Carefree Black Girls

A thoughtful look at someone's thoughts and feelings about their own existence in society.

In a series of thoughtful essays, author Zeba Blay demonstrates through her personal experiences why the hashtag she helped create and popularize, CarefreeBlackGirls, is more aspirational than realistic. Blay covers more than racism, but connects society's colorism, misogyny, fatphobia and more to their racist roots. I was riveted to the they immersed the reader in their own world. The entire book was so personal, I can't imagine the strength it must take to publish so much of yourself and send it out into the world. But that's what makes reading it so important. You as the reader cannot separate yourself by any possible means, and as a white reader I was forced to try and understand, I had to grapple with my own ignorance and confusion. But it also brings hope: here is one author very aware of herself and her thoughts and her feelings, so maybe the rest of us can be that way too, and maybe once in awhile we can even attempt to extend that awareness to others.

Readers should only pick up Carefree Black Girls if they are ready to walk a mile in someone else's shoes, and you might like it if you enjoyed books like The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honoree Jeffers, The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green, and I'm Possible by Richard Antoine White, or shows in the vein of Dear White People (Netflix) or Black-ish (abc).