What do you think?
Rate this book
Unfollow Me: Essays on Complicity
An intimate, impertinent, and incisive collection about race, progress, and hypocrisy from Jill Louise Busby, aka Jillisblack.
Jill Louise Busby spent years in the nonprofit sector specializing in Diversity & Inclusion. She spoke at academic institutions, businesses, and detention centers on the topics of Race, Power, and Privilege and delivered over two-hundred workshops to nonprofit organizations all over the California Bay Area.
In 2016, fed up with what passed as progressive in the Pacific Northwest, Busby uploaded a one-minute video about race, white institutions, and faux liberalism to Instagram. The video received millions of views across social platforms. As her pithy persona Jillisblack became an "it-voice" weighing in on all things race-based, Jill began to notice parallels between her performance of "diversity" in the white corporate world and her performance of "wokeness" for her followers. Both, she realized, were scripted.
Unfollow Me is a memoir-in-essays about these scripts; it's about tokenism, micro-fame, and inhabiting spaces-real and virtual, black and white-where complicity is the price of entry. Busby's social commentary manages to be both wryly funny and achingly open-hearted as she recounts her shape-shifting moves among the subtle hierarchies of progressive communities. Unfollow Me is a sharply personal and self-questioning critique of white fragility (and other words for racism), respectability politics (and other words for shame), and all the places where fear masquerades as progress.
Jill Louise Busby spent years in the nonprofit sector specializing in Diversity & Inclusion. She spoke at academic institutions, businesses, and detention centers on the topics of Race, Power, and Privilege and delivered over two-hundred workshops to nonprofit organizations all over the California Bay Area.
In 2016, fed up with what passed as progressive in the Pacific Northwest, Busby uploaded a one-minute video about race, white institutions, and faux liberalism to Instagram. The video received millions of views across social platforms. As her pithy persona Jillisblack became an "it-voice" weighing in on all things race-based, Jill began to notice parallels between her performance of "diversity" in the white corporate world and her performance of "wokeness" for her followers. Both, she realized, were scripted.
Unfollow Me is a memoir-in-essays about these scripts; it's about tokenism, micro-fame, and inhabiting spaces-real and virtual, black and white-where complicity is the price of entry. Busby's social commentary manages to be both wryly funny and achingly open-hearted as she recounts her shape-shifting moves among the subtle hierarchies of progressive communities. Unfollow Me is a sharply personal and self-questioning critique of white fragility (and other words for racism), respectability politics (and other words for shame), and all the places where fear masquerades as progress.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published September 7, 2021
36 people are currently reading
4102 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 100 reviews
September 15, 2021
A deeply intelligent and provocative essay collection about identity, hustle, complicity, and accountability. The writing is sharp and the thinking is even sharper. These essays gave me a lot to think about.
October 5, 2021
Raw and honest stream of consciousness essays about existing and resisting within white institutions, as well as faux and performative progressivism. I appreciated Jill Louise Busby’s willingness to get real about her experience working in the diversity and inclusion industry. She describes people, especially white people, who will proclaim social justice values and then engage in oppressive behaviors in nonpublic settings. She writes with nuance and an openness to ambiguity about the discomfort of getting paid to do work that aims to advance equity, within a white supremacist system that should not exist in the first place.
I wish the essay had gone a little deeper in its introspection in a few areas. For example, she mentions being light-skinned and how people have called her out for her refusal to acknowledge the ways she benefits from colorism, but I did not see any further unpacking of that privilege or a desire to dismantle the systems that have allowed her to benefit from colorism. In another section, she writes about the anxiety and negative emotions she experiences when she sees that people unfollow her on social media, yet I didn’t detect a more thorough self-investigation about what makes followers matter to her in the first place, how she copes when she loses followers, what systems benefit from people caring about their followers on social media, etc. I wonder if not writing in the second person would have allowed for more of this self-searching.
Overall, I appreciate Busby’s willingness to name things as they are, even though I wanted a bit more from this set of essays.
I wish the essay had gone a little deeper in its introspection in a few areas. For example, she mentions being light-skinned and how people have called her out for her refusal to acknowledge the ways she benefits from colorism, but I did not see any further unpacking of that privilege or a desire to dismantle the systems that have allowed her to benefit from colorism. In another section, she writes about the anxiety and negative emotions she experiences when she sees that people unfollow her on social media, yet I didn’t detect a more thorough self-investigation about what makes followers matter to her in the first place, how she copes when she loses followers, what systems benefit from people caring about their followers on social media, etc. I wonder if not writing in the second person would have allowed for more of this self-searching.
Overall, I appreciate Busby’s willingness to name things as they are, even though I wanted a bit more from this set of essays.
August 20, 2021
I really don’t think I’ve read anything quite like this - I want to say ever. It’s definitely a six star read to me. It takes a certain type of fearlessness, maybe fear that you have to let go of that turns into fearlessness, to expose yourself in such a deep and transparent way.
Black folks everywhere, especially Black women, who have been putting in the work providing endless free and sometimes paid (if you can get it) racial education to folks who know better but will not divest from white supremist thinking, putting their voice to the forefront, being passionate and telling the truth in the public sphere while battling their own thoughts and processing their own experiences in private, are going to count this book as a jewel in the crown.
She goes into so much. She shares so much. She eviscerates so much and spiritually self-destructs to rebuild herself in so many ways. It’s a truly unique experience. Her sense of humour is also on point! Jill Louise Busby has sight, yes she has eyes, but homegirl has sight!
5 stars for the soon-to-be-released classic Unfollow Me by Jill Louise Busby. #UnfollowMe #NetGalley -- this is going to be a huge release. It's so damn good. Pick it up on September 7, 2021.
Black folks everywhere, especially Black women, who have been putting in the work providing endless free and sometimes paid (if you can get it) racial education to folks who know better but will not divest from white supremist thinking, putting their voice to the forefront, being passionate and telling the truth in the public sphere while battling their own thoughts and processing their own experiences in private, are going to count this book as a jewel in the crown.
She goes into so much. She shares so much. She eviscerates so much and spiritually self-destructs to rebuild herself in so many ways. It’s a truly unique experience. Her sense of humour is also on point! Jill Louise Busby has sight, yes she has eyes, but homegirl has sight!
5 stars for the soon-to-be-released classic Unfollow Me by Jill Louise Busby. #UnfollowMe #NetGalley -- this is going to be a huge release. It's so damn good. Pick it up on September 7, 2021.
November 25, 2022
Someone asks, “What’s that you’re reading?” I show them the cover, the one with a portrait of this incredibly beautiful woman with nerdy glasses and a nose ring. “Unfollow Me, by Jill Busby,” I say.
“What’s it about?”
That second question is a lot harder to answer than the first. The short answer is, “It’s a memoir.” But is it really? Isn’t it sort of an introvert’s manifesto? Or an essay on Imposter Syndrome?* Jill Busby’s internet persona may be chocked full o’confidence but her inner id is an overthinking, second-guessing, hot mess.
She writes about many things which are about one thing. She writes of well-intentioned but inept white liberals who exist on her periphery, the ones with time and money and a desire to use both to emphasize how unracist they are. She writes of her complicity in their endeavors. After all, “writers have to eat.”
“…are you going to write a book about being complicit just so that you can feel better about being complicit?”
Jill’s stream of consciousness style is engaging. It flows. It feels conversational but it’s not always a conversation with you, she’s often deep into a conversation with herself. When that happens her essays take on this eavesdropper/voyeuristic vibe.
Fifty-something white liberal me isn’t hip enough to get all the references. I am engaged but I have to stop and listen to Az Yet’s “Last Night” on YouTube to fend off the WTF’s.
“White validation will always point us in the direction of revolution.”
I hope Jill writes another book. She puts a lot ‘out there’ but she trails off at the end, as if she has more to say. Maybe deadlines and commitments cut her short? Or maybe she knows life is going to give her more to think about and thus more to write about? Either way, I’m in. Pre-order confirmed. Where do I send the check?
“…there is no way to avoid being black in America. There is no right time to travel. There is nowhere safer to be instead. And there is no time to waste. There is no old or new normal. If it’s all fucked, then let it find you. Whatever catches you, let it catch you in motion.”
*Impostor syndrome (also known as impostor phenomenon, impostorism, fraud syndrome or the impostor experience) is a psychological pattern in which an individual doubts their skills, talents, or accomplishments and has a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a "fraud" in spite of the external evidence of their competence.
“What’s it about?”
That second question is a lot harder to answer than the first. The short answer is, “It’s a memoir.” But is it really? Isn’t it sort of an introvert’s manifesto? Or an essay on Imposter Syndrome?* Jill Busby’s internet persona may be chocked full o’confidence but her inner id is an overthinking, second-guessing, hot mess.
She writes about many things which are about one thing. She writes of well-intentioned but inept white liberals who exist on her periphery, the ones with time and money and a desire to use both to emphasize how unracist they are. She writes of her complicity in their endeavors. After all, “writers have to eat.”
“…are you going to write a book about being complicit just so that you can feel better about being complicit?”
Jill’s stream of consciousness style is engaging. It flows. It feels conversational but it’s not always a conversation with you, she’s often deep into a conversation with herself. When that happens her essays take on this eavesdropper/voyeuristic vibe.
Fifty-something white liberal me isn’t hip enough to get all the references. I am engaged but I have to stop and listen to Az Yet’s “Last Night” on YouTube to fend off the WTF’s.
“White validation will always point us in the direction of revolution.”
I hope Jill writes another book. She puts a lot ‘out there’ but she trails off at the end, as if she has more to say. Maybe deadlines and commitments cut her short? Or maybe she knows life is going to give her more to think about and thus more to write about? Either way, I’m in. Pre-order confirmed. Where do I send the check?
“…there is no way to avoid being black in America. There is no right time to travel. There is nowhere safer to be instead. And there is no time to waste. There is no old or new normal. If it’s all fucked, then let it find you. Whatever catches you, let it catch you in motion.”
*Impostor syndrome (also known as impostor phenomenon, impostorism, fraud syndrome or the impostor experience) is a psychological pattern in which an individual doubts their skills, talents, or accomplishments and has a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a "fraud" in spite of the external evidence of their competence.
September 1, 2023
Because I see racism as the single most important cause of America's ills, from its colonial beginnings to the present, I often pick up books by black authors that explore the subject for general readers. My one foray with a white author, White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism, was such a failure that I'm skeptical that any white author can, or should, make the attempt - or at least, for god's sake, don't write the book to interpret black people to white people. I especially like How to Be an Antiracist for its use of memoir as a frame for discussion, and that's one thing that drew me to this book, but the main thing that drew me was the subtitle, "essays on complicity". Complicity is my key to thinking about racism in the US, since it seems to me that it's the engine that drives it all. It exists on many levels, and Busby digs into them with penetration and humor - not excluding herself and her online persona, "Jillisblack" .
I never heard of Jillisblack before this book, and was unaware of her sudden rise to "a single gram of sub demographic micro-fame". She describes her original intention for Jillisblack:
But life, and Busby's brain, are not so simple. Jillisblack's skewering scrutiny of white liberal complicity eventually leads to digging into black middle and upper class complicity, and expands her troll base. Busby also scrutinizes Jillisblack's complicity and Jillisblack returns the favor. Things get interestingly meta at points. Along with these valuable thoughts, Busby also lets us into key moments of her young life so far, and I am especially grateful for being introduced to her wonderful mother - they are truly a gift to each other.
Oh, and did I mention that this girl can WRITE? She's a gifted essayist, and paints a picture of her life and times with humor and understated emotion - a combo that always resonates with me. She uses both first and second person pov to great effect. Open the book to any page and you'll find a passage that perfectly encapsulates her writerly charm. As a Baby Boomer (but just barely) I appreciated this window into Gen Z world - which in some ways looked similar to the world of my teens, once you replace social media with the telephone (it was exponentially slower, but no less nasty). Above all, I appreciate walking with her through the forest of racial complicity that makes our society so complex and confounding. Can we evolve into a better society, and do we have time to do it before we burn ourselves and our world to a crisp?
I never heard of Jillisblack before this book, and was unaware of her sudden rise to "a single gram of sub demographic micro-fame". She describes her original intention for Jillisblack:
I want her to be honest without consequence. I want her to say everything about race and racism, power and privilege, hierarchy and hypocrisy that I can't say at work without getting fired. I want her to take risks I can't afford to take. I want her to speak without interruption, any way that she wants, for every time that I couldn't."
But life, and Busby's brain, are not so simple. Jillisblack's skewering scrutiny of white liberal complicity eventually leads to digging into black middle and upper class complicity, and expands her troll base. Busby also scrutinizes Jillisblack's complicity and Jillisblack returns the favor. Things get interestingly meta at points. Along with these valuable thoughts, Busby also lets us into key moments of her young life so far, and I am especially grateful for being introduced to her wonderful mother - they are truly a gift to each other.
Oh, and did I mention that this girl can WRITE? She's a gifted essayist, and paints a picture of her life and times with humor and understated emotion - a combo that always resonates with me. She uses both first and second person pov to great effect. Open the book to any page and you'll find a passage that perfectly encapsulates her writerly charm. As a Baby Boomer (but just barely) I appreciated this window into Gen Z world - which in some ways looked similar to the world of my teens, once you replace social media with the telephone (it was exponentially slower, but no less nasty). Above all, I appreciate walking with her through the forest of racial complicity that makes our society so complex and confounding. Can we evolve into a better society, and do we have time to do it before we burn ourselves and our world to a crisp?
July 9, 2021
This book is what it looks like to have the audacity to question our own complicity. Also a lot about navigating success and worthiness. Busby’s voice and style are you unique and strong. Humor, humility, and authenticity really well balanced. This book left me wanting more of Busby. Some essays felt lacking in specificity, but overall a really strong collection.
September 17, 2021
These essays are brilliant!
May 19, 2022
This book is one of the best ones I’ve ever read. Captivating writing style. Thoughtful and honest. Love the imagery, vulnerability, and attention to detail. Also loved the many ways I felt stirred to reflect on my privilege.
July 8, 2021
Unfollow Me by Jill Louise Busby (Jillisblack) is a moving (in more ways than I ever anticipated) memoir that also offers an excellent glimpse into what passes for discourse in this time of short videos and even shorter tweets. You won't agree with every point she makes as Jillisblack but that isn't really the point, does anyone ever actually agree with everything someone else says? We usually don't agree with ourselves when we look back.
What Busby does exceptionally well is to show what went into the "letters" that gave her her fame, both in her past and in the present of those letters. Ultimately we come to appreciate Jillisblack as that part of any of us that might speak hyperbolically when making a valid point, that might be more confrontational than necessary because we are often met with confrontation. We wear masks, or read different scripts, for different parts of our lives and we lose sight of where we end and the character we play begins. Or, more accurately, where and how much they overlap in that area where they morph from one to the other. When one of our masks/scripts/characters gain enough attention, it is like a separate entity completely and we have to make a concerted effort to make sure we are still comfortable with that role.
If you read this and don't argue with Jillisblack at least a little then I have to wonder if you understand the nuance in life that makes someone like Jillisblack so valuable. Her shedding of nuance to highlight the glaring ugliness of so much of society is, or should be, the starting point for her followers, not the endpoint and final understanding. It is when Busby has to decide how well Jillisblack is representing what she now wants to say that we really can distinguish between the two. Both have powerful messages, yet they are not always in sync with how they convey those messages. Whether you follow or not, the messages are important for you to wrestle with, in all of your various scripted roles.
I would recommend this not only to those who want to understand what Jillisblack was saying but also those who want to understand how such a scripted role can get, if not out of control, at least unwieldy. Fame, large or small, presents as many problems as it solves. Coming to terms with it can make the vast majority of the effects positive, and I think Busby has a solid grasp of her situation.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
What Busby does exceptionally well is to show what went into the "letters" that gave her her fame, both in her past and in the present of those letters. Ultimately we come to appreciate Jillisblack as that part of any of us that might speak hyperbolically when making a valid point, that might be more confrontational than necessary because we are often met with confrontation. We wear masks, or read different scripts, for different parts of our lives and we lose sight of where we end and the character we play begins. Or, more accurately, where and how much they overlap in that area where they morph from one to the other. When one of our masks/scripts/characters gain enough attention, it is like a separate entity completely and we have to make a concerted effort to make sure we are still comfortable with that role.
If you read this and don't argue with Jillisblack at least a little then I have to wonder if you understand the nuance in life that makes someone like Jillisblack so valuable. Her shedding of nuance to highlight the glaring ugliness of so much of society is, or should be, the starting point for her followers, not the endpoint and final understanding. It is when Busby has to decide how well Jillisblack is representing what she now wants to say that we really can distinguish between the two. Both have powerful messages, yet they are not always in sync with how they convey those messages. Whether you follow or not, the messages are important for you to wrestle with, in all of your various scripted roles.
I would recommend this not only to those who want to understand what Jillisblack was saying but also those who want to understand how such a scripted role can get, if not out of control, at least unwieldy. Fame, large or small, presents as many problems as it solves. Coming to terms with it can make the vast majority of the effects positive, and I think Busby has a solid grasp of her situation.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
November 27, 2021
This book is a memoir essay collection about the authors journey as #jillisblack, and her relationship with her own Blackness, online persona and being “woke”/a racial equity educator. This is not the book that will teach you equity 101, rather, through vulnerable and intensely personal essays, this is the book that questions the whole educational enterprise and whether is it really a lack of workshops and content that keeps the status quo in place. The author examines her own complicity in the equity inclusion complex, what it means to gain benefits and fame from ones content, how visibility can make one beholden to audience and what people expect of you, and how truth is always more complex than online spaces allow it to be. I found it to be a sharp, reflective wonderful read and for BIPOC and white audiences alike. Four and a half stars.
February 25, 2022
3.75 stars
We need to unpack white liberal toxicity, y'all, and this book does it. I was not a follower of Jill Busby before reading this, and I admire her candidness and willingness to acknowledge her complicity. Also that she lets us into her mind, where her online persona sometimes overrules all. Clever writing, compact collection.
We need to unpack white liberal toxicity, y'all, and this book does it. I was not a follower of Jill Busby before reading this, and I admire her candidness and willingness to acknowledge her complicity. Also that she lets us into her mind, where her online persona sometimes overrules all. Clever writing, compact collection.
March 28, 2022
First and last essays were very strong, but the middle was full of millennial-esque musings and whining about finding her place in the social media world and the burden of having tens of thousands of likes and having a video reposted and viewed over a million times. Oh woe! If we can all have such mental conundrums and burdens! Books comes off as more of a work in progress or stream of consciousness exploration of this new (to her) world of internet fame, which frankly I was not interested being along for. If this is a book about complicity, it doesn't explore that concept well enough.
May 16, 2021
Powerfully honest essays by an author with the rare courage to reveal the truth of who she is, despite the forces that push us to stick to our scripts and punish those who don't.
Busby spares no one, including herself, in showing us our complicity and the pain it causes. Beautifully told by a master writer tackling the most difficult of topics.
I was lucky to receive a free Advanced Reader Copy of this superb book.
Busby spares no one, including herself, in showing us our complicity and the pain it causes. Beautifully told by a master writer tackling the most difficult of topics.
I was lucky to receive a free Advanced Reader Copy of this superb book.
October 9, 2021
You don't like this book? Great. Because it wasn't written for you - it's not even written for me. It's for Jill, by Jill, and if you're not interested in hearing the thoughts of a queer black woman as she skewers herself, society and the fucking not-for-profits that utilizes her/yours/our/their identifies to shill whatever psuedo-progressive platform they're selling this week then you can see your way out.
October 5, 2021
Ok, I am an old white woman, but I truly enjoyed Jill’s essays. I think I learned something in the process.
November 8, 2021
I read all of the positive reviews, but I found her "stream of consciousness" to be rambling narcissism. Kind of boring.
Read
December 5, 2021i need to stop trying to be someone who likes memoirs
February 7, 2022
Incredible- so honest, heartfelt and incisive - I wish I’d read it in a book club because there’s so much to talk about!
September 24, 2021
Before reading this book, I was unfamiliar with Jill’s work. By chance, I stumbled across her on Instagram through Amanda Montell (author of Cultish and Wordslut). Jill’s book seemed interesting, and I’ve been digging essay collections, so I reached out, and she was cool enough to send me a review copy. I didn’t know what to expect, but once I started reading, I had a hard time putting it down. Not only is Jill a fantastic writer, but she discusses so many topics in a great, nuanced way. I’ve recently been thinking about how people criticize the talk about intersectionality or even the emphasis put on aspects of ourselves, but I personally think that’s extremely important when trying to understand a person’s experience. Jill writes these essays from the perspective of a queer Black woman, but she’s much more than that, and it gives her a unique perspective.
The essays cover a wide range of topics from being friends with men, to a period when she lived with her grandparents, what it’s like blowing up on social media without expecting it, and her experience discussing social issues around race. I think what I loved the most about this book was the introspection along the way. We often see people from the outside and are terrible at mind-reading (even though we think we’re great at it), so when an author is honest and authentic, it’s great. It’s hard enough for us to analyze ourselves in private, but it takes a lot to do that publicly in a book, and I find it extremely inspiring as a fellow writer.
I could write about this collection of essays all day, but I’m not. I want you to go out and get this book if you haven’t yet. Jill gained a new fan in me, and I’m sure she’ll do the same for others who are being introduced to her work.
The essays cover a wide range of topics from being friends with men, to a period when she lived with her grandparents, what it’s like blowing up on social media without expecting it, and her experience discussing social issues around race. I think what I loved the most about this book was the introspection along the way. We often see people from the outside and are terrible at mind-reading (even though we think we’re great at it), so when an author is honest and authentic, it’s great. It’s hard enough for us to analyze ourselves in private, but it takes a lot to do that publicly in a book, and I find it extremely inspiring as a fellow writer.
I could write about this collection of essays all day, but I’m not. I want you to go out and get this book if you haven’t yet. Jill gained a new fan in me, and I’m sure she’ll do the same for others who are being introduced to her work.
November 13, 2021
I’d give this six stars if I could. Writing was razor sharp while lingering within all the messy nuances of being complicit in a system Jill attempts to tear down while also exploiting on her way to Instagram fame. This book is for anyone interested in the crossroads of social justice + social media. Also enjoyed the dynamic that played out on the pages between Jill the social media star vs Jill the human. It reminded me of Issa’s mirror conversations on Insecure.
March 2, 2022
I really enjoyed this essay collection. It made me think and reflect in a way that I normally do not while reading essay collections.
September 10, 2022
The last essay is the best essay. Not every action has to be a reaction.
September 22, 2021
I really enjoyed a few of these essays. I understood why she often used second person, but I just didn’t feel like it was done successfully. It was jarring and further detached me from the text.
July 25, 2021
Busby opens her introduction by announcing "I am a queer black woman, and in case you haven't heard, I am having a moment" and in the engrossing essays that follow she questions what that moment means and how she should engage with it, and how the "micro-fame" of her online performances has created a character that's often at odds with her real self. It's all deeply personal and very honest - I imagine a lot of her relatives won't much enjoy reading it, and I'm curious if she'll get any more invitations to fully-funded artist retreats - and even though she asks a lot of uncomfortable questions about complicity, authenticity and "why we fight so hard to stay so disconnected," she doesn't provide any easy answers. It's a really smart, sometimes uncomfortable book, and a nice counterpoint to all the absolute, black-and-white certainty we've seen in recent writing about race and responsibility.
I was lucky enough to win an ARC of this book through a Goodreads giveaway.
I was lucky enough to win an ARC of this book through a Goodreads giveaway.
February 27, 2022
I’m not quite sure what to make of this collection of essays, though I did find myself empathizing with the author quite a bit despite having quite different life experiences. For example, I think a lot about performative actions, especially when it comes to social media. If I’m not posting, how will people know I care? If I’m just posting, do I really care? In that way, this book was very thought provoking.
However, I also found myself distancing myself from the white people in the book, particularly the ones stopping Jill in the grocery store to other her and proclaim that her life matters, the ones sending her horrible DMs, the ones dropping cringeworthy statements in diversity trainings. I found myself breathing a sigh of relief that I am not like that, and I don’t think that was the goal of the book. Then again, it wasn’t an instructional guide on How to Be a Better White Person. It was just Jill—not jillisblack—trying to be honest about how she feels navigating a complex world that was not designed for her and how her online persona isn’t real. I hope that she is happy with the book she wrote because it seems like it was a battle to get there.
However, I also found myself distancing myself from the white people in the book, particularly the ones stopping Jill in the grocery store to other her and proclaim that her life matters, the ones sending her horrible DMs, the ones dropping cringeworthy statements in diversity trainings. I found myself breathing a sigh of relief that I am not like that, and I don’t think that was the goal of the book. Then again, it wasn’t an instructional guide on How to Be a Better White Person. It was just Jill—not jillisblack—trying to be honest about how she feels navigating a complex world that was not designed for her and how her online persona isn’t real. I hope that she is happy with the book she wrote because it seems like it was a battle to get there.
July 27, 2021
Despite the many years that have passed since the Civil Rights movement, we are still at a place in which race, tokenism, and complicity still have their impacts on polite society. This book really dissects the hypocrisy of so-called "progressives" by unveiling the fact that often these dances of tolerance are often merely for show. Power structures remain as before and nothing has really changed - at least in the eyes of Jillisblack and her many followers. After receiving a micro-dose of internet fame from her "Dear White People/Dear Black People" videos, she wrote this book before fading into virtual obscurity.
Her essays, which are more like stream-of-consciousness rants, were interesting, albeit a little exhausting. With no real main idea besides "everyone is full of shit," it just kind of drug on into a puddle of misanthropy coupled with a little self-loathing. And, yes, while I do believe that everyone has some work to do, the institutions to blame for the real racial injustice and performative tokenism are not controlled by the individuals she riles against. I don't have all the answers, but I do know that I can't change the world by myself...the best I CAN do is try to be nice to my neighbors and look beyond superficial aspects that so many fall prey to focusing on.
Her essays, which are more like stream-of-consciousness rants, were interesting, albeit a little exhausting. With no real main idea besides "everyone is full of shit," it just kind of drug on into a puddle of misanthropy coupled with a little self-loathing. And, yes, while I do believe that everyone has some work to do, the institutions to blame for the real racial injustice and performative tokenism are not controlled by the individuals she riles against. I don't have all the answers, but I do know that I can't change the world by myself...the best I CAN do is try to be nice to my neighbors and look beyond superficial aspects that so many fall prey to focusing on.
February 16, 2022
Deeply illuminating and expertly written -- I really can't say enough good things about this collection of essays! Busby examines issues of identity and race with an intimacy that leave you sitting with more questions than answers.
June 1, 2021
After years of working on nonprofit diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, Jill Louise Busby posted a one-minute video on Instagram about whiteness and faux liberalism. It gave her, or at least her online persona Jillisblack, a bit of internet fame. But after years of running the Jillisblack account, Busby started to wonder about the performative nature of social media and the complicated dynamics at play in online discussions. In this essay collection, Busby takes a hard, critical, honest look at what she learned as an internet sensation about progressive communities, modern racism, and herself. The result is thought-provoking and unique. Although it doesn't provide any clear answers or easy lessons, it's a crucial part of the conversation on online activism.
Thanks to Bloomsbury for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Thanks to Bloomsbury for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
December 15, 2021
What I enjoyed THE most about this book is Jill calling a thing a thing. Performative allyship is prevalent and normal. Who hasn't witness folks saying one thing in public and then hurling micro aggressions in private (slowly raise my hand). What's great about this book is that she asks questions and presents situations in her life that causes you to ask if you're complicit in your own undoing. Whew, child.
December 6, 2021
Interesting stuff, although there were definitely ideas/points here that I wish were explored further. Some parts felt like watching a really amazing trailer for a movie that is never getting released (although I get that essays can be deeply personal and it’s hard to mine the depths of your own life and give all that detail to strangers).
Displaying 1 - 30 of 100 reviews