You Are Your Best Thing: Vulnerability, Shame Resilience, and the Black Experience Hardcover – April 27, 2021

This book is written to give voice to the experiences of Black people. Too often, they may be only be seen at those who are impacted most directly by racism. That is a part of their identity, and they also live lives of blessing and strength and challenge.This book is a collection of essays from writers, artists, educators, activists and others. They speak in the first person, in Tarana Burke's words, to "give our humanity breathing room."You Are Your Best Thing: Vulnerability, Shame Resilience, and the Black Experience, edited by Tarana Burke and Brene Brown.From the introduction by the editors:Brene: I kept thinking about bell hook's concept of lovelessness and how she talks about lovelessness as the root of white supremacy and the patriarchy and all forms of oppression. And that the answer to lovelessness is love. I've read bell hooks for thirty years, but these essays and the process of co-creating with you taught me what love in the face of lovelessness really feels like. The marrow of it. When you say, "I don't trust any antiracism work that doesn't embrace and see our humanity," I can feel the call for love. I get it so fully right now. It's like you're telling us that if you don't see the heart and the love and the humanity and the joy of the Black experience -- of Black humanity -- then the anti-racism work is bankrupt.Tarana: Exactly. It's just like knowing something intellectually but not feeling it, and this is feeling work. It's heart work as much as it is head work. Those two things have to be in tandem. And I love that we have the ability to make this offering to Black folks who have felt stifled in this moment and overwhelmed and have not had space.This is not a book to be rushed through. It is a book to breathe into, to weep with, to celebrate. I invite you to savor it, even if, like me, a white woman, you feel a bit like a peeping tom.

This book has lightened the load and fed my soul. It captures the Black experience so vividly and beautifully. I see myself in this book. As I read each page I was excited to see what was next! Such a great read! This book is a read that’s necessary and fulfilling. This book provokes thought, a sense of understanding and belonging, and healing. Get the book!!!! Gift the book!

I was compelled to read “You Are The Best Thing: vulnerability, shame, resilience, and the Black experience”, because as a white person, and as a social justice and healthcare enthusiast I wanted to deepen my understanding of the Black experience in the United States, and also because I have a ton of respect for the work of both these editor/authors, Tarana Burke and Brene Brown, and I knew that this book had a lot of promise.I found that the most profound aspect of these amazing essays was how well the authors were able to communicate their experiences into such universal truths, in such a way that it would be really difficult not to relate to these intimate experiences and narratives - a powerful empathy generating body of work. Furthermore, the wisdom and strategies regarding how to manage being othered, exploited, targeted, on top of learning how to deal with the general stress of surviving in our current socio-economic culture was nothing more than paradigm-shifting. These are things I’m actively trying to cultivate in own my life too.We have so much to learn from each other - I believe that together we can get through these hard times, utilizing this type of learning and connection; we can be vulnerable, we can manage our shame, and we can support each other as we grow ourselves and evolve our society.So grateful for having had the opportunity to read this amazing anthology! Highly recommend!

I needed this book for my college class & each page came out good. No mistakes, thick copy, and also no rips in the pages

This collection of essays on vulnerability of and for Black women is touching, insightful and wise. I studied it in a book club of men and women, Black and White. Each author bared some of her soul and hardest lessons learned about shame and resilience. I came away feeling it is part of life to be shamed and feel vulnerable, especially in ways inbred in society. I also feel I have new tools to live through those emotions and handle life well. I highly recommend this book for book clubs. Ours read 2-3 essays per meeting and it generated great discussions.

This book is an important compliment to Brene Browns work. Black vulnerability is different from white vulnerability and deserves to be a unique focus. The essays were good and it would be good to have a scholar!y discussion about the issue too.

Wonderful, and very well put together testimonies. Highly recommend it to your readers for educational value.

such a great book of essays