Sign in with Facebook
Dawn Livingston's Reviews > The Awkward Thoughts of W. Kamau Bell: Tales of a 6' 4", African American, Heterosexual, Cisgender, Left-Leaning, Asthmatic, Black and Proud Blerd, Mama's Boy, Dad, and Stand-Up Comedian
The Awkward Thoughts of W. Kamau Bell: Tales of a 6' 4", African American, Heterosexual, Cisgender, Left-Leaning, Asthmatic, Black and Proud Blerd, Mama's Boy, Dad, and Stand-Up Comedian
by
by
I stumbled over United Shades of America on tv and found it interesting then saw this book in my local library on the new shelves.
The book reads like Bell speaks and that was good, I didn't find it hard to read and the familiarity was reassuring. He came across on paper as he does in USoA... likeable, laid-back, smart. His book was very thought provoking and it left me at times amused, confused, frustrated. His book made me want to talk to him, or someone, regarding the racism he deals with and his point of view. I learned a new word, cisgender. I read the word "cracker" to refer to white people twice. I read "white devil" used to refer to a white person once. I learned about "white privilege" which I kind of believe.
I got to around page 258 and was thinking about quitting because I wasn't enjoying the book anymore, it had become like a pebble in the shoe. But then Bell doesn't want you to necessarily enjoy the book, he wants you to be motivated to act against racism so if he gets under your skin all the better I'm guessing.
Well, he has some points, he was no more or less funny than he is in USoA, he talks more about his comedy career than interested me. The book was worthwhile if you want to learn more about the author, a career in comedy, racism. It may challenge you, it may aggravate you, you might feel as if he's preaching to the choir. You'll only know for sure if you read it.
I won't buy it or likely read it again.
Now that I think of it, I actually need another kind of book that I don't think Bell could write. I live in Cleveland, Ohio where the city is mostly black/colored/etc. and I'm white. How do I talk to a young black man, sometimes a teen that looks through me when I say hello, like I'm dirt? Maybe he's so stunned to be greeted by a white female that that he's speechless? How do I deal with my hate of seeing young black men with their pants hanging down showing their underwear, sometimes even most of their butts. How do I deal with the person in a car with rap blasting usually including swear words? How do I handle black men who call another black person the n word. I HATE that. It just makes my blood boil. These things really get under my skin. I know I'm racist but how do I deal with these things that drive me nuts that I associate with black people.
Oh, and I tried to listen to both Jay-Z and Tupac to try to figure out what people see in them but the swearing is a real turn off, too hard to get beyond that but I'm guessing that I'm an exception. I just don't swear much and don't like it in the music I listen to especially when it's b!tches, the n word, the f word and mf. Don't get me wrong, I've listened to songs with swearing but I can't think of one off-hand and it's not extreme swearing like I mentioned above. I just don't get hip hop and rap and probably never will. They can be as poetic and clever as they want but the swearing... And it seems that rap and hip hop glorify "thug life". I'm not 100% sure what that means but it doesn't sound positive. It seems to make the criminal the hero and the cop the villain. I can kind of understand considering I do believe that black people have been treated unfairly because they are black but if there is no respect for law enforcement then doesn't that lead to chaos, lawlessness? So many frustrations, aggravations, but the book still has me thinking after having finished the book three weeks ago. Maybe I need to go to some kind of something where black and white can discuss things without guns being drawn. No idea what that is or where it is so that's the end of that.
The book reads like Bell speaks and that was good, I didn't find it hard to read and the familiarity was reassuring. He came across on paper as he does in USoA... likeable, laid-back, smart. His book was very thought provoking and it left me at times amused, confused, frustrated. His book made me want to talk to him, or someone, regarding the racism he deals with and his point of view. I learned a new word, cisgender. I read the word "cracker" to refer to white people twice. I read "white devil" used to refer to a white person once. I learned about "white privilege" which I kind of believe.
I got to around page 258 and was thinking about quitting because I wasn't enjoying the book anymore, it had become like a pebble in the shoe. But then Bell doesn't want you to necessarily enjoy the book, he wants you to be motivated to act against racism so if he gets under your skin all the better I'm guessing.
Well, he has some points, he was no more or less funny than he is in USoA, he talks more about his comedy career than interested me. The book was worthwhile if you want to learn more about the author, a career in comedy, racism. It may challenge you, it may aggravate you, you might feel as if he's preaching to the choir. You'll only know for sure if you read it.
I won't buy it or likely read it again.
Now that I think of it, I actually need another kind of book that I don't think Bell could write. I live in Cleveland, Ohio where the city is mostly black/colored/etc. and I'm white. How do I talk to a young black man, sometimes a teen that looks through me when I say hello, like I'm dirt? Maybe he's so stunned to be greeted by a white female that that he's speechless? How do I deal with my hate of seeing young black men with their pants hanging down showing their underwear, sometimes even most of their butts. How do I deal with the person in a car with rap blasting usually including swear words? How do I handle black men who call another black person the n word. I HATE that. It just makes my blood boil. These things really get under my skin. I know I'm racist but how do I deal with these things that drive me nuts that I associate with black people.
Oh, and I tried to listen to both Jay-Z and Tupac to try to figure out what people see in them but the swearing is a real turn off, too hard to get beyond that but I'm guessing that I'm an exception. I just don't swear much and don't like it in the music I listen to especially when it's b!tches, the n word, the f word and mf. Don't get me wrong, I've listened to songs with swearing but I can't think of one off-hand and it's not extreme swearing like I mentioned above. I just don't get hip hop and rap and probably never will. They can be as poetic and clever as they want but the swearing... And it seems that rap and hip hop glorify "thug life". I'm not 100% sure what that means but it doesn't sound positive. It seems to make the criminal the hero and the cop the villain. I can kind of understand considering I do believe that black people have been treated unfairly because they are black but if there is no respect for law enforcement then doesn't that lead to chaos, lawlessness? So many frustrations, aggravations, but the book still has me thinking after having finished the book three weeks ago. Maybe I need to go to some kind of something where black and white can discuss things without guns being drawn. No idea what that is or where it is so that's the end of that.
Sign into Goodreads to see if any of your friends have read
The Awkward Thoughts of W. Kamau Bell.
Sign In »
Reading Progress
June 27, 2017
–
Started Reading
June 27, 2017
– Shelved
June 27, 2017
– Shelved as:
to-read
June 28, 2017
–
22.06%
"enjoying it so far. fortunately it's written like he talks. funny, I read it but I can hear his voice reading it. ever happen to you before? means it's well written, fits the person."
page
75
June 30, 2017
–
Finished Reading
July 4, 2017
– Shelved as:
worth-reading-but-not-owning
Comments Showing 1-3 of 3 (3 new)
date
newest »
newest »
Kelsey wrote: "I like Bell's writing voice too, and am also finding the book thought-provoking (I'm almost done with it). SURJ (which he mentions in the book) has been really helpful to me as a resource where I c..."Thanks for the info!
To piggy-back on Isabel - while you are doing this (finding a Showing Up for Racial Justice group, reading up on structural racism in all its facets), I might recommend Waking Up White by Debbie Irving. It's not my favorite book about race ever, but it's a nice "intro to thinking about whiteness" book, written by a fellow white person.You mention wanting to talk with people of all races "without guns being drawn." As a white person, it has been my experience that white people often feel far more defensive than we need to when it comes to conversations about race. We are really not so fragile that being told "what you said is racist" is going to kill us. That said, it's not a bad idea to start having these conversations with fellow white people first, to get comfortable with both speaking, and listening, about race and racism. I think we've also been trained to feel like we always need to have the answers - or at least to *seem* like we have the answers - but what we really need is to start listening more to People of Color's direct experiences without trying to explain, diminish, etc, what they are experiencing. It will take some getting used to, but again, we are not that fragile, and our feelings should not be protected at the cost of People of Color!
I'm glad that you acknowledged that your thoughts are racist. I think that's a good first step. Remember that reading things like what you wrote can feel very violent to the people you are referring to, just as it can feel violent to us white women when we read and hear very misogynistic statements from people with gender privilege, or when misogynistic stereotypes of women being weak, manipulative, worthless, b*tchy, etc, are perpetuated. Words have a lot of power, and those of us with privilege (whether gender, racial, economic, or anything else) need to be careful with how we use them.
I also heard of the book through the podcast that Bell mentions co-hosting in the book, Politically Reactive, and I've found it really helpful as a resource on anti-racist activism and what I can do as a white person to help contribute to it. You might find that helpful too.