Ijeoma Oluo is a writer and speaker whose work on race has been featured in The Guardian, New Yorkmagazine, xoJane, Jezebel, and more. She is also an editor-at-large at The Establishment, and Seattle magazine named her "one of the most influential people" in Seattle.
"So You Want to Talk About Race is a phenomenal read and
it's helping me articulate conversations I want and need to
have."--Adib Khorram, Morris Award--winning author of Darius
the Great Is Not Okay
"So You Want to Talk About Race is warm and foundational
enough for people beginning their journey to understanding racism
in America, and thought-provoking and challenging enough for people
who believe themselves to be well-versed on the subject. In short,
it's for everyone. Ijeoma's voice cuts through all the noise and
stays with you."--Emily V. Gordon, co-writer of The Big Sick
and author of Super You: Release Your Inner Superhero
"So You Want to Talk About Race strikes the perfect balance
of direct and brutally honest without being preachy or, worse,
condescending. Regardless of your comfort level, educational
background, or experience when it comes to talking about race,
Ijeoma has created a wonderful tool to help broach these
conversations and help us work toward a better world for people of
color from all walks of life."
--Franchesca Ramsey, host and executive producer of MTV's
Decoded and author of Well, That Escalated Quickly
"So You Want To Talk About Race is a landmark book for our
times. Oluo does more than deliver tough, blunt truths about the
realities of racism, power and oppression. She also, in bracing
fashion, offers a vision of hope; a message that through dialogue
and struggle, we can emancipate ourselves from what she calls 'the
nation's oldest pyramid scheme: white supremacy.' That is why I
don't think this is merely one of the most important books of the
last decade. It is also one of the most optimistic. To write such a
book in these difficult times is in and of itself, a daring and
beautiful act."--Dave Zirin, sports editor at The Nation and
author of What's My Name, Fool?: Sports and Resistance in the
United States
"A must-read primer on the politics of American
racism."--Bustle
"Fascinating, real, and necessary, a superb compendium reckoning
with race, gender, and identity in white America."--The Root
"I am in awe of Ijeoma. She is the smartest, most courageous and
electrifying young writer on race relations today -- the voice of
our times. Let her be your guidepost. She will make you think and
she will make you feel. Follow Ijeoma Oluo and thrill to the
challenge, beginning right here with So You Want To Talk About
Race."--Robin DiAngelo, author of White Fragility
"I don't think I've ever seen a writer have such an instant,
visceral, electric impact on readers. Ijeoma Oluo's intellectual
clarity and moral sure-footedness make her the kind of unstoppable
force that obliterates the very concept of immovable
objects."--Lindy West, New York Times-bestselling author of
Shrill
"Ijeoma Oluo has built a career on speaking truth to power...
[here] she offers a guidebook for those who want to confront racism
and white supremacy in their everyday lives, but are unsure where
to start."
--Bitch
"Ijeoma Oluo is armed with words. Her words are daggers that pierce
through injustice, while also disarming you with humor and
love."--Hari Kondabolu, comedian, writer, and co-host of
Politically Re-Active, -
"Ijeoma Oluo-writing on any subject-is compassionate brilliance
personified, and I am so grateful for her work and her voice. She
is the first writer I name when anyone asks who they should read to
help them think about and navigate issues of race and identity,
help them understand what solidarity means and what it requires of
all of us. So You Want to Talk About Race is a book for
everyone, but especially for people of color who need to feel seen
and heard."--Nicole Chung, author of All You Can Ever
Know
"Ijeoma Oluo's So You Want to Talk About Race is a welcome
gift to us all -- a critical offering during a moment when the hard
work of social transformation is hampered by the inability of
anyone who benefits from systemic racism to reckon with its costs.
Oluo's mandate is clear and powerful: change will not come unless
we are brave enough to name and remove the many forces at work
strangling freedom. Racial supremacy is but one of those
forces."
--Darnell L. Moore, author of No Ashes in the Fire
"Ijeoma Oluo's work is where candor meets wisdom, where
intelligence meets action, where prose meets power. With her
indelible combination of lived experience and research, she is one
of the most important people writing about this current moment for
our country and our world. So You Want to Talk About Race is
a book that I have recommended to countless people-and that I will
continue to recommend for years to come."--Rakesh Satyal,
author of Blue Boy and No One Can Pronounce My Name
"Impassioned and unflinching"
--Vogue.com
"Oluo has created a brilliant and thought-provoking work.
Seamlessly connecting deeply moving personal stories with practical
solutions, readers will leave with inspiration and tools to help
create personal and societal transformations. A necessary read for
any white person seriously committed to better understanding race
in the United States."
--Matt McGorry, actor, -
"Oluo's approach to the complex topic of race in America is direct,
helpful, and compassionate."--800-CEO-Reads Staff Picks
"One of the few guiding lights to emerge in our post-election
landscape...the goal isn't to call out the 'bad' white people and
console the 'good' ones, but to raise the bar for all of us
committed to equality and justice."
--The Stranger
"Read it, then recommend it to everyone you know."--Harper's
Bazaar, "One of 10 Books to Read in 2018"
"Simply put: Ijeoma Oluo is a necessary voice and intellectual for
these times, and any time, truth be told. Her ability to write so
smartly and honestly with strokes of humor about race in America is
heaven sent and demonstrates just how desperately we all
need to be talking about race, and perhaps, more importantly, this
insightful book shows those in power or privilege how they need to
listen."--Phoebe Robinson, New York Times bestselling
author of You Can't Touch My Hair and Everything's Trash, But It's
Okay
"Straight talk to blacks and whites about the realities of
racism.... A clear and candid contribution to an essential
conversation."
--Kirkus Reviews
"What Ijeoma Oluo has done, and continues to do, is nothing short
of revolutionary -- she has created a conversational guide and laid
out a movement-building blueprint for people of all races who are
invested in self-assessment, open to being challenged, and
committed to collective progress. One of the most important voices
of our time, Oluo encourages us to be the conversation starters in
our own lives and to keep talking -- someone who needs to hear us
is listening."--Feminista Jones, author of Reclaiming Our
Space
"When you need a super team to help you make sense of today's
complex conversation on identity and representation, Ijeoma needs
to be your number one pick. No one cuts through the chatter with
more humor, insight and clarity. No matter the issue, Ijeoma's
thinking is always essential reading."
--Jenny Yang, comedian, writer, and co-founder and co-producer
of Dis/orient/ed Comedy, -
"White readers will find answers to many of the questions we might
be afraid to ask. Readers who are people of color will find their
experiences seen, heard, and believed. All readers will find
themselves enraptured."--The Denver VOICE
"With this book, Ijeoma Oluo gives us -- both white people and
people of color -- that language to engage in clear, constructive,
and confident dialogue with each other about how to deal with
racial prejudices and biases."
--National Book Review
"You are not going to find a more user-friendly examination of race
in America than Ijeoma Oluo's fantastic new book. The writing is
elegantly simple, which is a real feat when tackling such a thorny
issue. Think of it as Race for the Willing-to-Listen."
--Andy Richter, writer and actor, -
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