2021: A fabulous collection of stories that take Brené Brown's work and provide context for how it impacts the Black experience.

A lot of these essays were sad and overwhelming and full of people working through their trauma. This book does not offer many ways for improvement, nor many solutions to the problems presented. Rather, it is a group of shared experiences, for other Black folks to read and see their own stories reflected. It's also a great resource for Black stories to be shared in the hopes of non-Black folks understanding the part that intergenerational trauma plays in

Tarana Burke leads the way in this essay collection, both as co-editor and anchoring-essay-author. She does not hesitate diving in to the ways in which white supremacy impacts her day to day life, as well providing a harrowing account of the terrible medical issues she experiences as a result of her trauma.

I was thrilled to see so many people included who I now know and recognize after a lot of my own work over the past year especially (Tanya Denise Fields! Aiko D. Bethea! Luvvie Ajayi Jones!) But the biggest negative for me here was due to the wide variety of Black thinkers and authors included, the essays were left feeling quite disparate and disconnected overall.

Also, big plus for another audiobook read (in part!) by Bahni Turpin!!