A review by thebooklovingpanda
Loud Black Girls: 20 Black Women Writers Ask: What's Next? by Elizabeth Uviebinené, Yomi Adegoke

4.0

The fact is that plurality, polyvocality, multiplicity - however we describe it - functions to counterbalance invisibility and reductionist stereotyping.

4.8 stars

I loved how many different perspectives this anthology collects, and the multivocality it makes space for on the experience of being a Black woman, today, in the past, looking to the future. This anthology perfectly illustrates the complex danger of stereotypes and how it puts undue pressure on people to act a certain way - especially when you don't want to play into a stereotype but also want to be true to your natural personality. Some essays were 'tighter' with a clear theme while others were more meandering, but all were fascinating. While all are thoughtful essays, I did tend to find the former category easier to follow.

Many anecdotes, ideas and experiences in these essays really resonated, and I definitely became aware of points I'd not previously considered, for example the racism in the Western media's reporting of the apparent negative health effects of an Afro-Caribbean diet as opposed to analysing systemic health inequalities (as discussed in Kuba Shand-Baptiste's essay).

Here's a few of my favourite quotes:

Not every change needs to begin with a fanfare.

- Candice Brathwaite

The best black complex is the materialisation of a Darwinian 'survival of the fittest' mode that black people develop in corporate spaces, which falsely encourages us to believe that only other black individuals are our competitors. Why? Because white mediocrity does not exist: societal structures does not allow whiteness to be mediocre.

...[T]he idea of hyper(in)visibility where black individuals are seen as a hyper-visible, indivisible collective (the 'other') and individuality is reserved as a privilege of whiteness.

- Elisabeth Fapuro

This is the dance of history, with progressive leaps forward being met with vicious opposition from those wishing to keep the status quo.

- Jendella Benson

I've had enough of the consumption of Black grief, pain, sorrow and strife. Striving for Black joy must be central in our quest. It is foundational for any vision of freedom.

- Siana Bangura

Taking my time with this anthology helped me absorb the essays better than if I'd binged the whole book, so personally I'd recommend reading a couple essays at a time, letting them sink in (maybe ruminate on the ideas a little) before beginning the next.

Thank you to NetGalley and Fourth Estate for an eARC for an honest review.