Loud Black Girls

Oct 7

Loud Black Girls by @yomi.adegoke and @elizabethuviebinene
Reviewed by Linda
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Many thanks to @4thestatebooks for putting this into our hands!

It's October! It's UK Black History Month and LOUD BLACK GIRLS by Yomi Adegoke, Elizabeth Uviebinené is now in bookshops near you!

Loud Black Girls is an empowering anthology of 20 experiences by accomplished Black British womxn from all walks of life written to uplift and empower Black womxn far and wide. Needless to say, a timely and essential read.

The reference to being a "Loud" Black Girl, isn't about volume, it's about visibility and pride in a world that constantly tries to minimise and ostracise Black excellence. Yomi and Elizabeth are an inspiration to many and if you're in need of a confidence boost from a friend or two, this is your guide.

I can't pick out a favourite essay because in truth, each one is powerful and unique in its own right and the main message of being unapologetic and authentic shines through every sentence and every word.

As well as current accounts, Yomi and Elizabeth ask the poignant question to the authors: what's next? And I think this is the part that makes this anthology a hopeful tool that focuses constructively on the future.

And while we're talking about the future, I have a major gripe with restricting our learning about Black History to one month of the year rather than constant activity. At TCBC, we're firm believers that reading is the antidote to ignorance, and in one of the essays, @euniceolumide takes it that one bit further: "The most important way to affect change is understanding that ignorance is not bliss, it’s straight-up taking the piss" - and we couldn't have said it better.

Lindawomen writers4thestateloud black girlsyomi adegokeelizabeth uviebineneslay in your laneblack authorsblack historyblack womennon-fictionfeminist non-fiction

Linda Malek

I've always had the urge to set up a forum and voice my thoughts after each read, but never had the confidence to do so alone. 18 months ago, I got my fellow book-loving friends involved and formed The Candid Book Club! Aside from having an exponentially growing to-read pile and deteriorating shortsightedness, we've been lucky to have been invited to publisher events and have attended several talks with our favourite authors (Thank you and long may they continue!) To take a break from the pressures of PhD Chemistry, Jess and I exchanged books all the time and in my youth, I was that kid with the first editions of Harry Potter having already read Gulliver’s travels and some Charles Dickens. At work, my desk is a library and luckily for me I sit next to another bookworm Jack who entertains all the photo-taking. I'm suffering from a chronic case of wanderlust (age-related crisis) so books which are set as far away from home as possible tend to float my boat: Middle East, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Asia...you name it. But if it's got anything to do with Egypt then I'm all over it. So you get the drift...I read all the time, everywhere (on the tube mostly), everyday, a book a week, and very quickly I'm onto the next! And then sometimes there is a book that stops me in my tracks, makes me want to swallow the pages whole, and have it next to me at all times, with some sentences staying with me forever: Shantaram by David Gregory Roberts, anything by Khaled Hosseini, The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo (absolute gem of a woman), A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara, A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry, The Good Immigrant edited by Nikesh Shuklaand and anything by Naguib Mahfouz.

Loud Black Girls

I Am Not Your Baby Mother

A Burning