Feb 25, 2022
Baratunde Thurston visits Google to discuss his book, How To Be
Black. Drawing from his 30-plus years of personal expertise in
being black, this satirical guide to racial issues includes helpful
essays like “How to Be the Black Friend,” “How to Speak for All
Black People,” and “How To Celebrate Black History Month.”
Audacious, cunning, and razor-sharp, How to Be Black
exposes the mass-media’s insidiously racist, monochromatic
portrayal of black culture’s richness and variety. Fans of "Stuff
White People Like," "This Week in Blackness," and "Ending Racism in
About an Hour" will be captivated, uplifted, incensed, and inspired
by this hilarious and powerful attack on America’s blacklisting of
black culture.
But the book isn't just filled with biting satire - it’s a comedic
memoir, chronicling Baratunde’s coming-of-blackness from being
raised by an Afrocentric single mother in one of Washington D.C.’s
worst neighborhoods, through his education at The Sidwell Friends
School & Harvard, and eventually into becoming a producer for The
Daily Show and digital director of The Onion. How To Be
Black is written for anyone who can read, loves to laugh, and
has ever felt a distance between who they know themselves to be and
what the world expects.
Originally published in March of 2012.
Visit YouTube.com/TalksatGoogle to watch the video.