• This Is Major

  • Notes on Diana Ross, Dark Girls, and Being Dope
  • By: Shayla Lawson
  • Narrated by: Shayla Lawson
  • Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (23 ratings)

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This Is Major  By  cover art

This Is Major

By: Shayla Lawson
Narrated by: Shayla Lawson
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Publisher's summary

From a fierce and humorous new voice comes a relevant, insightful, and riveting collection of personal essays on the richness and resilience of Black girl culture - for fans of Samantha Irby, Roxane Gay, Morgan Jerkins, and Lindy West.

Shayla Lawson is major. You don’t know who she is. Yet. But that’s okay. She is on a mission to move Black girls like herself from best supporting actress to a starring role in the major narrative. Whether she’s taking on workplace microaggressions or upending racist stereotypes about her home state of Kentucky, she looks for the side of the story that isn’t always told, the places where the voices of Black girls haven’t been heard.

The essays in This Is Major ask questions like: Why are Black women invisible to AI? What is “Black girl magic”? Or: Am I one viral tweet away from becoming Twitter famous? And: How much magic does it take to land a Tinder date?

With a unique mix of personal stories, pop culture observations, and insights into politics and history, Lawson sheds light on these questions, as well as the many ways Black women and girls have influenced mainstream culture - from their style, to their language, and even their art - and how “major” they really are.

Timely, enlightening, and wickedly sharp, This Is Major places Black women at the center - no longer silenced, no longer the minority.

©2020 Shayla Lawson (P)2020 HarperAudio
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

Critic reviews

"Shayla Lawson's agile narration adds another layer of depth to this collection of essays about Black girlhood and womanhood.... What's especially remarkable is how Lawson alters her voice to fit her material. In an essay about performing For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/ When the Rainbow Is Enuf in high school, her tone is somber and reflective. In a piece about racism in the workplace, she infuses her voice with sharp humor. When she's talking about singer Diana Ross, you can hear the smile beneath her words. Her narration is as varied as the essays, making this audiobook a true pleasure to listen to." (AudioFile magazine)

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Love myself even more after reading this !

I love this book shows how black women manifest in greatness. The different examples and aspects described empowered me. Shayla Lawson was funny, bold, and real with this and I loved every bit of it!

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