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A REESE'S BOOK CLUB X HELLO SUNSHINE BOOK PICK * THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
This book is my story about growing up in a Black girl's body. It's about surviving in a world not made for me.
Austin Channing Brown's first encounter with a racialized America came at age seven, when she discovered her parents named her Austin to deceive future employers into thinking she was a white man. Growing up in majority-white schools and churches, Austin writes, 'I had to learn what it means to love Blackness,' a journey that led to a lifetime spent navigating America's racial divide as a writer, speaker and expert helping organisations practice genuine inclusion.
In a time when nearly every institution (schools, churches, universities, businesses) claims to value diversity in its mission statement, Austin writes in breathtaking detail about her journey to self-worth and the pitfalls that kill our attempts at racial justice. Her stories bear witness to the complexity of America's social fabric and invite the reader to confront apathy, recognise God's ongoing work in the world and discover how Blackness-if we let it-can save us all.
Author: Austin Channing Brown
Paperback Published 10 August 2021 192 pages
Originally published 25 August 2020
“Powerful . . . Brown calls on readers to live their professed ideals rather than simply state them.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Takes readers on a journey through the racial divide in a way we've truly never seen before. Powerful, haunting, and absolutely impossible to put down, [Brown's] account of what it's like to grow up black, middle-class, and female in modern America is not to be missed.”—PopSugar
“A deeply personal celebration of blackness that simultaneously sheds new light on racial injustice and inequality while offering hope for a better future.”—Shondaland
“Moves the race conversation forward . . . Brown offers a powerful perspective on race with her first-hand account.”—WNYC