NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERNominated for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary WorkNamed a Best Book of the Year by The RootChosen by Emma Straub as a Best New Celebrity Memoir“A book of essays as raw and honest as anyone has ever produced.” — Lena Dunham, Lenny LetterIn the spirit of Amy Poehler’s Yes Please, Lena Dunham’s Not That Kind of Girl, and Roxane Gay's Bad Feminist, a powerful collection of honest essays about gender, sexuality, race, beauty, Hollywood, and what it means to be a modern woman. One month before the release of the highly anticipated film The Birth of a Nation, actress Gabrielle Union shook the world with a vulnerable and impassioned editorial in which she urged our society to have compassion for victims of sexual violence. In the wake of rape allegations made against director and actor Nate Parker, Union—a forty-four-year-old Hollywood actress who launched her career with roles in iconic ’90s movies—instantly became the insightful, outspoken voice that Hollywood has been desperately awaiting. With honesty and heartbreaking wisdom, she revealed her own trauma as a victim of sexual assault: "It is for you that I am speaking. This is real. We are real."In this moving celebrity memoir in essays, infused with her unique wisdom and deep humor, Union uses that same fearlessness to tell astonishingly personal and true stories about power, color, gender, feminism, and fame. Union tackles a range of experiences, including bullying, beauty standards, and competition between women in Hollywood, growing up in white California suburbia and then spending summers with her black relatives in Nebraska, coping with crushes, puberty, and the divorce of her parents. Genuine and perceptive, Union bravely lays herself bare, uncovering a complex and courageous life of self-doubt and self-discovery with incredible poise and brutal honesty as she explores her own journey of Black womanhood. Throughout, she compels us to be ethical and empathetic, and reminds us of the importance of confidence, self-awareness, and the power of sharing truth, laughter, and support. In this unflinchingly honest book, Gabrielle Union tells the stories she has never shared before. On Race and Colorism: From growing up as the ‘chocolate chip in the cookie’ in a white suburb to her summers in Omaha, she tackles the painful realities of racism and the nuances of colorism within the Black community. Trauma and Healing: With raw honesty, she shares her own experience as a victim of sexual assault and the difficult, ongoing path to healing and advocacy. Hollywood and Competition: A look behind the curtain at the harsh beauty standards, bullying, and intense competition between women in the entertainment industry. A Modern Fertility Journey: Union opens up about her deeply personal struggles with IVF and multiple miscarriages, a powerful story of hope and heartbreak that many women face. On Modern Womanhood and Feminism: Tackling everything from puberty and divorce to what it means to be a stepmother in a blended family, this is a powerful take on being a woman today.
