Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor

by Layla F. Saad (Read by)

Overview

Based off the original workbook, Me and White Supremacy teaches listeners how to dismantle the privilege within themselves so that they can stop (often unconsciously) inflicting damage on people of color, and in turn, help other white people do better, too.

When Layla Saad began an Instagram challenge called #meandwhitesupremacy, she never predicted it would spread as widely as it did. She encouraged people to own up and share their racist behaviors, big and small. She was looking for truth, and she got it. Thousands of people participated in the challenge, and over 90,000 people downloaded the Me and White Supremacy Workbook.

The updated and expanded Me and White Supremacy takes the work deeper by adding more historical and cultural contexts, sharing moving stories and anecdotes, and including expanded definitions, examples, and and further resources.

Awareness leads to action, and action leads to change. The numbers show that people are ready to do this work—let’s give it to them.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781094135403
Publisher:	Blackstone Publishing
Publication date:	02/04/2020
Edition description:	Unabridged
Product dimensions:	6.70(w) x 6.10(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Layla F. Saad is a writer, speaker, and podcast host on the topics of race, identity, leadership, personal transformation, and social change.

As an East African, Arab, British, Black, Muslim woman who was born in and grew up in the UK and currently lives in Qatar, Layla has always sat at a unique intersection of identities from which she is able to draw rich and intriguing perspectives. Layla’s work is driven by her powerful desire to “become a good ancestor,” to live and work in ways that leave a legacy of healing and liberation for those who will come after she is gone.

Layla’s work has been brought into communities, workplaces, institutions, and events around the world that are seeking to create personal and collective change.

Find out more about Layla at LaylaFSaad.com.

Table of Contents

PART I: Welcome to the Work A Little about Me What Is White Supremacy? Who Is This Work For? What You Will Need to Do This Work How to Use This Audiobook Self-Care, Support, and Sustainability PART II: The Work - Week 1: The Basics Day 1: You and White Privilege Day 2: You and White Fragility Day 3: You and Tone Policing Day 4: You and White Silence Day 5: You and White Superiority Day 6: You and White Exceptionalism Day 7: Week 1 Review Week 2: Anti-Blackness, Racial Stereotypes, and Day 8: You and Color Blindness Day 9: You and Anti-Blackness against Black Women Day 10: You and Anti-Blackness against Black Men Day 11: You and Anti-Blackness against Black Children Day 12: You and Racist Stereotypes Day 13: You and Cultural Appropriation Day 14: Week 2 Review Week 3: Allyship Day 15: You and White Apathy Day 16: You and White Centering Day 17: You and Tokenism Day 18: You and White Saviorism Day 19: You and Optical Allyship Day 20: You and Being Called Out/Called In Day 21: Week 3 Review Week 4: Power, Relationships, and Commitments Day 22: You and White Feminism Day 23: You and White Leaders Day 24: You and Your Friends Day 25: You and Your Family Day 26: You and Your Values Day 27: You and Losing Privilege Day 28: You and Your Commitments Now What? Continuing the Work after Day 28

Editorial Reviews

An effective tool for…addressing larger systems of racism and oppression.”

Shelf Awareness (starred review)

Smoothly narrating twenty-eight days of journaling prompts…Saad includes personal and historical anecdotes to provide context—which is all the more powerful to hear from the author herself.”

AudioFile

An important book about taking ownership of racist behavior and making changes that are not easy, convenient, or comfortable…This groundbreaking book should be required reading.”

Library Journal (starred review)

Must be considered mandatory reading for anyone having to deal with the social injustice arising from racism and bigotry that.”

Midwest Book Review

America needed this book yesterday. In fact, America has always needed this book…Don’t put it off, and don’t look away. It’s time.”

#1 New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Gilbert

This book is not for the oppressed or the marginalized but rather for those whose privilege, when left unchecked, has harmful consequences.”

Booklist (starred review)

A bracing, highly useful tool for any discussion of combating racism.”

Kirkus Reviews

An expanded, in-depth adaptation of her original workbook, which the author sees as a stepping stone for people who want to fight racism.”

Publishers Weekly

Layla not only engages readers effectively—she hands them the tools they need to change themselves so that they can better the lives of millions of people worldwide.”

Rachel Cargle

Layla Saad’s Me and White Supremacy is an indispensable resource for white people who want to challenge white supremacy but don’t know where to begin.”

author of White Fragility Robin DiAngelo

A rallying call, for those humble enough to answer, to stop and examine how dominant systems shape how white people see themselves, see others, and how they move through the world.”

author of Own Your Glow Latham Thomas

Her work is personal, practical, reflective, applicable, difficult, effective, and imperative.”

Glennon Doyle

A timely and thoughtful guide that transforms truth-telling into accessible and actionable change in hearts, minds, and communities worldwide.”

author and publisher of the Feminist Press Jamia Wilson

"Layla Saad's Me and White Supremacy is an indispensable resource for white people who want to challenge white supremacy but don't know where to begin. She moves her readers from their heads into their hearts, and ultimately, into their practice. We won't end white supremacy through an intellectual understanding alone; we must put that understanding into action." - Robin DiAngelo, author of New York Times bestseller White Fragility

"She is no-joke changing the world and, for what it's worth, the way I live my life." - Anne Hathaway

"Her work is personal, practical, reflective, applicable, difficult, effective, and imperative. For the millions of us beginning to know where to begin — where to begin to counteract our ugly history, and where to stand during this historical moment of polarization and hate — Layla answers: Begin with me. Begin with you." - Glennon Doyle, author of #1 New York Times bestseller Love Warrior and founder of Together Rising

"As an educator and writer in this space, I well understand the difficulties of productive discourse on topics like white supremacy, white fragility, and complicity. In Me and White Supremacy, Layla not only engages readers effectively — she hands them the tools they need to change themselves so that they can better the lives of millions of people worldwide." - Rachel Cargle, activist, writer, and lecturer

"Allyship means taking action. How? Layla Saad's Me and White Supremacy teaches readers exactly how to get past the paralysis of white fragility so that they can build bridges, not walls. Read the book, look deep within yourself, sit with your discomfort, and then act. This is how we can truly say we are doing everything we can to combat white supremacy." - Sophia Bush, award-winning actress and activist

"Layla Saad's pioneering work Me and White Supremacy is a rallying call, for those humble enough to answer, to stop and examine how dominant systems shape how white people see themselves, see others and how they move through the world. Saad takes readers by the hand and holds a mirror up for readers to confront everything conscious and subconscious, that lies within their beliefs. She invites readers to dive deeper and do reflective exercises to cement the work. I applaud Layla for putting to paper this truly transformative work. Me and White Supremacy summons forth a new type of leadership and accountability that this time so desperately calls for and is the pathway to a greater healing that generations of people and communities so desperately need." - Latha, Wellnessm Thomas Maven, Celebrity Doula, Best-selling author of Own Your Glow and founder of Mama Glow.

"America needed this book yesterday. In fact, America has always needed this book. Layla Saad is one of the most important and valuable teachers we have right now on the subject of white supremacy and racial injustice. With keen intelligence and tireless patience, she is working to remove our collective cultural blind spots and to help-at last-change minds and transform society. I have the deepest respect for her. Buy this book for yourself, your family, your students. Don't put it off and don't look away. It's time." - New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Gilbert

"Layla Saad is one of the most important and valuable teachers we have right now on the subject of white supremacy and racial injustice." - Elizabeth Gilbert, New York Times bestselling author

"A timely and thoughtful guide that transforms truth-telling into accessible and actionable change in hearts, minds, and communities worldwide." - Jamia Wilson, author, and publisher of the Feminist Press

"For many Black women that do public justice education work, Layla Saad's Me and White Supremacy has become a major part of our self-care. Now not only do we have more accessible and contemporary language for "How" to speak about the invention of whiteness and the traumas of global white supremacy, but we have a toolkit to point to that does a great deal of this work for us - all in one place. The book is self-care because it helps to eliminate the responsibility of the oppressed to shoulder the burden of educating the oppressor. I suspect that as a result of Me and White Supremacy, we will never be the same." - EbonyJanice Moore, author, activist, scholar, and founder of Black Girl Mixtape Institute

"Layla Saad is an unapologetic force against white supremacy. In a world where the scales of power tip painfully in favor of injustice, Layla gives us the tools to look within, confront internalized oppression, challenge our biases and learn how to do better for one another." - Jasmin Kaur, author of When You Ask Me Where I'm Going

"Layla Saad is doing sacred work. Because in her effort to protect, center, and advance the well-being of Black folks, she is healing the soul of all humanity. This book is a revolution that will create ripples and waves for an entire generation of truth-seekers." - Rebekah Borucki, best-selling author of Managing the Motherload

"With equal parts love, brilliance, and vulnerability, Layla F. Saad has given us a guidebook for healing and transformation for the self and the world... I want to press this book into everyone's hands, to urge, Read this. This is one of those rare books where the author has given us the profound gift of her entirety poured into pages, attaching additional meaning to the phrase, "The book of a lifetime." It is indeed a book belonging to multiple narratives: yours, mine, hers. The book of a lifetime that will transform lives." - Reema Zaman, award-winning actress, speaker, activist, and author of I Am Yours

"A bracing, highly useful tool for any discussion of combating racism. " - Kirkus Reviews

"Me and White Supremacy will help readers stand up for what is right and make a positive change in the world." - SheReads

"An important book about taking ownership of racist behavior and making changes that are not easy, convenient, or comfortable...should be required reading for people ready to acknowledge their behaviors, whether intentional or not.
" - Library Journal, STARRED review

"This small but intense book which provokes readers to take personal ownership of the effort to dismantle systemic racism...This book is not for the oppressed or the marginalized, but rather for those whose privilege, when left unchecked, has harmful consequences. Saad has created an insightful and necessary contribution to the work of combating racism and becoming good ancestors." - Booklist, STARRED review

"Must be considered mandatory reading for anyone having to deal with the social injustice arising from racism and bigotry that has seen a dramatic resurgence in our American culture and society. " - Midwest Book Review

"Me and White Supremacy is an effective tool for individuals to start their journeys into the work of addressing larger systems of racism and oppression.
" - Shelf Awareness for Readers, STARRED review

From the Publisher