Slay in Your Lane
by Yomi Adegoke & Elizabeth Uviebinene
| Halfway between a handbook and a colourful retelling of the author’s and guest contributors experience, this is a book that is relevant to all stages of the black girl experience in the UK. The book covers issues such as education, work, the university experience, representation, health through the lens of their development from black girls into black women. I found that the book gave names to many of the experiences I have observed or faced- a major selling point of the book. Some of the topics are sobering, such as the discussion on microaggressions at work and the ‘concrete ceiling’ that exists for women of colour, below the ‘glass ceiling’ in the way of our female counterparts in the workplace. All the same, the book is written in a hopeful tone that makes it seem as though your older sisters are letting you know it will all be okay in the end. Looking forward, the section highlighting the need to develop financial literacy early underscored the lack of financial education owing to the cultural differences between ethnic groups. Overall, the book was easy to follow, punctuated with witty quotes such as ‘we were bad, with very little of the boujee’ between chapters. The subject matter in the Getting Ahead and Work sections did skew towards the negative due to the inequity black women are constantly reminded of and subjected to in their professional environments. I read this book on recommendation from Beacon staff and would recommend it to any young black woman in the UK. Zawadi Mwambeyu Rating: 4 Interesting
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