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504 reviews for:
You Are Your Best Thing: Vulnerability, Shame Resilience, and the Black Experience
Tarana Burke, Brené Brown
4.56 AVERAGE
504 reviews for:
You Are Your Best Thing: Vulnerability, Shame Resilience, and the Black Experience
Tarana Burke, Brené Brown
4.56 AVERAGE
This was a collection of stories brought together as an anthology about the black experience with vulnerability. It feels wrong to even provide a rating to something so personal for which I wasn't the intended audience. I did find many of the essays beautiful and sad and thought provoking.
3.5 Stars for me, it was interesting but some of the stories I had to take a pause on. They either hit me in the feels or I had to rerun something in my head cause I couldn't believe what I read. Still a good book though.
3.5
An important topic and I appreciated many of the stories and insights shared, however the essays are only loosely connected to one another and some have more substance to them. Jason Reynolds' "Between Us: A Reckoning with My Mother" and Jessica Williams' "Black Surrender within the Ivory Tower were my favourites.
An important topic and I appreciated many of the stories and insights shared, however the essays are only loosely connected to one another and some have more substance to them. Jason Reynolds' "Between Us: A Reckoning with My Mother" and Jessica Williams' "Black Surrender within the Ivory Tower were my favourites.
I truly enjoyed listening to this audiobook and would definitely purchase this for my personal collection. I also think it would become one of the books I'd reread as I get older because it touches on so many different aspects of life (childhood, motherhood, early careers, aging, etc.). As a Black woman, I related to a lot of the content but as I was reading, I was thinking about how the themes and stories related to so many of my family members.
There’s a lot of hope in this book, and a lot of pain. What I truly appreciate about is it’s power in helping Black people see themselves. The power of reflection cannot be overstated. Some essays were clearer reads than others. A couple of my favorite contributions were those by: Sonya Rene Taylor, Prentiss Hemphill, Tanya Denise Fields and Yolo Akili Robinson. If you’ve been thinking about reading this - you should.
I wish that content warnings and trigger warnings were included before each collection of writings because that would have been helpful, just like in Alice Wong's Disability Visibility
It's a beautiful anthology and I will admit that I was skeptical of Brene Brown editing a collection of Black writers humanizing their pain, shame, and guilt, and the Black experience. Just like I would be if it were any other non-Black person. I'm still unsure how to feel about that, but I also don't think that my opinion matters too much because I'm not Black. I think so long as the writers & Tarana Burke trusted Brene, that's what matters most here.
It's a beautiful anthology and I will admit that I was skeptical of Brene Brown editing a collection of Black writers humanizing their pain, shame, and guilt, and the Black experience. Just like I would be if it were any other non-Black person. I'm still unsure how to feel about that, but I also don't think that my opinion matters too much because I'm not Black. I think so long as the writers & Tarana Burke trusted Brene, that's what matters most here.
Okay this book was so raw in a way that I feel like only memoirs can be. Every essay brought a unique perspective on shame and vulnerability within their experience as a Black person. As someone who does not share that identity, it is very educating to be able to step into someone else's shoes just for a brief story. I think being able to empathize and share in the experiences of others which we wouldn't be able to experience on our own is deeply humanizing and creates compassion for one another.
Specifically, Tarana Burke's closing essay was very familiar to me and gave me the complex feeling of reveling in the way that others have had these thoughts/feelings, but knowing those thoughts/feelings are indicative of harm.
Overall, I love being able to learn through my joy of reading; easy 5/5
Specifically, Tarana Burke's closing essay was very familiar to me and gave me the complex feeling of reveling in the way that others have had these thoughts/feelings, but knowing those thoughts/feelings are indicative of harm.
Overall, I love being able to learn through my joy of reading; easy 5/5
This anthology is a gift. I’m glad it exists. Shame is so toxic and something that we carry and pass on without ever dealing with it. This book deals with it in many ways. Centering the uniqueness of Black shame and trauma is necessary. My personal favorite essays came from (no surprise) Kiese Laymon, Jason Reynolds, and Jessica J. Williams.
My only critique is that the essays don’t feel rooted or connected to each other. They’re all so different the book becomes confusing. What is the tone they were attempting strike. Some essays are narrative and personal some rely heavily on therapy jargon and terminology.
My only critique is that the essays don’t feel rooted or connected to each other. They’re all so different the book becomes confusing. What is the tone they were attempting strike. Some essays are narrative and personal some rely heavily on therapy jargon and terminology.