Page 4
Street Roots • June 29-July 5, 2018
Conversation
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lieoma Oluo talks about her book “So You Want to 1
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BY LISA EDGE
C O N T R IB U T IN G W R IT E R
je o m a O luo’s book “So You W ant to Talk
A bout R a ce ” is a n o -n o n sen se, stra ig h t
forw ard guide to u n d e rsta n d in g th e
com p lex ities of ra c e in A m erica. Oluo
covers a lo t of g ro u n d
w ith in c h a p te rs titled,
“Is it really ab o u t
ra c e ? ”, “W hy c a n ’t I
to u ch your hair?”,
“W hy c an ’t I say th e
n-word?” and “I ju s t
got called racist; w h at
do I do now ?” S he
b len d s h e r p e rso n a l
e x p e rie n c e s as a black
w om an w ith re s e a rc h
.
into a p re c ise p ictu re
th a t’s easy to follow. O luo’s book d e b u t g o es
beyond a publication on e re a d s to gain
know ledge on how to begin th e w ork of
being anti-racist; “So You W ant to Talk
A bout R a c e ” can also b e u se d as a tool to
tu rn u n c o m fo rtab le c o n v ersa tio n s ab o u t
ra c e into pro d u ctiv e o n es.
Oluo is a S e a ttle w riter, s p e a k e r and
in te r n e t yeller. S h e gain ed natio n al a tte n tio n
w ith a profile of R achel D olezal p u b lish ed in
T h e S tra n g e r la st A pril. S he is editor-at-large
I
55
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G E T T Y IM A G E S / IS T O C K
a t T h e E sta b lish m e n t. S e a ttle M agazine
n a m e d h e r “o n e of th e m o st influential
p e o p le ” in 2017, and sh e w as re c e n tly
aw ard ed th e 2018 F em in ist H u m a n ist Aw ard
by th e A m erican H u m a n ist Society.
In A ugust, Oluo c o m e s to P o rtlan d as p a rt
of th e W illam ette W riters C o n feren ce, Aug.
3-5, a t th e S h e ra to n P o rtlan d A irp o rt H otel.
Oluo is a m o th e r of two and th e d a u g h te r
of a w h ite m o th e r from th e M id w est and a
N ig erian fath er. H e r food blog tra n sitio n e d
in to a place for h e r to w rite a b o u t h e r fears
fo r h e r co m m u n ity an d family. S h e lo st
w h ite frien d s along th e way, b u t th o s e blog
p o sts g ain ed a tte n tio n from p eo p le a cro ss
th e c o u n try and online p u b lish ers. Seal
P re s s re le a s e d h e r book in Jan u ary . I t h as
sin ce b e co m e a N ew York T im es b e stse ller.
We sp o k e w ith Oluo a b o u t h e r book, h e r
rela tio n sh ip w ith h e r m o th e r and h e r
F aceb o o k m ak eu p tu to ria ls (sh e loves
w earin g blush).
L is a E d g e : H ow has y o u r life changed
since the release o f y o u r book in Ja n u a ry?
I j e o m a O lu o : I ’d say it’s ch an g ed a lot
an d also n o t a t all. D efinitely c h an g ed as far
as th e w ork, th e type of w o rk I ’m doing
rig h t now. I’m sp e n d in g a lo t of tim e
trav elin g and sp eak in g . A lo t le ss tim e
w ritin g b e c a u se I d o n ’t have th e tim e fo r it.
B ut, you know, a t th e e n d of th e day I ’m still
a single m o m w ith two kids. I have th is
w hole se ctio n of h o m e life th a t kind of h a s
to stay th e sa m e b e c a u se I have kids w ho
still e x p e c t rid e s to taek w o n d o and, you
know, food and all th o s e o th e r th in g s th a t
c h ild ren e x p e c t w ith o u t m u ch c are fo r w h a t
y o u r w orkload looks like (laughs).
L .E .: One o f the things th a t’s great about
fo llo w in g yo u on Tw itter a n d Facebook is the
w indow we get into y o u r personal life, which I
th in k helps engender connectedness. Do yo u
th in k y o u ’ve shared too m uch?
I.O .: I ’m c o n sta n tly re-ev alu atin g an d
adjusting. I d efin itely d o n ’t th in k I sh a re
q u ite th e sa m e w ay I u se d to. I know it
s e e m s like I sh a re a lot, b u t a lo t o f w h a t I
e n d up sh a rin g e n d s u p b e in g like lig h t
q u ip s o r funny th in g s th a t h a p p e n in a day.
B u t I know th a t, e sp ecially w h e n it c o m e s to
m y kids, w h a t I do sh a re h a s d efin itely
tig h te n e d dow n. You know, b e fo re , w h e n
social m ed ia w as ju s t m y sp a c e to c o n n e c t
w ith frie n d s an d com m unity, it w as d iffe re n t
as far as w h a t I ’d talk a b o u t w h a t m y kids
See OLUO, page 5
So
want
h
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to talk
about
“So You Want to
Talk About Race”
by Ijeoma Oluo.
Published by
Seal Press