Hello readers. Let’s pat ourselves on the back because we have made it to our first book review of 2021! And what better way to start than the follow-up to one of my favourite books of 2018?
Back then, I read and reviewed Slay in Your Lane by Yomi Adegoke and Elizabeth Uviebeniné. I loved it so much that when I discovered the ladies were coming back bigger and better, and this time with twenty new Black British women I did a small dance!
Loud Black Girls is a collection of essays written by twenty new Black British women covering a range of topics from finances to Brexit and body image. Here, we love the stories and writing of black women so this is definitely a “me” book! But before we get into that, let’s do a quick recap on the first book, Slay In Your Lane: Far from just an eloquent expression of the injustices Black British women face daily, such as wide salary discrepancies and social media abuse, the aim of Slay In Your Lane is to inform and empower. Its non-fiction content provides everything a Black woman will need to navigate British society.
Now, back to Loud Black Girls. The aim of the book is to motivate the Black British woman to use her voice to shout about the subjects that are close to her heart and to do it unapologetically. For too long we’ve been placed in the margins of public discourse on just about any topic when in reality, we are just as much in the centre as anyone else. And it seems refusing to turn down the volume of our voices for the last few years is working. As author Bernadine Evaristo puts it in the foreword, “barriers are slowly dissolving due to our collective voices”. I mean the publication of this book is proof, even if it’s one step of a very long journey.
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Twenty New Black British Women, Twenty New Chapters
Each chapter is prefaced with a brief introduction to the writer by Yomi and Elizabeth: after a short description of how they know the contributor, plus a list of each woman’s accolades and what they do daily, the chapter begins. Contributors include Kuba Shand-Baptiste (who I have sat next to in the BBC Radio 4 studio), Phoebe Parke and Paula Akpan (who I have met at a book event). The essays or chapters have titles such as “As Loud as Lagos Traffic”, “Eating Britain’s Racism” and “The Quandry of Securing the Bag”.
I think one of the chapters I have most resonated with so far is Kuba Shand-Baptiste’s “Eating Britain’s Racism”, where she describes her problematic relationship with the Caribbean food prepared by her mother due to its lack of positive representation in mainstream British society. As a fat girl, my relationship with food has also been complicated!
You may also want to read: Finding my Fattily Ever After
I am yet to finish Loud Black Girls, so am I enjoying it so far? What do you think? Yes, of course I am. Like I expressed earlier, it is a “me” book. What I like the most is the fact that the topics covered are not the cliché “wearing my afro to work”, or “racism in the workplace” (as valid as they may be). The writing is diverse and wide, which just shows how relevant Black women voices are in ALL facets of life. It shows that we have the range to speak on more than a handful of topics.
Also, the editors, Yomi Adegoke and Uviebeniné, sharing the intimate details on their first encounter with each contributor adds a personal touch. For example, when it comes to Phoebe Park, social media editor and journalist at Grazia UK, “Phoebe was an undergraduate at Warrick University at the same time as Yomi”, the ladies narrate.
If you are yet to buy or read a book, and you are wondering what it should be, I definitely would consider Loud Black Girls. Let me know if you have already read it, and if you have, share your opinion below.
