jonghosfootrest's review against another edition
5.0
amazing!
This memoir really speaks to the experience of the token black girl. I used to be one and this book had me looking at my past.
This memoir really speaks to the experience of the token black girl. I used to be one and this book had me looking at my past.
caitlyn888's review against another edition
To be honest, I really don't know how to rate this book. I picked it up without reading any reviews ahead of time, and when I look through them now it seems that this book tends to get more positive reviews from white women than Black women.
As a fellow Millennial, I could appreciate Danielle Prescod's discussion about pop culture in the early 2000s, specifically how toxic it was regarding any diversity in skin color, hair texture, or body size. She calls out the fashion industry for the white supremacy it continues to uphold, and it was interesting to get an inside look at what was really going on behind-the-scenes at many different magazine companies.
She discusses at length the anti-Blackness she carried with her growing up, even talking about a moment as a young child when she drew a self portrait where she had light skin and blonde hair. I can only comment on this so far as to say that since I grew up seeing white people in all media, I never had to struggle to see myself in those images. If white was not the default, who knows how I would have viewed myself as a young kid - especially if no one was having those conversations with me.
As a fellow Millennial, I could appreciate Danielle Prescod's discussion about pop culture in the early 2000s, specifically how toxic it was regarding any diversity in skin color, hair texture, or body size. She calls out the fashion industry for the white supremacy it continues to uphold, and it was interesting to get an inside look at what was really going on behind-the-scenes at many different magazine companies.
She discusses at length the anti-Blackness she carried with her growing up, even talking about a moment as a young child when she drew a self portrait where she had light skin and blonde hair. I can only comment on this so far as to say that since I grew up seeing white people in all media, I never had to struggle to see myself in those images. If white was not the default, who knows how I would have viewed myself as a young kid - especially if no one was having those conversations with me.
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.