How to Be Black

Comedian, former Onion digital director and best-selling author Baratunde Thurston takes the audience on a personal journey through his “coming of blackness” identity in the post-Civil Rights era. The How To Be Black experience features photos, videos, and satirical guides plus a behind-the-scenes look at the interactive creative process and promotion behind the book.

The result is a humorous, intelligent, and audacious talk that challenges and satirizes the so-called experts, purists, and racists who purport to speak for all black people. With honest storytelling and biting wit, Baratunde plots a path not just to blackness, but in a digital age defined by self-expression, a path open to anyone interested in simply how to be.

©2012 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
  • SpeakerBaratunde Thurston
  • HostAmy Draves
  • Duration01:06:54
  • Date recorded15 May 2012