Culture critic, Zeba Blay was the first person to tweet #carefreeblackgirl back in 2013. Carefree Black Girls is a book of her essays about Black women’s impact on pop culture and “what it means to be a Black woman and truly be ‘carefree.’” She describes this book as “an offering” and not “a history, an explainer, a guide, or a map to Blackness”. It is a is a celebration of Black women and our full and complex humanity.

Blay looks at how Black women, from Josephine Baker to Breonna Taylor, have been represented in pop culture; how affirming it feels to see yourself represented in media; and how representation alone will not liberate us. Like Blay, “I'm reaching out for a world where we value not just the representations of Black women but Black women themselves.”

Essay topics include bodies and weight, sexuality, girlhood and mental health. CW: Suicide, transphobia, disordered eating.

This is a book I can see myself returning to, to see if and how we have progressed as a society.

I’m thankful to Zeba Blay, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review an uncorrected digital galley in exchange for an honest review.

This was beyond beautiful guys! I've never quite read anything like this before!
This book will for sure open your eyes to a whole new world!
CBG is an exploration and celebration of black women’s identity and impact on pop culture, as well as the enduring stereotypes they face, from a film and culture critic!
I loved this book!