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A review by sallyneate
Think Black: A Memoir of Sacrifice, Success, and Self-Loathing in Corporate America by Clyde W. Ford
3.0
3.5 stars. An enjoyable and informative book with an interesting perspective on a whole range of issues relating to the author and his father's experiences as Black men working for a giant technology corporation in the mid 20th century. I thought the author did a great job at contextualising his family experiences and linking to the wider civil rights movement and global events. It would have been great to go deeper into some of that context - I felt like that there was scope to explore even more.
The author explains up-front that many of the conversations and details in the book were based on suppositions and general recollections of family members, so chose to describe a lot of stuff in hypothetical terms. While it was good to be candid about that, the choice meant that sometimes the language got a bit clunky about who would have said what, and I think it would have been fine to take a more concrete approach, having already explained that everything isn't verbatim.
Overall, this was a really unique read and I would recommend to anyone with a specific interest in the history of technology and its social impact, and how two-faced corporations are when it comes to claiming to promote equality and diversity while their business practices clearly show the opposite.
The author explains up-front that many of the conversations and details in the book were based on suppositions and general recollections of family members, so chose to describe a lot of stuff in hypothetical terms. While it was good to be candid about that, the choice meant that sometimes the language got a bit clunky about who would have said what, and I think it would have been fine to take a more concrete approach, having already explained that everything isn't verbatim.
Overall, this was a really unique read and I would recommend to anyone with a specific interest in the history of technology and its social impact, and how two-faced corporations are when it comes to claiming to promote equality and diversity while their business practices clearly show the opposite.