How to Be Black

Black is back! Whether measured by the election and national confusion arising from the half-black presidency of Barack Obama or the celebrity of superstars like LeBron James and Oprah Winfrey or the narrowly-defined images of hip hop, crime, and poverty, America is talking about race again - but in the same tired, old way. "How To Be Black" takes the national conversation to a whole new level, combining irreverent step-by-step instructions, personal memoir, and resource guides to meet every reader's blackness needs. An expert at being black, Baratunde Thurston has had more than 30 years of living and redefining blackness, including the influences of a pro-black, Pan-Afrikan, hippie, single mother, surviving the crack years of 1980s inner-city D.C. (the violence of which claimed his father's life when Thurston was six years old), and by attending the best educational institutions this nation has to offer. Now he's sharing his know-how with readers of all colors, from the African-American who feels trapped by the ham-fisted, marketing-driven definition of what black is supposed to be to a non-black who wants to get strange looks on the subway.With advice and insight on everything from How To Be The Black Friend to How To Speak For All Black People to How To Celebrate Black History Month, this humorous and audacious guide pokes fun at the so-called experts, purists, and racists who think they know what black people believe, do, stand for, and like. It is also a unique and funny account of growing up black in America today. "How to Be Black" includes interviews with: Victor Varnado, Director, Comedian, "The Awkward Comedy Show" on Comedy Central; Damali Ayo, Author of "Rent a Negro"; Elon James White, Creator of "This Week in Blackness"; Jacquetta Szathmari, Creator of the show "That's Funny", "You Didn't Sound Black on the Phone"; W. Kamau Bell, Creator of the show "Ending Racism in About an Hour"; and, Christian Lander, "Stuff White People Like".