Baratunde Thurston. (2012). How to Be Black. HarperCollins.

Baratunde Thurston. 2012. How to Be Black. HarperCollins.

Baratunde Thurston, How to Be Black. HarperCollins, 2012.

Baratunde Thurston. How to Be Black. HarperCollins, 2012.

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     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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New York TimesBestseller

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

 

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   • source: Melissa Harris-Perry
   • content:

     "Part autobiography, part stand-up routine, part contemporary political analysis, and astute all over.... Reading this book made me both laugh and weep with poignant recognition.... A hysterical, irreverent exploration of one of America's most painful and enduring issues." — Melissa Harris-Perry

     "A hilarious blend of razor-sharp satire and memoir. . . . Using his own story and humor, Thurston demonstrates that the best way to 'be' anything is to simply be yourself." — Publishers Weekly

     "Terrific...How to Be Black is an assault on nostalgia—a satirical, biographic attack on the idea that 'blackness' or any label should be derived from historical description." — Fast Company

     "Struggling to figure out how to be black in the 21st century? Baratunde Thurston has the perfect guide for you...Fans of Stuff White People Like, This Week in Blackness and other blogs that take satirical shots at racial stereotypes are sure to love How to Be Black." — The Root

     "A hilarious look at the complexities of contemporary racial politics and personal identity." — Booklist

     "One of the smartest and funniest books I've ever read." — Christian Lander (via Twitter)

2. • premium: True
   • source:
   • content:

     January 23, 2012
     In this hilarious blend of razor-sharp satire and memoir, Onion editor and cofounder of the Jack & Jill Politics blog Thurston muses on how, generally, to be black in today’s ever-changing world. He’s quick to point out that his book is not a magic potion that will make readers instantly black (it is not How to Become a Black Person If You Are Not Already Black). Instructive chapters include “How to Be The Black Friend” and its corollaries, “How to Speak for All Black People” and “How to Be The Black Employee.” Thurston’s life was shaped by his mother, a force of nature who instilled in him a love of camping and bicycling, along with a fiercely radical spirit. As a teen, he participated in the Ankobia program in D.C. taught by Pan-African black American activists. This same woman also enrolled him in the prestigious Sidwell Friends school (home to Chelsea Clinton and President Obama’s daughters) and cheered at his Harvard graduation. In order to get a fuller picture of blackness in America today, Thurston assembles “The Black Panel,” consisting of artists and stand-up comedians who address race in their work. Questions he poses to panel include when the members first realized they were black (most were very young), if they ever wished not to black (very few did), and what they thought of the idea of “post-racial America.” Using his own story and humor, Thurston demonstrates that the best way to “be” anything is to simply be yourself. Agent: Gary Morris.

3. • premium: True
   • source:
   • content:

     January 1, 2012
     Comedian and Onion director of digital Thurston (Better Than Crying: Poking Fun at Politics, the Press & Pop Culture, 2003) delivers a "book about the ideas of blackness" in the guise of a helpful how-to guide to being black. The author and a "Black Panel" made up of friends and colleagues, including one white person to avoid charges of reverse discrimination and also as a control group, ponder many questions about being black--e.g., "When did you first realize you were black?" and "Can you swim?" However, the humor does not serve the role of making light of race and racism, but rather as a gentle skewering that invites serious consideration of how black Americans are often limited by certain expectations concerning blackness. In "How to Speak for All Black People," Thurston challenges the assumption that one black person can speak to the experience of an entire race, as well as the assumption that a black person can only speak to the black experience. In "How to Be the Black Employee," he confronts the challenges of being hired both for the job and for being black--you will and must be, for instance, featured in every company photo. The humor does not always work; at times it is blog-like cleverness for the sake of cleverness (and is yet another joke about blacks needing white friends to get a cab really needed?). Thurston is at his best when he writes about his own life: growing up in Washington, D.C., attending Sidwell Friends School, matriculating at Harvard ("my experience of race at Harvard was full of joy and excitement"). The key to greater harmony is not necessarily seeing beyond race, but, as one Black Panelist puts it, to "see that and all of the things that I have done, to embrace all of me." Flawed but poignant and often funny.

     (COPYRIGHT (2012) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

4. • premium: True
   • source:
   • content:

     February 1, 2012
     Humorist Thurston has found plenty of fodder in his personal life for his work as a stand-up comedian and writer. He grew up in Washington, D.C., between the hopes of his mother's Afrocentrism and the harsh realities of his father's drug addiction. Sidwell Friends and Harvard, educators of the children of power and privilege, inspired a host of how to coping skills that he shares with poignancy and humor. He takes on the challenges of how to speak for every black person in the nation, how to measure degrees of blackness, how to take a break from it all. To his memoir he adds commentary by a panel of experts (three black women, three black men, and one white man) to ponder black identity and how to be black in situations from friendship to careers to the highest political office in the U.S. Baratunde, The Onion's director of digital communications and cofounder of Jack & Jill Politics, offers a hilarious look at the complexities of contemporary racial politics and personal identity.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)

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New York TimesBestseller

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...

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