Black Magic

What Black Leaders Learned from Trauma and Triumph

By: Chad Sanders

Narrated by: Chad Sanders, Janina Edwards, Sydney Morton, Leon Nixon, Landon Woodson

Length: 7 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

A “daring, urgent, and transformative” (Brené Brown, New York Times best-selling author of Dare to Lead) exploration of Black achievement in a white world based on honest, provocative, and moving interviews with Black leaders, scientists, artists, activists, and champions.

“I remember the day I realized I couldn’t play a white guy as well as a white guy. It felt like a death sentence for my career.”

When Chad Sanders landed his first job in lily-white Silicon Valley, he quickly concluded that to be successful at work meant playing a certain social game. Each meeting was drenched in white slang and the privileged talk of international travel or folk concerts in San Francisco, which led Chad to believe he needed to emulate whiteness to be successful. So Chad changed. He changed his wardrobe, his behavior, his speech - everything that connected him with his Black identity.

And while he finally felt included, he felt awful. So he decided to give up the charade. He reverted to the methods he learned at the dinner table, or at the Black Baptist church where he’d been raised, or at the concrete basketball courts, barbershops, and summertime cookouts. And it paid off. Chad began to land more exciting projects. He earned the respect of his colleagues. Accounting for this turnaround, Chad believes, was something he calls Black Magic, namely resilience, creativity, and confidence forged in his experience navigating America as a Black man. Black Magic has emboldened his every step since, leading him to wonder: Was he alone in this discovery? Were there others who felt the same?

In “pulverizing, educational, and inspirational” (Shea Serrano, number-one New York Times best-selling author of Basketball [And Other Things]) essays, Chad dives into his formative experiences to see if they might offer the possibility of discovering or honing this skill. He tests his theory by interviewing Black leaders across industries to get their take on Black Magic. The result is a revelatory and essential book. Black Magic explores Black experiences in predominantly white environments and demonstrates the risks of self-betrayal and the value of being yourself.

©2021 Chad Sanders. All rights reserved. (P)2021 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

Must read

Great book i think everyone should read this. I appreciate hearing all of their experiences.

Moved to tears several times

The author has a skill of story telling that was magnificent. This book made me feel like a whole person. It revealed beauty in a people many fail to recognize or give credit too. I found myself actually utilizing the book mark feature over and over again. Sisters in this book had some of the most profound, moving words but the men were equally as eloquent.

amazing

fantastic book, loved how the interviewees were in their own voices. great narrative and insights

An must Read/Listen

This book is an absolute must for all people of color. No matter your orientation. However, it is most refreshing to discover an experience of Black success and awareness from an orientation that differs from (respectfully) rags to riches. I am going to gift this book to every young Black man and woman I know. This is a senior high school / College course text and some. Chad develop a course! Thank you from the Suburbs. Well taught.

Loved It!

This book was great! I loved how the author not only discussed his triumphs & hardships with his race but also had friends/colleagues share their experiences.
Black magic and black excellence all throughout!

The Power of you and Desperation

Great read and brilliantly done. Black Excellence is Black Magic and we all have it inside of us.

Absolutely everything I needed...

Intense, powerful, impactful, deep and amazing. Everything I needed in my life right now. Strongly recommend this listen/read for EVERY Black person.

Very inspirational and freeing

It’s great to hear stories about experiencing and processing blackness, whether in school, or at work from so many different successful people. People who look like me and have experienced what I have experienced, talking about topics that I don’t get to hear about or talk about in my everyday corporate, majority white workplace.

Amazing work

Can’t tell you how inspired I was while listening to this book. Amazing words, amazing storyline, amazing everything. If at any point in your life you have felt the need to assimilate and lose part of yourself to “fit in,” then this book is for you! And if not, you may learn how your actions speak to others without you even knowing it.

Worth the investment of time, money,and energy

Mr. Sanders is a captivating storyteller. I say that not as in, "he tells a good story,"(which he does), but he captures the humanness in each story.
The topic of race has become a dividing political force and this book gave me the space to understand deeper, listen, and reflect on my own racist blueprints and my own contribution, or lack there of, for creating safe spaces for people of color and other marginalized humans. This
Thank you, Mr. Sanders, for not turning your black down and telling your truth and those of the others in your book. Black Magic helped me remember the humanity of race. Appreciate you greatly.