Working While Black: The Black Person's Guide to Success in the White Workplace Book

My rating distribution for book reviews in general:

Content: 0-1 star
Delivery: 0-1 star
Relevance: 0-1 star
Impact: 0-1 star
Bonus (if warranted by additional components of the book that enhanced my experience with the read): 0-1 star

Why I read this book:

The title, alone, suggests that success for a black person in a white workplace is defined by how well we get whites to receive us and/or how well we conform to their standards and expectations. The title
disturbed me and attracted me at the same time. So I decided to buy the book. Also, Kansas City is my hometown and I found out that the author does an advice column with the KC Star. Although I no longer live there, I try to support anything Kansas City if I can.

Content: 1/1
In terms of content, this book does contain some very important factors to consider and to be aware of and I do feel that a book of this nature is more than necessary. Some of the experiences shared in the book and some of the advice provided truly made the book worth reading. I also appreciated how the author created a new edition to the book in response to changes in the world that have impacted the topic since its original edition. Finally , the foreword and the intro were attractive enough to get me engaged and ready for the read.

Delivery: 1/1
Disregarding one typo I noted while reading, the content was delivered with honesty and completeness. I appreciated the honesty in the author's tone and content more than anything. The truth must be told and she did a sound job keeping it real about what the workplace is "really" like for most of us. In addition to the honesty, I appreciated that the author was thorough. It was well-written in terms of details, examples and advice. It was thorough. It was honest and it was real. That's how I prefer communication to be delivered to me, thus my needs were satisfied.

Relevance: 1/1
Race issues are ever-so-present in work environments from all angles. And they're continual, disturbing and should not be ignored or sugar-coated. They exist everywhere and every single day, which supports the author's notion that being black is a full-time job, alone. We have to deal with so much in terms of racial issues and perceptions on top of doing our jobs. Her assertions are true and relevant, indeed. The book is relevant in and of itself.

Impact: 0/1
Here's where the book failed me. The word "guide" is mentioned in the title and this book was more of a testimony than it was a guide. I'm ok with the testimonial. What I am saying is, it didn't give me what I thought I was getting and it didn't provide what it said it would. I enjoyed the read because I live in the very truth on which the book is about. I enjoyed the author's style. But it was not a guide and I didn't learn strategies that I didn't already know. I didn't put the book down feeling any different than when I picked it up. It was a good read, but had no real impact on my plans, my needs or my experiences. I found myself agreeing and being able to relate to most of what was being asserted, but didn't end with anything of substance. I would have liked to have ended with a different perspective, new strategies or motivation to influence/encourage change. That's what "guides" provide and this one did not. This was more of a sistah to sistah commentary than it was anything else. And the idea of conforming to fit in with the masses rubs me the wrong way, which is indicative of a negative impact, since I'm speaking of impact.