Uncomfortable Conversations

Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho

I first became aware of this book and of Acho when I watch an interview he did with Brene Brown. I’m a huge fan of Brene, but I don’t follow everything she does and therefore can’t recall how the video ended up on my screen. However, I can tell you that I found Acho to be so interesting, that I had to hear more of what he had to say.

Acho is a black man. He has an open and no-nonsense manner about him that makes him perfectly suited for his goal…to bring white people and black people together for uncomfortable conversations, hoping to destroy the walls between us and someday put our ingrained racial biases to bed.

His idea? A podcast discussion between him and a white guest(s). Difficult questions and honest answers. The name of that podcast? You guessed it, Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man. I watched several episodes and immediately ordered the book.

And what can I say, other than it is eye opening. A few topics made me cringy, and every once and awhile I could feel myself get a little defensive, but that’s the point right? We see things through our own blinders, it can be unconfortable to take them off.

I will close with sharing one ah-ha quotes from the book regarding the idea of white privledge. I picked this one because I know that term ruffles feathers and people often responds with “My life hasn’t always been easy and I have worked hard for what I have”. But consider this, “It’s not saying that your life hasn’t been hard; it’s saying your skin color hasn’t contributed to the difficulty in your life”.