Jack & Jill Politics, a stand-up comedian, and a globe-trotting speaker. He was named one of the 100 most influential African-Americans of 2011 by The Root and one of the 100 most creative people in business by Fast Company magazine. Baratunde resides in Brooklyn and lives on Twitter (@baratunde).

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    Reviews for How to Be Black

    4/5

    140 ratings18 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Stellar. Loved everything about this book, but especially The Black Panel.
    • 5/5
      I loved this book. This book made me laugh a lot. This is a very important book. This book covers a lot of Thurston's experiences growing up, including many different aspects of blackness that seem to have empowered him with an ability, no, a super-power, of appreciating various points of view. In this book, Thurston is often aided by his own Justice League - The Black Panel. If the title didn't explain it to you, this book is about black culture. Thurston and The Black Panel all have their own unique perspectives about being black as well. I relished their stories, too.As I said, though, this is an important book. I'm not exactly sure what my expectations were. I suppose I was lead by the fact that I'm a white man who has two boys that are of mixed white/black race. I love my boys very much. It's important to me that they understand what it means to be black and that's something I feel ill-equipped to teach them. I hope and pray that they both share the passion for cultural and ethnic diversity that I have. In the end, that's what I think this book is all about - not stripping away the things that make us different in order to be equal, but learning, loving and celebrating the things that make us each unique.
    • 4/5
      As the author states, in order to address issues of race only humor allows us to talk. Besides pointing out to white, black, and other audiences the ways racial prejudice sneaks into our view of the world, the book also makes some good suggestions on how we might begin to move beyond it. I found the book to be thought provoking and, oh yes, funny
    • 5/5
      Comedian and writer Baratunde Thurston uses humor and his real-life experiences to walk the reader through his thoughts on being black, but mostly human, in a "post-racial" (hahaha) America. I can relate to many of his chapters, particularly "How to be a Black Friend" and "How to Speak for All Black People"--not because I'm black, but when I lived in Japan, I could easily have substituted the word "gaijin" for "black" and it would have worked the same. It's a lie to say we "don't see color" because we do. In Japan, I was white and foreign. In America, we have descendants of African slaves who are black, and people who migrated from the south and over the ocean who are brown. We cannot deny that these differences are there--but the beauty is is that these differences make us uniquely ourselves. I would not be me without being white, just like Baratunde would not be Baratunde without being black. (I know it isn't quite that simple, but there is a core truth to this--it's kind of a Zen thing that is hard for me to explain.) One thing has been evident to me both prior to, and especially after, reading this piece: race in America is still something we need to understand and discuss. Not a national discussion necessarily, but personal, heartfelt discussions that try to not tokenize differences, but really see them for what they are--yet at the same time, recognized the vast range of diversity within each racial group. In the end, we are all human, yes, but we come from different places and with different sets of privileges, obstacles and expectations. Understanding and acceptance seem in short supply these days with so much hate-mongering around. It's enough to make people pull out their hair with righteous rage. Fortunately, Thurston presents his ideas positively and with grace--but not so they can be ignored, but so that we might listen and learn.I appreciate this book for its honesty and humor. I can only wish we could all speak with such forthrightness.
    • 4/5
      This book is art how-to guide, part memoir, and part manifesto from a collective (menacing sounding!). It's not nearly as ranty as one might expect. I give it a touch over 3.5 stars for its perspective on modern life. I would have liked maybe a little more on the geeky stuff but maybe that's for another time.
    • 3/5
      Funny & Insightful
    • 5/5
      I love this book. Funny when it needs to be, serious when it needs to be.
    • 4/5
      It's not quite four stars, but I am feeling generous because this was a very welcome, brisk read after slogging through a couple of long novels recently.It's very funny, of course (there was an Excel joke that had me snorting like a warthog), and smart. Thurston writes about his personal experience as a black man in America and uses it to illustrate points about some current issues related to race. He does an admirable job of outlining things that have happened to him personally and connecting them to larger cultural themes while underscoring the point that there is no universal black experience. A lot of the humor works the best, I suspect, for people are already at least somewhat familiar with social justice culture, which would include most people his age or younger who attended a liberal arts college, or anyone who gets why articles in the Onion about race are funny. By the end, I did have a twinge of "okay, now what?"I would also like to know how much time he has spent examining his own privilege (see what I did there? it's the kind of book that leads to social justice jokes), which is apparently the ability to NEVER SLEEP, because I was exhausted reading about the time he went to Harvard and became actively involved with a hundred and seventy eight different organizations, taking on leadership roles in each, or then graduated and worked at six hundred jobs. Is there anything this man isn't involved in? A blog he doesn't read? A political discourse he isn't engaged in? It made me wish he had included a section in the book specifically aimed at normal people. A lot of the time, I feel like I'm having a good day if I work through lunch to finish a budget report so I can leave the office on time to pick up the baby from the sitter and then cram dinner into everyone while keeping the laundry train moving. Tips for when and how to be contributing to the progress of society would be greatly appreciated.
    • 4/5
      I can't tell you how much this book helped cheer me up by using satire when confronting many of the racial microaggressions (and not so "micro" aggressions) I have to deal with.

      Whatever your race, go read this book.
      Actually, if you're white, you really should read this book.
    • 4/5
      Memoir, satire, insightful, funny. An excellent light read, and a damn serious one. I want the audiobook now.
    • 3/5
      Exactly what you think it is, then stops being funny (or interesting)
    • 5/5
      Made me laugh out loud, and also made me think. I especially liked the last couple of chapters.
    • 5/5
      I'm sure I would have loved simply reading the print version, but the audio was particularly entertaining, thoughtful, and addictive.

      ********
      Read Harder: Collection of essays.
    • 5/5
      Baratunde takes a humorous and somewhat satirical look at serious issues. While I have a few tiny qualms, I cannot fault the book. Part message, part autobiographical, it delivers an important message. Blackness is indefinable, except at a personal level, reject the media's definition. There's only one way in life, your own. Be yourself.
    • 2/5
      WHAT IS IT ABOUT?“How to Be Black” by Baratunde Thurston is part memoir, part humorous social commentary on race and identity related issues in America. Despite being raised by a Pan-African single mother in the inner city of Washington, DC during the drug wars, Thurston not only stayed out of trouble but also graduated from a private, primarily white Sidwell Friends School and later form Harvard University. Along the stories about the origins of his name, the tofu-eating hippie of a mother and the murder of his drug-abusing father, Thurston shares his expertise in how to be a black friend, a black employee and even a black president. To provide an additional perspective, the author also engages a Black Panel - six successful black American artists/comedians and one white Canadian - in a provocative conversation about race and identity.THUMBS UP:1) Educational.Thanks to “How to Be Black,” now I have a much better understanding of African-American culture and race-related issues in the United States. In addition to bringing to light quite a few interesting cultural aspects and stereotypes that I wasn’t aware of, Thurston also helped me to grasp the gravity of external as well as internal conflicts African-Americans have to face in America as a minority group.2) Audacious and optimistic.Thurston not only bravely addresses very sensitive issues such as racial stereotypes and discrimination but also dares to make fun of them. The author clearly is one of those people who turn lemons into lemonade, and thus, despite the fact that most of the racial problems are quite grave, the tone of “How to Be Black” is rather hopeful.3) Encouraging.Through his personal memories and humorous social observations, Thurston encourages conversations about racial differences in order to stop interracial as well as intraracial conflicts that stem from ignorance and misinformation. The author also offers a more universal advice to ANYONE who has ever felt like an outlier, no matter of the race, gender or ethnicity: simply be yourself, embrace your interests and just be happy.COULD BE BETTER:1) Humor.Even though certain passages made me smile and nod in approval, I didn’t find this book laugh-out-loud hilarious. To be honest, quite often I felt like the author is trying too hard to be funny and sometimes his humor would even strike me as arrogant. To make matters worse, some jokes didn’t seem funny to me simply because I didn’t get them: occasionally, I wasn’t sure whether the author is being serious or mocking something, and certain satirical passages seemed overdone and out of place (for example, the final five pages in “How to Be The (Next) Black President” chapter).2) Not for everyone.Contrary to the author’s claim, “How to Be Black” is NOT for everyone. I bet if I were African-American myself, or at least more American, it would be easier to relate to the author’s experiences and to understand and appreciate historical, political and social references. Since Thurston doesn’t bother to explain the original subject he is referring to, I am sure I missed quite a few jokes as well as some more serious points. For example, the author spends the whole PAGE advising a black employee on how much watermelon he should eat at a company holiday party. Unfortunately, this page made very little sense to me because, apparently, I was not aware of a common stereotype (which the author fails to mention) that black people LOVE watermelon.3) Writing and editing.Although I love the main message of the book, some other Thurston’s arguments could have been developed better. To be honest, sometimes I had a hard time understanding how certain stories are relevant to the point the author is trying to make (for example, the encounter with a recruiter from the navy), or even whether there IS a point. I also wished that the Black Panel answers were shorter and more to the point.4) Impersonal memoir.Although funny, optimistic and potentially inspiring, Thurston’s memoir seems rather impersonal and thus not very captivating. Apparently, it’s not enough to have a good story; you also have to tell it well.VERDICT: 2 out of 5In addition to being a memoir, “How to Be Black” by Baratunde Thurston is also a brave, educational and entertaining insight into racial issues in America. However, historical, political and social references as well as the author’s humor and writing might not be accessible to everyone.
    • 5/5
      This book is dope.
    • 5/5
      This book is a dope exploration of blackness and it's meaning today
    • 1/5
      I did not like this book. I found it offensive and it is hard to offend me. why do you need to know how to be black? I do not have a trove of positive things to say about this one so i will simply stop.