Carefree Black Girls was a good read for me. I didn’t know what to expect from the author but she gave her all. I expected some feminist moments and the day to day struggles of black women. I didn’t expect so many intimate details of the authors struggles. She spoke transparently about her hardships and her mental health. I felt the author was courageous. There was a lot of emphasis on women in entertainment- some good but I felt there was so much detail surrounding certain topics. Overall, I think this is a good easy read. I think the author did a great job. I am looking forward to more work from the author. I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Carefree Black Girls has so much depth and information- this book should be required reading in women lit class for college. It took me a while to get thru this book - not because it wasn’t good, it was too good, filled with examples and situations. The author does an amazing job weaving in stories from other guest colleagues. It was a very great read exploring racism, colorism, women’s rights, and body types. I can not thank enough the publishing house and editor for taking on this book. I hope to be able to read more books like these to self educate and become more aware.

This is a difficult review to write for a white middle-aged man and I am sure that the author would appreciate the fact that I would find it difficult- it means that the issues she raises have hit home.
I selected this book on the basis of its subtitle “A Celebration Of Black Women In Pop Culture”. I have often used this site to applaud the contribution of Black women within music, the arts and literature and thought this celebration was something I really wanted to be a part of. The subtitle is not inaccurate, it is a celebration, but not quite what I had anticipated.
The author is central to this work, she is Ghanaian who has become an American citizen in recent years and works as a film critic and commentator on culture. She also has struggled with fragile mental health, with suicide attempts and attributes this, at least in part, as her experience of being a Black woman in America.
You can appreciate from this the tone would not be as celebratory as I had anticipated. An author’s note warns the reader to “be tender with yourself” if likely to be triggered by the issues in this book.
Zeba Blay studies the Black American female experience in terms of racist expectations and stereotypes borne from white supremacy including the body, sexual identity, skin tone, childhood and the quest to be “carefree” using women from popular culture as evidence. Her arguments are powerful and impressive. I do not feel it appropriate for me to comment on these truths other than to encourage a reading and an absorbing of what the author is saying. I’m just going to write 10 quotes from the book which will be enough for you to know whether you are prepared to go on this journey with her. I read the US edition before publication over here. I see the UK edition has a Foreword by radio DJ Clara Amfo which may put some of this into context for the British reader.
I’ll give you the quotes as they appear chronologically within the book and also the section in which you will find them. They will be out of context, perhaps, but I have not distorted them in any way.
“And writing about Black women is the thing that put me together again, that got me through and helped me become reacquainted with the concept of joy and freedom” (Introduction)
“To say that Black women are everything, are indeed essential to American Culture, to the global Zeitgeist is simply to observe things as they actually are” (Introduction)
“… to exist in a Black body is to exist in a persistent state of precarity, to be in constant anticipation of some form of violence” (Bodies)
“Black women’s bodies were once legally considered property. They were brought and sold, traded and loaned” (She’s A Freak)
“How can a piece of property be raped? Black women were therefore assumed as always being sexually available and this way of seeing them was sanctioned by the American government” (She’s A Freak)
“The fact that one in four Black girls will be abused before the age of 18, that one in five Black women are survivors of rape and yet for every fifteen Black women who are assaulted just one reports her rape comes as no surprise” (She’s A Freak)
“If Beyonce had a deeper complexion would her dominance within the Zeitgeist be as ubiquitous as it is” (Extra Black)
“My Blackness doesn’t make me depressed, but being Black in this world can be depressing.” (Strong Black Lead)
“the exuberance of Black joy springs forth from Black despair. Collectively, we made a way out of no way.” (Strong Black Lead)
“Black women are killed in American at a higher rate than women of any other race. Trans Black women are killed at an even higher rate.” (Strong Black Lead)

Carefree Black Girls is published in the UK by Square Peg on October 21st 2021. Many thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for the advance review copy.

Carefree Black Girls, A Celebration of Black Women in Popular Culture
Author, Zeba Blay
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Pub date: October 19, 2021

Author and film and culture critic, Zeba Blay was the first person to coin the viral term #carefreeblackgirls on Twitter in 2013. She states," it was a way to carve out space for the celebration and freedom of Black women online."

In Blay's brave and insightful collection of essays, Carefree Black Girls, she dissects the most influential and celebrated Black women of our culture over the span of the last decade. These black women include writers, artists, actresses, dancers, hip- hop stars, and more. Blay examines their immense contributions and then acknowledges that they are often met with stereotypes, bigotry, and misogyny.

"Yet the culture that Black women pour their talents and their creativity into, the culture that emulates Black women, steals from Black women, needs Black women, is the same culture that belittles Black women, excludes Black women, ignores Black women." There are just so many passionate quotes that I highlighted and re- read in order to fully grasp all that Blay had to share. I didn't want to miss a word.

Each essay reveals these enlightening harsh truths and Blay also shares her truth about what means to be a "carefree" Black woman. These essays are a journey of the Black woman culture and they are an absolutely essential read. Blay's writing was a unique and inspirational "offering" for all of us to open our eyes and our hearts to these intimate truths. I highly recommend this essential read as a way to open up to your own beauty and to help make possible a future in our society where ALL women are appreciated and acknowledged.

Thank you to NetGalley, publisher St. Martin's Griffin, and to Zeba Blay for the opportunity to read and review this e- ARC and powerful collection of essays.

Carefree Black Girls by Zeba Blay is a collection of essays about the identity of black women and impact on pop culture. Given the book title and description, I expected this to be a little lighter and more celebratory in content. Instead what we are given is solid critique of society, culture, and representation of black women in the United States. The essays are thoughtful and well-written with a wide breadth, but not especially groundbreaking in ideas. I listened to the audiobook, which was well narrated by the author. This would be a wonderful book for someone looking to learn more about how black identities and stereotypes have permeated culture.

Thank you St. Martin’s Griffin / Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for providing this ebook and audiobook ARC.

What a collection! Every single essay in this collection was phenomenal! Blay managed to convey her love for pop culture while also not being shy about calling it out. She touches on cancel culture, racism, colorism, representation, and what makes something/someone problematic, but she doesn't just preach about them. She provides suggestions on how we can engage with problematic things and how we need to allow people the grace to change and grow. Blay doesn't have all the answers, and she doesn't pretend to, and we see her working through some of the setbacks of popular culture and how they've made a mark on her personal life. She's not afraid of critiquing her faves, and that's something that we all need to be comfortable doing, with nuance.

I love how Black women were the focal point of every essay. Black women's contributions to pop culture are anything but small, and Blay makes sure to highlight that while also critiquing the many ways in which Black women have been failed by popular culture.

I thoroughly enjoyed this collection, and Zeba Blay is definitely on my radar now! This collection truly spoke to my soul as a Black girl who’s never felt carefree but would like to in whatever form I can grasp.

This book, which is written in essay format, shows Blay's vulnerability in discussing what it means to be a Black women in today's society, It's raw, honest, and both an expression and celebration of the roller coaster of emotions Black women feel, especially those who are in position of influence. Blay does a great job in articulating the constant battle of wanting to be "care-free" versus fighting against a "stereotype." It's exhausting, comforting, and in some ways uplifting. Below are a couple of my favorite quotes.

"...Black women are essential. Our stories are worth telling."
"I want my existence to be affirming, celebratory, complicated, beautiful, real."

A very interesting and thought provoking book that made me reflect, feel angry and learn about how hard is being a black woman.
I liked how the author talks about very serious issues like racism, misoginy and how the image of black girls is reflected in pop culture.
An excellent book full of food for thought.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I believe this is a must read book for everyone. Having a biracial daughters, there is so much in this book that I knew about. For all that I thought I knew, I am still a work in progress. Black women know so much in this book, that white women need to catch up on.

Zeba Blay examines the experience of Black womanhood in this powerful memoir. She explores the way Black women have been, & still are, portrayed by the media & exist within an American pop culture that both reveres & denigrates their talents, culture, & impact. Her essays are powerful, relevant, candid, & above all, necessary.

I’ll be honest, before reading Carefree Black Girls, I had no idea who Zeba Blay was. But, it turns out, I had read some of her articles, and they were memorable and insightful. She wrote “Amy Cooper Knew Exactly What She Was Doing” for the HuffPost, about the widely-known incident with Black birdwatcher, Christian Cooper, rightly telling Cooper to keep her dog on a leash in Central Park. The headline says it all, and Blay uses her vast knowledge of culture and history to put the incident into context.

Blay also coined the hashtag #carefreeblackgirl, hence the title of this collection of essays. Blay covers a huge array of topics, from misconceptions over Black female sexuality, the mental toll white supremacy takes on a person’s mental health, being a minority in the predominantly white, male dominated area of film criticism, injustice, and Black celebrity. It’s also part memoir; Blay shares some deeply personal experiences with the reader, including abuse, and attempted suicide.

Blay is an incredibly engaging writer. She is educated, endearing, and very funny. One of the many things I love about this book is the number of tweets and social media posts Blay references. Gone are the days of referring to dusty old books and inaccessible journals. Blay grabs these real-time thoughts and feelings, and gives them the same credence as one would an academic essay. And why shouldn’t she? It is a true reflection of the time we are living in, and Blay does it with such ease.

Blay is a gifted and experienced writer. She has spent years honing her unique voice, and it absolutely shines through. This was an incredibly enjoyable read, and I hope it reaches a wide audience.

I could have read this in a few hours but spaced it out to sit with each piece. A great work that made me think about things I've had the privilege to not live. Add this to your feminist collection.

This is a thoughtful book, but also quite depressing given the stories it covers. I feel the years of 45, as the author aptly calls that person, came with so much turmoil and unearthed so much ugliness that it's still hard to read books about being black in America, social media and how it's used to relentlessly attack, double standards. In her essays Blay covers celebrity controversy, R. Kelly abuse and how it was ignored, Breona Taylor; it's a lot, but it's thoughtfully expressed, so it's a worthwhile read and perspective.

Culture critic Blay describes this book as “an offering” and not “a history, an explainer, a guide, or a map to Blackness." It is certainly that. It does not offer answers - perhaps there are none, or at least none that are easy. This book is heavier than the title might indicate, but is also fully and gloriously a celebration of Black women and femmes in all of their complexity, in all of their nuance. By looking at the treatment by society of several celebrated and popular Black women, like Lizzo and Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion and Serena Williams, Blay discusses unfortunately endlessly relevant topics. She looks at the expectation that Black women's sexuality exists in a binary state: Jezebel or sexlessness, with the common thread being that those Black women don't get to control on which side they fall, or really get to define a state outside of that binary. Blay discusses Lizzo not really getting to have ownership or autonomy of her body without criticism, and the implications that has about fatphobia and especially the fatphobia and expectations that are pressed upon fat Black women. The myth of the "angry Black women," colorism, authenticity and the expectations of celebrity, about representation being important but not enough, and whether it's possible to be a carefree Black girl are all topics that are explored. The writing is poignant and often raw, with a vulnerability that is affecting. It is contemplative and seeking, and a book that I will return to and revisit often.

Content warnings (included in the front author's note<3 ): mental illness, suicide, racial violence, transphobia, sexual abuse, disordered eating, body dysmorphia

Zeba Blay is now on my list of favorite writers, and I feel like I was given a true window into the lives of Black women from the depths of her soul. This title has the potential to be a favorite of the year for me, and is definitely near the top of the list for most important works for all the ways Blay calls out the work that is still needed to address the inequities, specifically those of intersectionality experienced by Black women in her insightful essays.

Part pop culture critique, part memoir, 100% experiences and reflections of being a Black woman, and moving through both Black and majority society. It's brutal, but also not new. Blay's writing is amazing, her essays are well-considered, moving, and unreserved in the best way. I want to spend hours searching for Blay's articles now to soak up more of her voice and her message because it's powerful and long over due.

I love reading short essays. I feel like they are fun snippets of experiences. I also appreciate when an author does this and doesn't try to turn a great book of essays into a disjointed novel.

Title: Carefree Black Girls A Celebration of Black Women in Popular Culture
Author: Zeba Blay
Publisher: St Martin's Press
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: Five
Review:
"Carefree Black Girls A Celebration of Black Women in Popular Culture" by Zeba Blay

My Opinion:

This author gives the reader a beautiful collection of essays that will leave you to ponder over long after the read. The author hits it when giving us a good explanation of what pressure and what it's like to have a black body and see how our world sees all of the expectations that have been set on them in our society and pop culture... Now, why is that?
This novel gives the reader input on 'subjects such as racism, colorism, fatphobia, mental health, sexuality and what it means to be a black girl.' It was engaging learning about this author's persona regarding her own experiences, thoughts, and how well they relate to the subjects so well in an honest way. For it is essential that this type of information is put out there to be shared.

Be ready for a well-written read that shares a 'reference section that includes articles, songs, and names that the author presents in the read along with her commentary that will give one a deeper exploration of topics and issues' that is fascinating and a must-read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This was a heavier read than I expected, based on the title and description. While the book does celebrate Black women in pop culture, the framework of patriarchy and white supremacy looms large (which is fair). Be sure to read the content warnings in the front of the book.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review

In 2013, the book’s author, Zeba Blay, was the first person to use the hashtag carefreeblackgirls. Its meaning was to show a different portrait of Black women than what we’re used to seeing in pop culture - it aimed to show them being joyous, free, individualistic. This collection of essays is about how we, as a society, try to define and stereotype Black women and how those portrayals impact them. It’s also about how Black women fight against it, about their power to rally against the constraints put upon them and their freedom to define themselves.

Carefree Black Girls is an important and eye-opening book, extremely relevant to today’s world and everyone who consumes any type of media. The essays, while focused on pop culture and celebrities, are also incredibly personal, with Blay openly writing about her own experiences and struggles. There are eight essays in total, ranging in themes from colorism, racism, police brutality and memefication of Black women to fatphobia and mental health. The themes are heavy and complex, but Blay’s writing style makes the essays easy to understand and learn from. The popularity of the women she discusses (to name a few: Lizzo, Cardi B, Viola Davis) helps to illustrate the points she makes.

Carefree Black Girls is an amazing collection, not only an educational read but also the kind of celebration of Black women and girls that we so rarely see in popular media.

Perhaps I’m not the only one to feel a sense of horrifying dread and uncertainty whenever I see the words “claiming your identity.” It’s like a spool of thread that unravels with each self-reflecting question and guides you to various conclusions you might not have thought too deeply about otherwise. Maybe the visible traits are your starting point. Your Blackness and being a plus-sized woman are your bold claims. Or maybe your personality takes centre stage, dancing to your own beat yet cautious of the type of attention garnered. Regardless, there’s always layers to consider. Zeba Blay’s Carefree Black Girls is a collection of essays that guide the reader through the exploration and celebration of Black female identity. From the stereotypes to the historical roots that enshrouds us, Black women still have a transformative and dominant influence on popular culture.

Each essay is distinct in its theme, but Zeba Blay intricately braids them together into cohesive sections. Her discussions range from the Black body and its back-and-forth between fetishization and desexualization, to the ways in which Black girlhood leads to children being constantly aware of their differences among their white peers. Blay uses her knowledge as a senior culture writer and her own experience with depression to add a deeper level of context and understanding to her words. She sees celebrities like Lizzo and Cardi B as Black women who are successful but still face a sense of constraint in being Black women, one for her body size and the other for not behaving like a celebrity should. This is a sad truth but one I agree with, nonetheless. A Black woman walks a tightrope between scorn and praise, yet even the appraisal seems to be in relation to how closely she mimics more “polite and favourable” people. Her white counterparts are often the basis of whether she’s deemed acceptable.

Blay tactfully works through her understanding of Black female identity alongside her readers. The genuine representation that’s difficult to find and even harder to commemorate are the Black actresses like Viola Davis and Lupita Nyong’o for being darker than other actresses who’ve had less experience acting. She explores her feelings on Breonna Taylor, Sandra Bland, Tatianna Hall and all other Black women’s deaths and how they echo into the distress the Black community has sadly grown accustomed to witnessing brutality and injustice.

Blay invites the reader to gather ‘round the table and remove all pretences of following the expectations and biases that plague their steps. I personally love how she speaks to readers as if we’re long-time friends. She fosters an atmosphere between herself and us that allows important discussions of Black female identity to be natural, allowing room for suggestion and improvement as well as different ideas to interact. Blay provides a temporary balm from that weight; sharing all our thoughts and opinions of the Black female identity among other Black women. She artfully serves a sense of realization and perhaps the reawakening of how exhausted Black women are with needing to always have a backup plan, of needing to be cautious and wary of our words and how we present ourselves. We’re exhausted of wanting representation without tokenism or a clichéd mockery for others to solidify their uninformed assumptions. Collectively, we establish a space to air out grievances, biases and stereotypes that we’ve been accustomed to hiding within us. With this idea, we’re acknowledging them and their toll on us.

Interestingly enough, Blay opens up about her vulnerabilities in a way that Black women are often told not to in favour of appearing calm and collected. She speaks of past traumas, her opinions and everyday experiences in a way that you don’t acknowledge at first. But the more you read, the more your own vulnerabilities are brought to the forefront of your mind and how close to home her words are. Sometimes you don’t want to cross that territory and she knows this! The need to get away from something because of how similar it is to your own scenario. Yet, including the touchy subjects, she speaks of transformation, fluidity and how there’s always time—time for yourself, time to be happy, time to heal. That’s something that we often forget: these things take time.

I want to point out that she doesn’t provide only lighthearted insight into some grand epiphany of understanding Black female identity. She’s honest, brutally so. Blay provides the nitty gritty details, the process of healing and how a positive disposition takes work and reflection. But she, along with the reader, goes through the complicated mess of working through the negativity, including trauma, fatigue and injustices we’ve faced. As a result, we’re invited to step outside our own thoughts and reveal them to someone who understands you, even a little bit. I appreciate that, the light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak. To see who you are at your core is a healing process that’s neither easy or done immediately. We need to address the thoughts and feelings we've neglected. At the same time, she doesn’t end each essay with bleak words or a sense of helplessness, she offers well-thought out messages of care and recognition. You don’t realize how important that kindness is until you smile a bit at the warmth that eases the experience of self-reflection.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book to the point of commenting and relating to a lot of what Zeba Blay has written. My investment was solidified by the raw emotions, sincerity and the respectful yet critical commentary that she analyzes everyday scenarios with. Carefree Black Girls felt as if Blay was accompanying my own journey through painstaking honesty and heartwarming encouragement in understanding the complexity and inner workings of my identity as a Black woman.

Intersectionality will always be a constant discussion in regards to Black women and their experiences with injustice and our identity. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s the only aspect to focus on. We deserve happiness and comfort in our own skin. We’re both carefree and deeply caring, almost one and the same. Carefree Black Girls provides this dualism of being able to voice the struggles of Black women while holding onto those positive moments and wanting to move beyond what is expected of us.