read for Popsugar 2019 Reading Challenge: your favorite prompt from a past Popsugar challenge prompt - a book written by someone you admire

I wasn't super familiar with W. Kamau Bell until I watched his stand up special on Netflix, which I thought was hysterical, so I added his book to my tbr. I'm so glad to have actually picked this up, because it was a fantastic read (or listen in my case). Bell's ridiculously long subtitle gives you a peak into the things he talks about in this book: his childhood, his identity, representation in media, family, his career, etc. What I loved is how he did not shy away from the struggles in his life, especially in his career. Listening to him describe all the ways he failed until he started to actually succeed, and even then he still struggled. It was inspiring but also a really good reality check that success is not an easy path to follow. I laughed out loud quite frequently during this listen, and often found myself nodding along with him when he hit on some particular truths about the world.

One thing that I think a lot of media struggles with is the ability to keep pace with this insanely fast news cycle. Both in this special and occasionally in the book things felt like 10,000 years ago regarding politics. Which is crazy as this book was published not even two years ago!!!! So this isn't a reflection on Bell at all, but just my continued amazement at this insane political situation. So I guess myself and fellow white liberals need to listen to Bell's advice for white people on how to combat racism and prejudices.

Also, I'm planning on reading an N.K. Jemisin novel next, and I learned through this book that she is Bell's cousin! The world is truly very small.