Black History Month Reading List

In honor of 2024’s Black History Month Theme, “African American’s and The Arts,” PAVE/Survivors.org has cultivated a list of non-fiction and fiction books written by black authors. These books span a variety of genres, but primarily focus around themes of sexual violence, racism, healing, self-improvement, and social issues.

All Boys Aren't Blue (2020) George M. Johnson

CW/Topics: consent, LGBTQIA+, masculinity, gender, transgender

“In a series of personal essays, prominent journalist and LGBTQIA+ activist George M. Johnson explores his childhood, adolescence, and college years in New Jersey and Virginia. From the memories of getting his teeth kicked out by bullies at age five, to flea marketing with his loving grandmother, to his first sexual relationships, this young-adult memoir weaves together the trials and triumphs faced by Black queer boys.

Both a primer for teens eager to be allies as well as a reassuring testimony for young queer men of color, All Boys Aren't Blue covers topics such as gender identity, toxic masculinity, brotherhood, family, structural marginalization, consent, and Black joy. Johnson's emotionally frank style of writing will appeal directly to young adults.” Goodreads

Becoming Magic: A Path of Personal Construction (2021) Antuan Magic Raimone

CW/Topics: sexual violence, race, masculinity, LGBTQIA+

“Ambitious and raw,  Becoming A Path to Personal Reconstruction  is Antuan Magic Raimone's chronicle of life as a performer in the most influential artistic feats of our time, such as 11x Tony Award-winning  Hamilton  and 4x Tony Award-winning  In the Heights , over the course of his twenty-year career. But before magic, there was mayhem.  Antuan endured childhood sexual abuse, along with the fragmentation of growing up without a father. His revelations about identity, intimacy, family, and ultimately, self-love and acceptance as a gay Black man, equally color a story of a dancer from Blue Springs, Missouri bound for Broadway as soon as he sung the first note in a high school production of  Annie.  Humanized and enlightened at every life stage by the relationships he forges and the courage to seek help, Antuan's journey is nothing less than magical. In an unsparingly blunt voice, he inspires readers to embark on their own path of personal reconstruction and soar to unimagined heights.   With more than 20 years of professional performance experience, Antuan is currently with the Pulitzer Prize and 11x Tony Award-winning Hamilton as a Universal Swing, covering the six male ensemble members for the five U.S. companies. Additional credits include the 4x Tony Award-winning In the Heights (Broadway, Off-Broadway and First National Tour-Graffiti Pete U/S, Associate D/C and Vacation Swing), and six years with the Radio City Christmas Spectacular (Ensemble). His career as a performer has also allowed him to travel around the world once, visiting six out of the seven continents. Select Regional credits include Kiss Me Kate (Bill Calhoun/Lucentio, Paul, D/C), Hairspray (Seaweed U/S, Assistant Dir./Chor., D/C), Sweet Charity (Big Daddy Brubeck U/S), Smokey Joe's Café (Ken Ard), and Schoolhouse Rock LIVE (Willis). As an Assistant Choreographer, Antuan worked on the Second National Tour of In the Heights, as well as The Wizard of Oz, at both Starlight Theatre and the Fox Theatre. His Assistant Choreography work on Dreamgirls at Dallas Theatre Center with Rickey Tripp garnered them the first-ever Irma P. Hall Black Theatre Award for Best Choreography in 2016. He is a member of Actors Equity Association.” Goodreads

Believing: Our Thirty-Year Journey to End Gender Violence (2021) Anita Hill

CW/Topics: gender, policy, race, sexual harassment

“From the woman who gave the landmark testimony against Clarence Thomas as a sexual menace, a new manifesto about the origins and course of gender violence in our society; a combination of memoir, personal accounts, law, and social analysis, and a powerful call to arms from one of our most prominent and poised survivors.

In 1991, Anita Hill began something that's still unfinished work. The issues of gender violence, touching on sex, race, age, and power, are as urgent today as they were when she first testified. Believing is a story of America's three decades long reckoning with gender violence, one that offers insights into its roots, and paths to creating dialogue and substantive change. It is a call to action that offers guidance based on what this brave, committed fighter has learned from a lifetime of advocacy and her search for solutions to a problem that is still tearing America apart.

We once thought gender-based violence--from casual harassment to rape and murder--was an individual problem that affected a few; we now know it's cultural and endemic, and happens to our acquaintances, colleagues, friends and family members, and it can be physical, emotional and verbal. Women of color experience sexual harassment at higher rates than White women. Street harassment is ubiquitous and can escalate to violence. Transgender and nonbinary people are particularly vulnerable.

Anita Hill draws on her years as a teacher, legal scholar, and advocate, and on the experiences of the thousands of individuals who have told her their stories, to trace the pipeline of behavior that follows individuals from place to place: from home to school to work and back home. In measured, clear, blunt terms, she demonstrates the impact it has on every aspect of our lives, including our physical and mental wellbeing, housing stability, political participation, economy and community safety, and how our descriptive language undermines progress toward solutions. And she is uncompromising in her demands that our laws and our leaders must address the issue concretely and immediately.” Goodreads

Calm Your Storm (2021) Aleasa Word

CW/Topics: affirmations, self-improvement, stress management

“In our fast-paced and ever-changing world, it's easy to become overwhelmed by the challenges and uncertainties that life throws our way. Calm Your 30 Days of Good Thoughts and Affirmations for Anxious Times offers a guiding light, a soothing sanctuary, and a valuable resource for those seeking solace and emotional intelligence strategies to navigate the turbulent waters of life.

This empowering book, meticulously crafted by experienced author Aleasa Word, serves as a 30-day guide, artfully combining the power of positive affirmations and thought-provoking reflections. Within its pages, readers embark on a transformative journey towards self-awareness, hope, and self-empathy.

Calm Your 30 Days of Good Thoughts and Affirmations for Anxious Times is a timeless companion that reaches out to those who seek refuge in the midst of life's storms. Whether battling stress, anxiety, or uncertainty, readers will find this book a trusted ally, guiding them towards a more centered and emotionally intelligent existence. By embarking on this transformative journey, readers will discover an inner reservoir of strength and hope, enabling them to navigate life's challenges with newfound courage and grace. Embrace the power of positivity, and let Calm Your Storm be your guiding light toward a brighter, more resilient tomorrow.” Goodreads

Don't Touch My Hair (2018) Sharee Miller

CW/Topics: children, consent, race

“An entertaining picture book that teaches the importance of asking for permission first as a young girl attempts to escape the curious hands that want to touch her hair. It seems that wherever Aria goes, someone wants to touch her hair. In the street, strangers reach for her fluffy curls; and even under the sea, in the jungle, and in space, she’s chased by a mermaid, monkeys, and poked by aliens…until, finally, Aria has had enough!

Author-illustrator Sharee Miller takes the tradition of appreciation of black hair to a new, fresh, level as she doesn’t seek to convince or remind young readers that their curls are beautiful–she simply acknowledges black beauty while telling a fun, imaginative story.” Goodreads

Girl, Woman, Other (2019) Bernardine Evaristo

CW/Topics: sexual violence, gender, mental health, grief

“Girl, Woman, Other follows the lives and struggles of twelve very different characters. Mostly women, black and British, they tell the stories of their families, friends and lovers, across the country and through the years. Joyfully polyphonic and vibrantly contemporary, this is a gloriously new kind of history, a novel of our times: celebratory, ever-dynamic and utterly irresistible.” Goodreads

Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Real-Life Tales of Black Girl Magic (2021) Various authors and illustrators

CW/Topics: children, teens, race, history

“The fourth installment in the New York Times bestselling Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls series, featuring 100 barrier-breaking Black women and girls who showcase the spirit of Black Girl Magic.

Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Real-Life Tales of Black Girl Magic, edited by award-winning journalist Lilly Workneh with a foreword by #BlackGirlMagic originator CaShawn Thompson, is dedicated to amplifying and celebrating the stories of Black women and girls from around the world; features the work of over 60 Black female and non-binary authors, illustrators, and editors; is designed to acknowledge, applaud, and amplify the incredible stories of Black women and girls from the past and present; and celebrates Black Girl Magic around the world.

Amongst the women featured from over 30 countries are tennis player Naomi Osaka, astronaut Jeanette Epps, author Toni Morrison, filmmaker Ava DuVernay; aviator Bessie Coleman, Empress Taytu Betul, journalist Ida B. Wells, and many other inspiring leaders, champions, innovators, and creators.

Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Real-Life Tales of Black Girl Magic is published by Rebel Girls, a global, multi-platform empowerment brand dedicated to helping raise the most inspired and confident global generation of girls through content, experiences, products, and community.” Goodreads

Happiness Becomes You (2020) Tina Turner

CW/Topics: self-help, emotional mental health

“Tina Turner, one of the world’s most beloved performers, reveals the joyful wisdom behind her inspirational life story in this powerful guide to finding happiness, hope, and love in your own life. In Happiness Becomes You: A Guide to Changing Your Life for Good, Tina shows how all of us can overcome life’s obstacles—even change the impossible to possible—and transform our lives. She explains how we, too, can realize our dreams, empowering us with spiritual tools and sage advice to enrich our unique paths.

For decades, Tina Turner has shined brightly as an example of someone who can generate hope from nothing, break through all limitations, and achieve success that endures. Drawing on the lessons of her own experiences—rising out of sorrowful lows to stratospheric heights—Tina illuminates the practical principles of Buddhism and how, since 1973, they’ve helped her elevate from despair, adversity, and poverty to joy, stability, and prosperity.

Now, Tina offers the wisdom gained throughout her extraordinary life in Happiness Becomes You, making this the perfect gift of inspiration for you and those you love.

“Each of us is born, I believe, with a unique mission, a purpose in life that only we can fulfill. We are linked by a shared responsibility: to help our human family grow kinder and happier.” — from the Introduction” Goodreads

Hunger (2017) Roxane Gay

CW/Topics: race, rape, multiple-perpetrator rape, sexism, fatphobia, LGBTQIA+

“From the New York Times bestselling author of Bad Feminist: a searingly honest memoir of food, weight, self-image, and learning how to feed your hunger while taking care of yourself.

“I ate and ate and ate in the hopes that if I made myself big, my body would be safe. I buried the girl I was because she ran into all kinds of trouble. I tried to erase every memory of her, but she is still there, somewhere. . . . I was trapped in my body, one that I barely recognized or understood, but at least I was safe.”

In her phenomenally popular essays and long-running Tumblr blog, Roxane Gay has written with intimacy and sensitivity about food and body, using her own emotional and psychological struggles as a means of exploring our shared anxieties over pleasure, consumption, appearance, and health. As a woman who describes her own body as “wildly undisciplined,” Roxane understands the tension between desire and denial, between self-comfort and self-care. In Hunger, she explores her past—including the devastating act of violence that acted as a turning point in her young life—and brings readers along on her journey to understand and ultimately save herself.

With the bracing candor, vulnerability, and power that have made her one of the most admired writers of her generation, Roxane explores what it means to learn to take care of yourself: how to feed your hungers for delicious and satisfying food, a smaller and safer body, and a body that can love and be loved—in a time when the bigger you are, the smaller your world becomes.” Goodreads

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969) Maya Angelou

CW/Topics: gender, race, rape, sexual violence, family violence

“Maya Angelou’s debut memoir is a modern American classic beloved worldwide. Her life story is told in the documentary film And Still I Rise, as seen on PBS’s American Masters.

Here is a book as joyous and painful, as mysterious and memorable, as childhood itself. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings captures the longing of lonely children, the brute insult of bigotry, and the wonder of words that can make the world right. Maya Angelou’s debut memoir is a modern American classic beloved worldwide.

Sent by their mother to live with their devout, self-sufficient grandmother in a small Southern town, Maya and her brother, Bailey, endure the ache of abandonment and the prejudice of the local “powhitetrash.” At eight years old and back at her mother’s side in St. Louis, Maya is attacked by a man many times her age—and has to live with the consequences for a lifetime. Years later, in San Francisco, Maya learns that love for herself, the kindness of others, her own strong spirit, and the ideas of great authors (“I met and fell in love with William Shakespeare”) will allow her to be free instead of imprisoned.

Poetic and powerful, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings will touch hearts and change minds for as long as people read.” Goodreads

Monday's Not Coming (2018) Tiffany D. Jackson

CW/Topics child abuse, substance abuse, sexual violence

“Monday Charles is missing, and only Claudia seems to notice. Claudia and Monday have always been inseparable—more sisters than friends. So when Monday doesn’t turn up for the first day of school, Claudia’s worried. When she doesn’t show for the second day, or second week, Claudia knows that something is wrong. Monday wouldn’t just leave her to endure tests and bullies alone. Not after last year’s rumors and not with her grades on the line. Now Claudia needs her best—and only—friend more than ever. But Monday’s mother refuses to give Claudia a straight answer, and Monday’s sister April is even less help.

As Claudia digs deeper into her friend’s disappearance, she discovers that no one seems to remember the last time they saw Monday. How can a teenage girl just vanish without anyone noticing that she’s gone?” Goodreads

Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture (2018) Roxane Gay and others

CW/Topics: rape, sexual violence, fatphobia, racism, short stories, LGBTQIA+

“Cultural critic and bestselling author Roxane Gay has edited a collection of essays that explore what it means to live in a world where women are frequently belittled and harassed due to their gender, and offers a call to arms insisting that "not that bad" must no longer be good enough.'“ Goodreads

Parable of the Sower (1993) Monique W. Morris

CW/Topics: science fiction, dystopian, substance misuse

“In 2024, with the world descending into madness and anarchy, one woman begins a fateful journey toward a better future.

Lauren Olamina and her family live in one of the only safe neighborhoods remaining on the outskirts of Los Angeles. Behind the walls of their defended enclave, Lauren’s father, a preacher, and a handful of other citizens try to salvage what remains of a culture that has been destroyed by drugs, disease, war, and chronic water shortages. While her father tries to lead people on the righteous path, Lauren struggles with hyperempathy, a condition that makes her extraordinarily sensitive to the pain of others.

When fire destroys their compound, Lauren’s family is killed and she is forced out into a world that is fraught with danger. With a handful of other refugees, Lauren must make her way north to safety, along the way conceiving a revolutionary idea that may mean salvation for all mankind.” Goodreads

Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools (2016) Monique W. Morris

CW/Topics: race, systemic racism, education, trafficking, sexual violence

“Fifteen-year-old Diamond stopped going to school the day she was expelled for lashing out at peers who constantly harassed and teased her for something everyone on the staff had missed: she was being trafficked for sex. After months on the run, she was arrested and sent to a detention center for violating a court order to attend school.

Just 16 percent of female students in the USA, Black girls make up more than one-third of all girls with a school-related arrest. The first book to tell these untold stories, Pushout exposes a world of confined potential and supports the growing movement to address the policies, practices, and cultural illiteracy that push countless students out of school and into unhealthy, unstable, and often unsafe futures.

For four years Monique W. Morris, author of Black Stats, chronicled the experiences of black girls across America whose intricate lives are misunderstood, highly judged—by teachers, administrators, and the justice system—and degraded by the very institutions charged with helping them flourish. Morris shows how, despite obstacles, stigmas, stereotypes, and despair, black girls still find ways to breathe remarkable dignity into their lives in classrooms, juvenile facilities, and beyond.” Goodreads

Rewriting A New History: A Spiritual Path to Audacious Authenticity and Healing (2021) Havilah Malone

CW/Topics: Spirituality, substance use, self-discovery

“If you could rewrite your story, what would your life look like? We have entered a dynamic age of personal transformation, spiritual growth, and deep healing. We are born to SHINE and experience harmony, creativity, and purpose in our lives. Often we play small, settling for a life that others expect us to live which leads to a loss of connection with our higher self. Now is the time to fully realize your potential, reclaim your power, and reinvent yourself! This remarkably insightful book takes you on a captivating exploration of the author's life-changing spiritual awakening. After a lifetime of following the cultural script for success, the sixteen-year-old college student, turned corporate prodigy, beauty Queen, and media personality, was driven to find deeper meaning in life.

Join Havilah Malone as she embarks on a courageous journey of self-discovery with a Shaman in an ancient Ayahuasca ceremony, the sacred plant medicine of the Amazon rainforest. In this vivid account Havilah reveals the divinely inspired messages she channeled and tools that will guide you in your spiritual journey. Experience inner freedom through this inspiring and refreshingly grounded examination of physical, non-physical, and metaphysical healing. Break free from unconscious limiting beliefs as you learn how to embrace a life of audacious authenticity. Rewriting a New History is a beautifully illustrated masterpiece sure to stimulate the heart, mind, and soul of any spiritual seeker.” Goodreads

Somebody's Daughter: A Memoir (2021) Ashley C. Ford

CW/Topics: race, incarceration, rape, violence

“One of the most prominent voices of her generation debuts with an extraordinarily powerful memoir: the story of a childhood defined by the ever looming absence of her incarcerated father and the path we must take to both honor and overcome our origins.

For as long as she could remember, Ashley has put her father on a pedestal. Despite having only vague memories of seeing him face-to-face, she believes he's the only person in the entire world who understands her. She thinks she understands him too. He's sensitive like her, an artist, and maybe even just as afraid of the dark. She's certain that one day they'll be reunited again, and she'll finally feel complete. There are just a few problems: he's in prison, and she doesn't know what he did to end up there.

Through poverty, puberty, and a fraught relationship with her mother, Ashley returns to her image of her father for hope and encouragement. She doesn't know how to deal with the incessant worries that keep her up at night, or how to handle the changes in her body that draw unwanted attention from men. In her search for unconditional love, Ashley begins dating a boy her mother hates; when the relationship turns sour, he assaults her. Still reeling from the rape, which she keeps secret from her family, Ashley finally finds out why her father is in prison. And that's where the story really begins.

Somebody’s Daughter steps into the world of growing up a poor Black girl, exploring how isolating and complex such a childhood can be. As Ashley battles her body and her environment, she provides a poignant coming-of-age recollection that speaks to finding the threads between who you are and what you were born into, and the complicated familial love that often binds them.” Goodreads

The Body Is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love (2018) Sonya Renee Taylor

CW/Topics: self-love, feminism, body positivity

“Humans are a varied and divergent bunch with all manner of beliefs, morals, and bodies. Systems of oppression thrive off our inability to make peace with difference and injure the relationship we have with our own bodies.

The Body Is Not an Apology offers radical self-love as the balm to heal the wounds inflicted by these violent systems. World-renowned activist and poet Sonya Renee Taylor invites us to reconnect with the radical origins of our minds and bodies and celebrate our collective, enduring strength. As we awaken to our own indoctrinated body shame, we feel inspired to awaken others and to interrupt the systems that perpetuate body shame and oppression against all bodies. When we act from this truth on a global scale, we usher in the transformative opportunity of radical self-love, which is the opportunity for a more just, equitable, and compassionate world--for us all.” Goodreads.

The Color Purple (1982) Alice Walker

CW/Topics: sexual violence, rape, abuse, race, gender, sexuality

“A powerful cultural touchstone of modern American literature, The Color Purple depicts the lives of African American women in early twentieth-century rural Georgia. Separated as girls, sisters Celie and Nettie sustain their loyalty to and hope in each other across time, distance and silence. Through a series of letters spanning twenty years, first from Celie to God, then the sisters to each other despite the unknown, the novel draws readers into its rich and memorable portrayals of Celie, Nettie, Shug Avery and Sofia and their experience. The Color Purple broke the silence around domestic and sexual abuse, narrating the lives of women through their pain and struggle, companionship and growth, resilience and bravery. Deeply compassionate and beautifully imagined, Alice Walker's epic carries readers on a spirit-affirming journey towards redemption and love.

“Reading The Color Purple was the first time I had seen Southern, Black women’s literature as world literature. In writing us into the world—bravely, unapologetically, and honestly—Alice Walker has given us a gift we will never be able to repay.” —Tayari Jones

“The Color Purple was what church should have been, what honest familial reckoning could have been, and it is still the only art object in the world by which all three generations of Black artists in my family judge American art.” —Kiese Laymon” Goodreads

The Living Wisdom of Howard Thurman (2010) Howard Thurman

CW/Topics: spirituality, theology, self-help

“When we face challenges that seem too daunting to overcome, where can we find the strength to carry on? There is an inexhaustible wellspring of energy available to us in the moments of quiet stillness when we become aware of the Divine. For decades, Howard Thurman's words have guided many toward this deep inner reservoir, from leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King and President Barack Obama to countless people looking for the inspiration to deal creatively with the everyday struggles of life. Now with The Living Wisdom of Howard Thurman, you can hear some of the most powerful recordings from this treasured spiritual luminary. Howard Thurman was a Christian theologian, yet he knew that no religion could ever ¿own¿ God. Instead, he spoke of the mystical experience-the deep knowledge that each of us is always surrounded and pervaded by Spirit. In these recordings, he offers insights on how we can open ourselves to our inherent divinity.

With thunderous testimony and gentle whispers from the heart, he illuminates the inner journey that leads us ever toward a love so great that it can only come from God. Howard Thurman's words transcend any single religious tradition or era in history, for they have the power to give wings to all of us when we are suffering or in doubt.The Living Wisdom of Howard Thurman brings you a unique opportunity to hear one of America's greatest spiritual teachers-speaking to you across the years with timeless wisdom for your human journey.” Goodreads

Tough: My Journey to True Power (2022) Terry Crews

CW/Topics: male, gender, sexual violence, masculinity, family violence, hollywood

“Terry Crews spent decades cultivating his bodybuilder physique and bravado. On the outside, he seemed invincible: he escaped his abusive father, went pro in the NFL, and broke into the glamorous world of Hollywood. But his fixation with appearing outwardly tough eventually turned into an exhausting performance in which repressing his emotions let them get the better of him--leading him into addiction and threatening the most important relationships in his life.

Now Crews is sharing the raw, never-before-told story of his quest to find the true meaning of toughness. In Tough, he examines arenas of life where he desperately sought control--masculinity, shame, sex, experiences with racism, and relationships--and recounts the setbacks and victories he faced while uprooting deeply ingrained toxic masculinity and finally confronting his insecurities, painful memories, and limiting beliefs. The result is not only the gripping story of a man's struggle against himself and how he finally got his mind right, but a bold indictment of the cultural norms and taboos that ask men to be outwardly tough while leaving them inwardly weak.

With Tough, Crews's journey of transformation offers a model for anyone who considers themselves a "tough guy" but feels unfulfilled; anyone struggling with procrastination or self-sabotage; and anyone ready to achieve true, lasting self-mastery.” Goodreads

Unbound: My Story of Liberation and the Birth of the Me Too Movement ( 2021) Tarana Burke

CW/Topics: race, incarceration, rape, violence

“After a long, difficult day working with young Black girls who had suffered the unimaginable, Tarana tossed in her bed, unable to sleep as a fit of memories intruded into her thoughts. How could she help these girls if she couldn't even be honest with herself and face her own demons? A fitful night led to pages and pages of scribbled notes with two clear words at the top: Me too.

Tarana Burke is the founder and activist behind the largest social movement of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, the me too movement, but first she had to find the strength to say me too herself. Unbound is the story of how she came to those two words, after a childhood growing up in the Bronx with a loving mother that took a terrible turn when she was sexual assaulted. She became withdrawn and her self split: there was the Tarana that was a good student, model kid, and eager to please young girl, and then there was the Tarana that she hid from everyone else, the one she believed to be bad. The one that would take all the love in her life away if she revealed.

Tarana's debut memoir explores how to piece back together our fractured selves. How to not just bring the me too movement back to empathy, but how to empathize with our past selves, with out bad selves, and how to begin to love ourselves unabashedly. Healing starts with empowerment, and to Tarana empowerment starts with empathy. This is her story of finding that for herself, and then spreading it to an entire world.” Goodreads

We're Going to Need More Wine (2017) Gabrielle Union

CW/Topics: rape, race, gender, sexuality, Hollywood

“Union tackles a range of experiences, including bullying, beauty standards, and competition between women in Hollywood, growing up in white California suburbia and then spending summers with her black relatives in Nebraska.Union bravely lays herself bare, uncovering a complex and courageous life of self-doubt and self-discovery with incredible poise and brutal honesty.

A powerful collection of essays about gender, sexuality, race, beauty, Hollywood, and what it means to be a modern woman.

One month before the release of the highly anticipated film The Birth of a Nation, actress Gabrielle Union shook the world with a vulnerable and impassioned editorial in which she urged our society to have compassion for victims of sexual violence. In the wake of rape allegations made against director and actor Nate Parker, Union—a forty-four-year-old actress who launched her career with roles in iconic ’90s movies—instantly became the insightful, outspoken actress that Hollywood has been desperately awaiting. With honesty and heartbreaking wisdom, she revealed her own trauma as a victim of sexual assault: "It is for you that I am speaking. This is real. We are real."

In this moving collection of thought provoking essays infused with her unique wisdom and deep humor, Union uses that same fearlessness to tell astonishingly personal and true stories about power, color, gender, feminism, and fame. Union tackles a range of experiences, including bullying, beauty standards, and competition between women in Hollywood, growing up in white California suburbia and then spending summers with her black relatives in Nebraska, coping with crushes, puberty, and the divorce of her parents. Genuine and perceptive, Union bravely lays herself bare, uncovering a complex and courageous life of self-doubt and self-discovery with incredible poise and brutal honesty. Throughout, she compels us to be ethical and empathetic, and reminds us of the importance of confidence, self-awareness, and the power of sharing truth, laughter, and support.” Goodreads