How to Be Black

By: Baratunde Thurston

Narrated by: Baratunde Thurston

Length: 6 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

Audie Award Nominee, Narration by the Author or Authors, 2013

If you don't buy this book, you're a racist.

Have you ever been called "too Black" or "not Black enough"?

Have you ever befriended or worked with a Black person?

Raised by a pro-Black, Pan-Afrikan single mother during the crack years of 1980s Washington, DC, and educated at Sidwell Friends School and Harvard University, Baratunde Thurston has over 30 years' experience being Black. Now, through stories of his politically inspired Nigerian name, the heroics of his hippie mother, the murder of his drug-abusing father, and other revelatory Black details, he shares with listeners of all colors his wisdom and expertise in how to be Black.

Beyond memoir, this guidebook offers practical advice on everything from "How to Be the Black Friend" to "How to Be the (Next) Black President" to "How to Celebrate Black History Month".

To provide additional perspective, Baratunde assembled an award-winning Black Panel - three Black women; three Black men; and one White man (Christian Lander, author of Stuff White People Like) - and asked them such revealing questions as: "When did you first realize you were Black?" "How Black are you?" "Can you swim?"

The result is a humorous, intelligent, and audacious guide that challenges and satirizes the so-called experts, purists, and racists who purport to speak for all Black people. With honest storytelling and biting wit, Baratunde plots a path not just to blackness, but one open to anyone interested in simply "how to be".

©2012 Baratunde Thurston (P)2012 HarperCollins Publishers

Regardless of your race, you could learn from this

What did you love best about How to Be Black?

Honesty and humor. Thurston's fearlessness serves the reader well.

Any additional comments?

I'm Hispanic. Like a lot of minorities, I can be many things to many people. When I'm visiting with my relatives I'm far browner than I am with my white friends. My best friend used to like to joke that I was whiter than him. It hurt my feelings and I wasn't really able to understand why until Baratunde related similar experiences.
Race (or maybe more accurately culture or appearance) is still an issue in this day and age regardless of how much we want it not to be, and this book does an incredible job of relating the challenges of being a minority with humor. I think the value of this approach is that it can educate without preaching and without alienating the audience.
Of course, his experience isn't all-encompassing, but he admits it. It is still an excellent treatment of the subject and can teach anyone a few things - even a fellow minority.

Humorous Analysis of Race

Baratunde is charming and interesting even if the subject matter is at moments difficult to attend to.

Excellent journey into blackness

What made the experience of listening to How to Be Black the most enjoyable?

The author manged to make a delicate subject into something that can be discussed in a non-offensive way. He covered things that I would love to say to my white friends. The author reading the book allowed him to deliver the information in his own voice. That was very important because some of the humor was subtle.

What did you like best about this story?

I really liked the chapter on how to be black at work. He gave priceless advice on how to handle the holiday party that I attended the week I listened to the book. I also liked the very real ties to DC that were in the book. My wife is a DC native also and I was reminded of where she came from in the book. Finally, I really enjoyed the interview recordings inthe book. It was great to here the black panel in thier own words and voices.

Have you listened to any of Baratunde Thurston’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This is the first book that I have heard Baratunde read but hopefully he would be willing to read other books. He did an excellent job.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Spitting coffee out of my mouth laughing when he described the dangers of dancing at parties was my most extreme reaction. I spent an entire day at work listening and laughing at the very real discriptions of blacks and whites. I also took some time thinking about how to teach my sons about thier heritage as black boys. Because of the book I ensured that we had a black heritage program at church.

Any additional comments?

I highly recommend this book because it uses a humorous approach to embed knowledge and wisdom directly into your soul by passing all of the mental barriers that we put up. It is a quick listen but well worth the monthly credit.

Great insight into the black experience in America

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Great insight into the mainstream, middle-class, higher-learned black population.

What other book might you compare How to Be Black to and why?

Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell. Blink speaks of your gut reaction to the world around you; your first interaction with something/someone new. How To Be Black, is similar as it is a satire on the black experience in an upwardly mobile societal construct that may or may not exist. It's anecdotal and funny with notes of genius insight.

Which scene was your favorite?

The chapter on the black employee.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It was hilarious.

Could Not Stop Laughing.

I. Loved. This.
Extreme Sarcasm.
Maniacal Laughter Inducing.
Satirical Facetiousness at its Best.
Great Read!!!

Great book for black and white people!

Funny, engaging, and enlightening. And I am a white woman, by the way...Baratunde is a great narrator and has a very important message to deliver, in my view. I think this is a great example in which the audio book is better than the actual book (such as William Shatner's autobiography as an audio book, but I am no way comparing Thurston's message to Shatner's).

Fun listen

What made the experience of listening to How to Be Black the most enjoyable?

The delivery was great and it was a fun listen.

What did you like best about this story?

The author has a wry humor that ranges from entertaining to hilarious. I imagine the audio version is better than the book itself as there are recorded interviews with his expert panel members.

Have you listened to any of Baratunde Thurston’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No. But will seek them out.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

A satirical view of being yourself.

I love my blackness and yours

Hilarious, intelligent, multifaceted. This book brings blackness to mind and then asks why we assume it is but one crystallized force in our life. I laughed, I cried, I pondered a reality where I wasn't the black employee and found myself head nodding to all of the things one must do to be the black friend. Truly remarkable

Fantastic "How To" book

I've always concerned myself with being aware of race. I was taught as a child that everyone is the same, but we really aren't. I'm 6'5" and it is very unlikely that more than 1% of you are even within an inch of that height. I'm rather pale, being of an Irish, German, Scottish and northern Italian heritage. That makes me different from other folks. Oh sure, we all are human and have a soul and what not, but we are different creatures from different places and different backgrounds.
Apparently some folks concern themselves with either the color of their skin or the behaviors they exhibit. Sometimes they are told they aren't acting according to a stereotype or opinion held by the observer. This causes a divide for some and a source of angst for others.

So, when Baratunde Thurston asks himself and his panel of Blackness Experts "How Black Are You?", it is a fascinating topic. What does being Black mean to the observer? Do you define "Black" as "Poor Black Child" (thank you Steve Martin)? How about "Militant Urban Activist"? Is your definition based on watching The Wire or The Cosby Show? Listening to Oprah talk or Ice-T? Chuck D or KRS-1?

Reading this book should give you an insight into a singular black experience - as atypical as any other. It should let you better understand that "being Black" isn't about being a thug. Or talking a certain way. It is about being You - just able to dance better than most of your friends.

Tell me - who is more "Black" - Will Smith or Eminem?

Delicious

What did you love best about How to Be Black?

It funny and Honest

What about Baratunde Thurston’s performance did you like?

How he used humor to tell a real story.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes

Any additional comments?

I loved listening to this book because it spoke to parts of my own experience, but also was honest underneath the funny.
Plus, it made me look forward to my 2 hour commute... Magical.

Get your copy today!!! Hurry!!!