‘Our humanity needs and deserves more breathing room’

One year on from the death of George Floyd, a new book of essays edited by activist Tarana Burke and author Brené Brown sheds important light on Black humanity and vulnerability

When women come together as friends and allies, amazing things happen. Case in point: You Are Your Best Thing, an insightful, moving, joyous new anthology of essays by the likes of Laverne Cox, Luvvie Ajayi Jones and Jason Reynolds. The collection came about after an open, honest conversation between two friends: Tarana Burke, the American activist who founded the Me Too movement in 2006, long before it ended up as a viral hashtag in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein allegations; and research professor and author Brené Brown, whose groundbreaking work on vulnerability and shame, and bestselling books like The Gifts Of Imperfection and Dare To Lead, has made her a household name.

In the midst of last year’s Black Lives Matter protests, Burke says she grappled with the emphasis on getting white people to be anti-racist. ‘There was no focus on Black humanity,’ she says. ‘I kept thinking: where’s the space for us to talk about what this does to us, how this affects our lives?’ So, after debating whether to send the text or not, she finally reached out to her friend Brené Brown. ‘Her work was so important to me and my experience as a human being, but as a Black woman, I often felt like I had to contort myself to fit into the work. I wanted to talk to her about adding to it, to look at the Black experience with shame and resilience,’ says Burke. Much to Burke’s surprise, Brown was more than willing to collaborate. ‘The first thing she said was, “Oh hell yeah, absolutely! Yes, I want to do this,”’ recalls Burke.

In fact, Brown had been grappling with her own questions, too; although she has always used diverse samples in her research, she knew she needed to make her work feel more inclusive. ‘I realised the way I present my research to the world does not always resonate because I often use myself and my stories as examples, and I have a very privileged white experience,’ says Brown. And she had been growing increasingly aware that we all experience vulnerability differently.

‘I believe the greatest casualty of trauma – including white supremacy, which is definitely a form of intergenerational systemic trauma – is that vulnerability becomes dangerous, risky, even life-threatening,’ Brown explains. ‘We’ve created a culture that makes it unsafe for [Black people] to be vulnerable.’

So, in order to create a safe space to explore Black vulnerability, the friends worked together to create this anthology, commissioning Black writers to explore topics from family and love, to physical disability and mental illness. For Burke, her biggest hope is that the writing will help Black readers feel seen and understood.

‘I haven’t read many books about the Black experience that get past some of the first-layer stuff and really get into the heart work,’ she says. ‘I just want us to see ourselves in this differently, to see our insides, the parts that we feel we have to cover and hide and keep away from the world in order to survive.’

And, of course, it’s an important read for anyone who wants to actively engage with the Black experience. ‘Our humanity, our individual and collective vulnerability, needs and deserves some breathing room,’ says Burke. ‘I do not believe in your anti-racist work if you have not engaged with Black humanity.’

‘WE ALL EXPERIENCE VULNERABILITY DIFFERENTLY’

You Are Your Best Thing: Vulnerability, Shame Resilience, And The Black Experience (Vermilion) edited by Tarana Burke and Brené Brown is out now