TOKEN BLACK GIRL

In her memoir, "Token Black Girl," Danielle Prescod explores how racial identity, pop culture, and delusions of perfection intersect, revealing the adverse effects of white supremacy in the media and her journey toward recovery and self-acceptance.

Format: Paperback
Publication date: 04 October 2022
Publisher: GLOBAL PUBLISHER SERVICES

Racial identity, pop culture, and delusions of perfection intertwine in an eye-opening and refreshingly frank memoir by fashion and beauty insider Danielle Prescod. Growing up Black in an elite and overwhelmingly white community, Danielle's identity was further obscured by the whitewashed movies, television, magazines, and books she and her classmates consumed voraciously. Taking inspiration from the world around her, Danielle sought to confine her identity within that box, setting increasingly poisonous goals. She began painful and damaging chemical hair treatments in elementary school, deprived herself of food during puberty, and attempted to control her image through the most impeccable fashion choices. These obsessions propelled her into a career in beauty and fashion, where she faced the relentless scrutiny of the racist and sexist beauty standard storm. Assimilating was a challenging feat, but Danielle was skilled in it. She was an asset, their "Token Black Girl." While toxic, Danielle was driven by her desire to achieve social cache and climb the ladder of coveted media jobs, and she appeared to be doing well. However, she had to endure executives asking questions like, "What was it like to drive to school from the ghetto?" and coworkers expressing curiosity about her parents' welfare status.

After decades of suppressing her emotions, resentment, and true self, Danielle turned a critical eye inward and confronted the factors that drove her self-destructive behaviors. Sharp-witted and bracingly candid, Token Black Girl uncovers the adverse effects of insidious white supremacy in the media, both unconscious and strategic, to tell a personal story of recovery from damaging concepts of perfection, celebrating identity, and dismantling social conditioning.

ISBN-13: 9781542035156