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A review by caitlyn888
Token Black Girl by Danielle Prescod
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.