This Is Major by Shayla Lawson

This Is Major by Shayla Lawson

A National Book Critics Circle Finalist in Autobiography * Finalist for a Lambda Literary Award * Named one of the most anticipated books of the year by USA Today, Bitch Magazine, Parade, Salon and Ms. Magazine

From a

fierce and humorous new voice comes a relevant, insightful, and riveting

collection of personal essays on the richness and resilience of black girl

culture--for readers of Samantha Irby, Roxane Gay, Morgan Jerkins, and Lindy

West. 

Shayla

Lawson is major. You don't know who she is. Yet. But that's okay. She is on a

mission to move black girls like herself from best supporting actress to a

starring role in the major narrative. Whether she's taking on workplace microaggressions

or upending racist stereotypes about her home state of Kentucky, she looks for

the side of the story that isn't always told, the places where the voices of

black girls haven't been heard.

The essays

in This is Major ask questions like: Why are black women invisible

to AI? What is "black girl magic"? Or:

Am I one viral tweet away from becoming Twitter famous? And: How much magic

does it take to land a Tinder date?

With

a unique mix of personal stories, pop culture observations, and insights into

politics and history, Lawson sheds light on these questions, as well as the

many ways black women and girls have influenced mainstream culture--from their

style, to their language, and even their art--and how "major"

they really are.

Timely,

enlightening, and wickedly sharp, This Is

Major places black women at the center--no longer silenced, no longer the

minority. 

Shayla Lawson grew up in Lexington, Kentucky. She is a professor at Amherst College and lives in Brooklyn, New York.