Brendan Kiely - The Other Talk: Reckoning with Our White Privilege

The Other Talk

Reckoning with Our White Privilege

Brendan Kiely

with an Introduction by Jason Reynolds

PRAISE FOR THE OTHER TALK

With vulnerability, honesty, and humility, Kiely offers an invitation for white youth to examine the history of racism in the United States of America and its impact on their own identity and relationships. These pages unpack what it means to be an ally, what it means to listen, what it means to grow. There have been many calls to action, The Other Talk is a mighty, necessary response.

RENE WATSON, Newbery Honor recipient and Coretta Scott King AwardWinning author of Love Is a Revolution

Honest. Raw. Necessary. The Other Talk is required reading. A nuanced examination of the constructs of race and the insidious, pervasive roots of white privilege in the United States, The Other Talk is a clarion call to action, a call to love, to do better for ourselves, our neighbors, and our nation. Brendan Kiely challenges the reader to sit with their discomfortbelieve me there are uncomfortable moments in any real discussion about raceand to learn through the radical act of listening and questioning lies that have passed for too long as truths. Kiely dares us to imagine a better country and then to step up to make that place real.

SAMIRA AHMED, New York Times bestselling author of Internment

In The Other Talk, Brendan Kiely reflects on personal experience, history, and current events to speak the truth about white privilege and racism with vulnerability, nuance, compassion, and hope. An urgent call for white teens to listen, reflect, speak up, and join the fight for justice.

RANDY RIBAY, author of the National Book Award finalist Patron Saints of Nothing

There are books you buy to keep and there are books you buy to immediately give to others to read. This is the book you want everyone else to read because it is so important. Kiely writes his truths in such a compassionate and accessible manner that he invites readers to enter the difficult conversation of race without blame and instead to focus on the necessary conversations that need to be had for real change to happen. Im so glad he wrote this book.

ELLEN OH, author of Finding Junie Kim and cofounder of We Need Diverse Books

Can a nonfiction book about race be a heart-pounding page-turner? The Other Talk sure is. Kielys conversational style draws you right in, and his honesty about his own mistakes and misconceptions (wow, did he make a lot of mistakes!) will make you laugh, cringe, and grow. If youre a white person who thinks a lot about race, you should read this book. If youre a white person who doesnt think a lot about race, you should read this book. Youll be very glad you did.

ADAM GIDWITZ, bestselling author of the Newbery honoree The Inquisitors Tale

An unflinching reckoning with white privilege, Kiely places his life on the examination table, dissecting his own past to show how systemic racism infects us all. The Other Talk invites readers to an honest conversation that is uncomfortable, messy, and absolutely necessary.

MINH L, early care and education policy expert and critically acclaimed author of Drawn Together

This book gets right to the heart of the white impulse to imagine that we are exceptional. It contains facts, feeling, and the kind of candor that challenges young people at the door, but also welcomes them inside. We need more white people talking honestly to other white people about what whiteness means and how it works. Lets talk about guilt versus responsibility. Lets talk about denial. Lets talk about Brendan Kielys The Other Talk.

OLIVIA A. COLE, critically acclaimed author of The Truth about White Lies

Accessible and timely. Its time for white people to talk to each other about racism, and this book is a great first step.

JULIE MURPHY, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Dumplin series

As awareness and public dialogue about systemic racism have increased, many have scrambled for resources in well-intentioned efforts to learn and change. Yet, no amount of reading can dismantle systems of oppression without action. This is the book for all the white folks who asked, How do I talk to my kids/students about racism? The Other Talk provides a blueprint not only of the key points necessary to build a foundation of anti-racist, critical consciousness, it also models the how of these necessary conversations in white spaces. Through deeply personal stories woven with historical facts and racial statistics shared in conversational, engaging language, Brendan Kiely peels back layers of white privilege and pushes other white folks to take on the responsibility of whiteness and dismantling systemic racism.

JOANNA HO, New York Times bestselling author of Eyes that Kiss in the Corners

Compelling, riveting, emotionally stirringBrendan Kiely gives us a critical tool for consciousness raising and freedom dreaming. Read this, then read it again, then talk about it with those you know and love.

JULIA TORRES, nationally acclaimed educator, scholar, and librarian

The Other Talk is the conversation that white people should have had with each other long ago. This book is long overdue. For those who have been unable to confront the truth about what whiteness is and how it is lived, Brendan Kiely offers a supportive, accessible, and necessary late pass. This book is not just an opportunity to school yourself. It is a rare chance to truly free yourself.

CORNELIUS MINOR, nationally renowned educator and author of We Got This: Equity, Access, and the Quest to Be Who Our Students Need Us to Be

For all of us who have wrestled with our own whiteness and have asked, what can I do about racial injustice? This is the book weve been waiting for. Teachers, young people, their families, and school communities will find hope and humility in Brendans book. It offers us practical ways to talk with each other about and move beyond the fear that paralyzes us in doing this work, and it gives us the strength of a larger community committed to having this other talk.

SARAH FLEMING, PhD, educator and scholar

Brendan tells the truth. It is as simple as thatand as complicated. In my twenty years of teaching youth about whiteness and white privilege, I have often found it challenging to be honest with myself and my students without being met with resistance, frustration, and, sometimes, anger. Brendan offers us a way into The Other Talk with grace, patience, honesty, and vulnerability.

KEITH NEWVINE, assistant professor of literacy, SUNY Cortland

For Finn.

Son, we have a lot to talk aboutincluding all that youll teach me.

And for my father.

Dad, thank you for having this talk with me after all.

Why dont white people think they have racial identity?

Reni EddoLodge

When my little cousin was young, he was a stumblebum. A klutz. But not because he was a naturally uncoordinated kid tripping on air, but because whenever he was wearing shoes, it was a guarantee that one of them would be untied. A worn booby trap. Of course, every time he hit the groundand he hit the ground oftenevery adult in the vicinity would preach about how he needed to tie his shoes. Theyd scold him about how he needed to pay more attention to what he was doing, where he was going, and to the two things attached to him that could make walking a dangerous activityhis sneakers. This never worked. From what I remember, my cousin never took the advice of anyone, never decided to double-knot or trade his everyday kicks in for slip-ons. It was almost like he was comfortable with falling.