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A review by jheinemann287
The Other Talk: Reckoning with Our White Privilege by Brendan Kiely
5.0
To be clear, I don't actually know Brendan Kiely. But! A few hours after finishing this audiobook, I did share a virtual stage with him and a bunch of other writers and teachers at the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) 2021 conference. So in my heart, we're friends. Our roundtable session, called "An Unwavering Commitment to Equity and Justice," focused on using classroom libraries and choice reading to work toward equity. #RepresentationMatters. #OwnVoicesMatter. #StudentChoiceMattters.
Kiely was our closing speaker, and he talked briefly about The Other Talk, focusing on how he was kind of a shit teenager. He stole from the gas station convenience store and got out of serious speeding tickets. When I was a teenager, I also stole little things from stores and cried to get out of interactions with the police (speeding, underage drinking, smoking a hookah in a park, etc). Like Kiely, I never felt unsafe when interacting with the police; instead, I felt indignant or annoyed.
This book is for the kind of teenager I was.
With that in mind, my primary criticism about The Other Talk is the cover art. It looks so old-school. Like, it makes the book look old-fashioned and uncool. This is a book for young people, but no kid is going to want to pick it up. So really, I recommend it mainly to adults who spend time with teenagers (at school or at home) because its casual tone and relatable analogies and anecdotes are tools you can add to your own toolbox when it comes to having conversations about race and whiteness. For example, Kiley talks about NBA player Kyle Korver and the difference between "guilt" and "responsibility." White people may not be guilty for the creation of white supremacy, but they're still responsible for it. I also like how he talks about the difference between hearing (sensory recognition) and listening (actually taking it in). When the final bell rights at the end of eighth period, you don't only hear a sound; you hear relief and freedom and the next round of that Mario Kart tournament you're playing with your friends. There's a difference between allowing someone to talk and REALLY listening to what they have to say. To sit with discomfort. To recognize that being uncomfortable isn't the same thing as being unsafe. And if you're really ACTIVELY listening, you are taking action
The last thing I'll say is that I've read a lot of books on race, and this kind of work and thinking feels more contentious right now than ever before. On one side, you have those who are afraid that CRT will brainwash children into hating white people. In many places, it's now illegal to teach about systemic racism. Additionally, you have people who do believe in talking and teaching about race but who find someone like Robin DiAngelo, as a white educator who makes money off of consulting about race, problematic. And here we have a white man writing about whiteness and white privilege. Kiley is to Kendi and Reynolds's Stamped the way DiAngelo is to Stamped from the Beginning. Personally, as a white person who teaches in a diverse school, I feel I have a lot to learn from all these sources. There's always more to learn. There's no one-and-done catch-all PD session or book that will check the box of race. So as readers and learners and teachers, we need to accept that the learning is never done and that we need to meet other learners where they are.
Kiely was our closing speaker, and he talked briefly about The Other Talk, focusing on how he was kind of a shit teenager. He stole from the gas station convenience store and got out of serious speeding tickets. When I was a teenager, I also stole little things from stores and cried to get out of interactions with the police (speeding, underage drinking, smoking a hookah in a park, etc). Like Kiely, I never felt unsafe when interacting with the police; instead, I felt indignant or annoyed.
This book is for the kind of teenager I was.
With that in mind, my primary criticism about The Other Talk is the cover art. It looks so old-school. Like, it makes the book look old-fashioned and uncool. This is a book for young people, but no kid is going to want to pick it up. So really, I recommend it mainly to adults who spend time with teenagers (at school or at home) because its casual tone and relatable analogies and anecdotes are tools you can add to your own toolbox when it comes to having conversations about race and whiteness. For example, Kiley talks about NBA player Kyle Korver and the difference between "guilt" and "responsibility." White people may not be guilty for the creation of white supremacy, but they're still responsible for it. I also like how he talks about the difference between hearing (sensory recognition) and listening (actually taking it in). When the final bell rights at the end of eighth period, you don't only hear a sound; you hear relief and freedom and the next round of that Mario Kart tournament you're playing with your friends. There's a difference between allowing someone to talk and REALLY listening to what they have to say. To sit with discomfort. To recognize that being uncomfortable isn't the same thing as being unsafe. And if you're really ACTIVELY listening, you are taking action
The last thing I'll say is that I've read a lot of books on race, and this kind of work and thinking feels more contentious right now than ever before. On one side, you have those who are afraid that CRT will brainwash children into hating white people. In many places, it's now illegal to teach about systemic racism. Additionally, you have people who do believe in talking and teaching about race but who find someone like Robin DiAngelo, as a white educator who makes money off of consulting about race, problematic. And here we have a white man writing about whiteness and white privilege. Kiley is to Kendi and Reynolds's Stamped the way DiAngelo is to Stamped from the Beginning. Personally, as a white person who teaches in a diverse school, I feel I have a lot to learn from all these sources. There's always more to learn. There's no one-and-done catch-all PD session or book that will check the box of race. So as readers and learners and teachers, we need to accept that the learning is never done and that we need to meet other learners where they are.