How To Be Black, A Satirical Guide From Comedian Baratunde Thurston

Digital director of The Onion and comedian Baratunde Thurston has authored How To Be Black, a “humorous, intelligent, and audacious guide that challenges and satirizes the so-called experts, purists, and racists who purport to speak for all black people”. Baratunde was recently interviewed by Terry Gross on NPR Fresh Air and then featured on NPR Books where he says, “I hope to expose you to another side of the black experience while offering practical, comedic advice based on my own painful lessons learned.”

Thurston is also currently touring the world and making appearances to promote How To Be Black. He will be presenting How to Read the World, the opening keynote address at SXSW Interactive 2012 on March 10, 2012 at 2 PM.

If You Don’t Buy This Book, You’re a Racist.

Have you ever been called “too black” or “not black enough”?

Have you ever befriended or worked with a black person?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, this book is for you.

Raised by a pro-black, Pan-Afrikan single mother during the crack years of 1980s Washington, DC, and educated at Sidwell Friends School and Harvard University, Baratunde Thurston has over thirty years’ experience being black. Now, through stories of his politically inspired Nigerian name, the heroics of his hippie mother, the murder of his drug-abusing father, and other revelatory black details, he shares with readers of all colors his wisdom and expertise in how to be black.

Beyond memoir, this guidebook offers practical advice on everything from “How to Be The Black Friend” to “How to Be The (Next) Black President” to “How to Celebrate Black History Month.”