So You Want to Talk about Race

Ijeoma Oluo

Jan 2018 · Blackstone Audio Inc. · Narrated by Bahni Turpin

About this audiobook

In this #1 New York Times bestseller, Ijeoma Oluo offers a revelatory examination of race in America

A current, constructive, and actionable exploration of today’s racial landscape, offering straightforward clarity that readers of all races need to contribute to the dismantling of the racial divide

In So You Want to Talk about Race, editor-at-large of the Establishment Ijeoma Oluo offers a contemporary, accessible take on the racial landscape in America, addressing head-on such issues as privilege, police brutality, intersectionality, micro-aggressions, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the “N” word. Perfectly positioned to bridge the gap between people of color and white Americans struggling with race complexities, Oluo answers the questions readers don’t dare ask, and explains the concepts that continue to elude everyday Americans.

Oluo is an exceptional writer with a rare ability to be straightforward, funny, and effective in her coverage of sensitive, hyper-charged issues in America. Her messages are passionate but finely tuned, and crystallize ideas that would otherwise be vague by empowering them with aha-moment clarity. Her writing brings to mind voices like Ta-Nehisi Coates and Roxane Gay, and Jessica Valenti in Full Frontal Feminism, and a young Gloria Naylor, particularly in Naylor’s seminal essay “The Meaning of a Word.”

Ratings and reviews

Not for the faint of heart or disinterested reader. This book does not attempt to teach empathy regarding matters of race in the USA, but rather show in detail the directions in which a racially empathetic lense should be incorporated into our perception of society if we are to begin affecting real change. Do not attempt to read this if you're prone to defensiveness about topics of racial (and other) inequalities. Ijeoma Oluo's work is starkly unvague, and one must come to this book already prepared to listen and wanting to learn, not waiting to be convinced.

this book is an excellent introduction for white people (or others) who don't understand why they need to be anti-racist and why speaking up against bigotry matters. The author is much softer than they should have needed to be. It's a great book

Everything the author points out has been completely debunked. Just another SJW trying to paint an evil picture on the police that risk their lives to protect us. This book is complete nonsense, but I'm not surprised given this person is from Seattle.

About the author

Ijeoma Oluo is a writer, speaker and internet yeller. She is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller So You Want to Talk About Race and, most recently, Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America. Her work on race has been featured in The Guardian, the New York Times and The Washington Post, among many other publications. She was named to the 2021 TIME 100 Next list and has twice been named to the Root 100. She received the 2018 Feminist Humanist Award and the 2020 Harvard Humanist of the Year Award from the American Humanist Association. She lives in Seattle, Washington.

Bahni Turpin is a Los Angeles–based audiobook narrator and actress with many television and film credits. Bahni is a two-time Odyssey Award winner and a two-time recipient of the Audie Award for Best Solo Female Narration. She was named an Audible Narrator of the Year in 2016, and The American Library Association’s Voice of Choice for 2017, and in 2018 she was inducted into the Audible Hall of Fame. Bahni is also an ensemble member of Cornerstone Theater Company in Los Angeles.