zluvsreading's review against another edition
5.0
Wow. This is a book I think everyone needs to read. It deals with issues of racism, white supremacy, eating disorders, and how essentially, black girls in a predominantly white environment feel the need to change themselves completely for the approval of their white peers. It also talks about a lot of issues around the fashion industry and how corrupt it was and still is. I was not surprised that there was a lot that I related to. I felt quite a bit of emotions, including anger and sadness, while reading this. Definitely a book that I will take with me for a while.
emzjams's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
this was very good in the beginning, i related a lot to what she went through having grown up in a predominately white area. i’m not that into fashion, which is basically the entire second half of the book. had i not already gotten so far into it (and had it not been an audiobook) i probably would’ve dnf’ed. this was the first audiobook i listened to all the way through, she’s a very good narrator. all in all it was interesting but i’ll probably forget about most of it in a week.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder
the_resistance_book_club's review against another edition
5.0
A Great Understanding of a Real Token Black Girl
This was a great memoir of a Black Woman’s journey struggling with her blackness in a white supremacy world. I unfortunately cannot relate to her journey even though I am a Black Woman myself because I grew up in a black neighborhood but totally understood her struggles of fitting in and being “too black” or “not black enough”
What a great way to also share the lessons learned along the way! To me all black girls should read this! When my daughter is old enough she will read this because I have a feeling she’ll be a “Token Black Girl” herself but I as her mother will help as much as I possibly can because I never want her to feel alone…
This was a great memoir of a Black Woman’s journey struggling with her blackness in a white supremacy world. I unfortunately cannot relate to her journey even though I am a Black Woman myself because I grew up in a black neighborhood but totally understood her struggles of fitting in and being “too black” or “not black enough”
What a great way to also share the lessons learned along the way! To me all black girls should read this! When my daughter is old enough she will read this because I have a feeling she’ll be a “Token Black Girl” herself but I as her mother will help as much as I possibly can because I never want her to feel alone…
danicapage's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
3.5
This book addresses an extremely important topic as tokenism is a huge problem. The author raised very important and compelling points and poignantly discussed many of her experiences and did so very honestly and openly. Memoirs can be hard to rate, and so sometimes I don’t. I hesitated to do so here. In the end, I did rate it. I’ve read a lot in this genre, and while there were elements I thought were insightful, it is not my favorite in the genre. I think other reviewers (particularly Black reviewers on Goodreads) have done a good job unpacking why that may be the case. For those who love fashion and media, this one may resonate with them though. And it did discuss some important elements.
readingwithallieh's review against another edition
4.0
This book reads as a cathartic journal prescribed to be written by her therapist. There’s a lot of use of the term “white supremacy”, which with her perspective is accurate but the use of all whites being racist is a bit of a stretch. All that being said she does reference lots of pop culture incidents and books/movies to reflect further with black culture and struggles.
She herself fell victim to the mainstream media pressures and assimilating with her white classmates in rich white suburbia and takes responsibility for her short comings but also calls out the injustices she experienced and witnessed. This book was meant to call out certain groups ie rich white suburbia, the fashion industry, and social media because instead of being herself she conformed and hated herself for it. But she doesn’t want anyone to fall victim to this again if they do so happen to be the Token Black (I’ll say) Kid (for gender inclusion), as she said in her afterwords “My questions are directed to the people I know have the power to influence who and what is represented in the media.”— Token Black Girl: A Memoir by Danielle Prescod. Pretty straightforward she’s calling them out and wants this conversation so that if there’s a black actress on a magazine cover there can also be black models in the magazine etc.
I appreciate the insight to her life and her world. Her honesty in recognizing what she has done. I hope she finds peace within her own body and finds people that she feels included and comfortable with herself. This book was all over my newsfeed and I hope it was for those that she directed these questions too. She expressed not being heard or taken seriously and I do hope she is heard now.
readwithmoniqua's review against another edition
5.0
I definitely had to check myself often throughout this book. I found myself judging her quite often. I grew up privileged, not as privileged as Danielle, but privileged nonetheless. I didn’t have the issues she experienced as far as the reasoning behind her relaxed hair, not wanting to be Black, eating disorders, and bouts of self hatred due to environment and other external influences. I like to learn about other Black women’s upbringings because even as Black women, we don’t all experience the same things. This was such a necessary read. I have been the only Black Girl numerous times, but did not experience these nuances of white people being blatantly racist or making statements that are appropriating or inadvertently racist. Now, they could’ve had their views or what not, but they were never expressed in my presence.
yeriwithaj_'s review against another edition
5.0
This was a painful, beautiful, real truth.
I was able to identify myself in so much that was written in this story, with the exception of the eating disorder (though I do have an unhealthy relationship with food). There were so many parts of this book that resonates with me.
Danielle Prescod stripped herself bare and you can feel it with each truth she reveals. Each experience she recounts.
This is a book everyone should read, especially white people.
I was able to identify myself in so much that was written in this story, with the exception of the eating disorder (though I do have an unhealthy relationship with food). There were so many parts of this book that resonates with me.
Danielle Prescod stripped herself bare and you can feel it with each truth she reveals. Each experience she recounts.
This is a book everyone should read, especially white people.