The biggest difference between racial issues in the UK and the US is the attitude the people have towards the topic. In the US, there is a constant call for racial tolerance, racial awareness, and racial acceptance. Emphasized from childhood, people of color are aware of the racial differences. However, in the UK, there is an unspoken rule that race should be ignored. In Britain, racism is more subtle. It’s more insidious. Sometimes, you won’t even know you’re being discriminated against. The way the script usually goes is, “Hello. So nice to meet you.” Fake laugh, fake laugh, and more fake laughter, until you leave the room, and they say, “We are never going to employ that woman.” Many of them have mastered that script.
Meet the two successful black British women, Yomi Adegoke, and Elizabeth Uviebinené who have written Slay In Your Lane, a book with the tricks for black women to make lemonade out of the lemons given to them by racists. Yomi Adegoke is a journalist and senior writer at The Pool. While her best friend, and co-author, Elizabeth Uviebinené is a marketing manager at HSBC. They met at Warwick University years ago, and among the many things they share in common is their goal to protect black people at all cost.
The long-awaited, inspirational guide to life for black women is one every black person needs. it is one we can all relate to. Moreso, it is one other people of color can learn a lot from. A white Amazon reviewer left a striking comment about the book. She said in her review, “White people on the other hand, should read this to be educated. In the same way I’d urge every male who questions the prevalence of sexism in our society to read Laura Bates’ Everyday Sexism, I would encourage all white people who still question the scale of racism to read Slay In Your Lane.”
In Slay In Your Lane, they write about how being black affects females in areas like: employment, dating, representation, education, and health. In addition to their personal experiences, Adegoke and Uviebinené interview 39 eminent black women, who share their story, and offer words that will encourage black women to slay their way through the stumbling block that is racism.
Since it’s release, it has received positive reactions from readers around the world and has attracted TV Networks, magazines, and literary festivals. It currently holds the number one spot for the bestselling book under “Business Ethics” on Amazon.
Here is an excerpt from their interview with Melan Mag in which they discuss the purpose of Slay In Your Lane and its cultural importance.
[bq]Yomi Adegoke: The purpose of the book is to inspire young, black British women. Being able to read the stories about successful, black British women, understand where they’ve come from is really important and they’re all from different backgrounds as well. We’ve got a lawyer, a space scientist… We wanted to really show that black women, as much as we are great entertainers, but we can also run businesses, we are also entrepreneurs. So, it’s just to show the breadth of those role models, the role models that we do have in this country and not look to the US as we often do. So, that was one of the most important things as well.
Elizabeth Uviebinené: It’s also an advisory book. We always say you can’t slay your way out of systematic oppression unfortunately, and of institutional racism, but armed with the right knowledge and the right advice, you can make a really good job at something and make something of yourself. When you look at the women, a lot of whom are a lot older than us, they were coming up during the times where it was even more difficult than it is now.[/bq]
To learn more about Slay In Your Lane, visit their website.