Friday #56, #23 You Can't Touch My Hair by Phoebe Robinson

The Friday #56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice. Join in every Friday and share an excerpt from a book you've been reading. Here are the rules:

• Grab a book 
• Turn to page 56 or 56% in your e-reader
• Find any sentence (or a few, don't spoil it) 

**Be sure to post the links to your Friday #56 below!

Happy Reading!

Okay so this week was #diverseathon and for my first read of the week I decided to pick up You Can't Touch My Hair which is a memoir, but also a guide to a lot of things that occur within and in relation to being a black woman. It's really insightful and as a black female it's really easy for me to relate to. Although the book title contains the word "hair" it ultimately is about so much more including a brief history of black hair in film, TV, music, and media; how to avoid being the black friend; and the angry black woman myth. I would recommend this book to a lot of people especially if you're interested in learning a bit of information that you may not have been familiar with. 

"Bono, Lead Singer: His singing voice is angelic, powerful, and raw. His speaking voice is that of a sexy Irish god. When he opens his mouth, I start behaving like an old black church lady, which means I fan myself and pass around a collection plate..." 

A hilarious and affecting essay collection about race, gender, and pop culture from celebrated stand-up comedian and WNYC podcaster Phoebe Robinson.

Phoebe Robinson is a stand-up comic, which means that, often, her everyday experiences become points of comedic fodder. And as a black woman in America, she maintains, sometimes you need to have a sense of humor to deal with the absurdity you are handed on the daily. Robinson has experienced her fair share over the years: she's been unceremoniously relegated to the role of "the black friend," as if she is somehow the authority on all things racial; she's been questioned about her love of U2 and Billy Joel ("isn t that . . . white people music?"); she's been called "uppity" for having an opinion in the workplace; she's been followed around stores by security guards; and yes, people do ask her whether they can touch her hair all. the. time. Now, she's ready to take these topics to the page and she s going to make you laugh as she s doing it.

Using her trademark wit alongside pop-culture references galore, Robinson explores everything from why Lisa Bonet is "Queen. Bae. Jesus," to breaking down the terrible nature of casting calls, to giving her less-than-traditional advice to the future female president, and demanding that the NFL clean up its act, all told in the same conversational voice that launched her podcast, "2 Dope Queens," to the top spot on iTunes. As personal as it is political, "You Can't Touch My Hair" examines our cultural climate and skewers our biases with humor and heart, announcing Robinson as a writer on the rise."