Review: Sure, I’ll Be Your Black Friend
Sure, I’ll Be Your Black Friend
Ben Philippe
Synopsis: Ben Philippe chronicles his life growing up first as a Haitian immigrant in Canada, and later in the US. He discusses everything from his own experiences with racism, as well as Black Girl Magic, Affirmative Action, the Black Lives Matter movement and Beyoncé.
Rating: R- For language, and sexuality.
Let’s make one thing perfectly clear. If Ben Philippe in real life is ANYTHING like he sounds in this book, I 100% want to be his friend. This book is smart, sharp, hilarious, straight forward, and honest.
Philippe’s story is eye opening. I enjoyed learning about his experiences with being an immigrant, as well as his insight from growing up as a Black person living in VERY white communities. It’s a perspective that I have not read about before.* I am a white woman, and grew up in a predominantly white community. In my high school, it was something of a running joke that there was only a few Black students. I think reading about this experience affected me because I could see myself in the story more so than with other books I’ve read. I could imagine Philippe as one of the few Black people that went to school with me. It really made me question if this was also their experience (I’m almost positive they would be able to relate on some level), and whether or not I ever contributed to any –intentional or otherwise– prejudicial, micro-aggressive, or any other way racist behavior. Examining yourself and your actions is not comfortable, but so important, and the only way to effect change. It’s also what makes books like this one so great, and so critical.
The whole book is well written and captivating. Philippe does a fantastic job balancing humor with hard hitting truths. Among other things, Sure, I’ll Be Your Black Friend, brings microaggressions into the spot light. Those little comments that the melanin deficient, “I’m not racist, but…”, people love to say, and don’t really understand (yet– hopefully!) why they aren’t welcome.
I would definitely recommend Sure, I’ll Be Your Black Friend. Go in with an open mind and there’s a lot you can learn from this book!
*Obviously, there may be other books written from a similar perspective, I just haven’t read them (yet).