You'll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey by Amber Ruffin & Lacey Lamar

I don't think I have read a book that made me laugh out loud as much as this one. I laughed so much that Michael ended up asking me what in the world I was reading that was cracking me up that much. I am normally a pretty quiet reader but I don't think I've related to a book this much in a very long time. Amber Ruffin is a famous comedian and a writer for Late Night with Seth Meyers. I find her to be hilarious while always being brutally honest. This book is called You'll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey : Crazy Stories about Racism and I couldn't wait to read this the moment I heard about it. Not only because I adore Amber Ruffin but also because I've been trying to do better about reading non-fiction novels. I used to only read fiction but since the beginning of last year, I've expanded my horizons y'all!

Amber Ruffin lives in New York City, writes for Late Night with Seth Meyers, and now has her own late night tv show. She lives in a completely different world than her sister, Lacey. Lacey still lives in their home state of Nebraska and calls Amber constantly to tell her all about her latest experiences. Trust me when I say, you'll never believe what happened to Lacey. From racist doughnut shops to strangers in the grocery store putting their hands in her hair, Lacey has been in some hilarious but all too real situations. Amber and Lacey felt it was time to share these entertaining but horrifying stories through sisterly banter. This book tackles modern day racism with a perfect balance of gravity and humor.

Amber Ruffin and Lacey Lamar are some of the funniest women I have never met. I normally read historical non-fiction, which tends to be pretty serious and I appreciate that. But this short book of essays was the hilarious change of pace I needed. The sisters use two different fonts so the reader can easily differentiate between which sister is the narrator. Lacey is the narrator more than not due to her still being in Nebraska and normally finding herself as the only POC on her job staff. Lacey's stories range from people touching her hair in the supermarket to microaggressions she faced as a young child in a predominantly white elementary school. If you've never faced racism or microaggressions, all of their stories will seem shocking and unbelievable. Trust a Black woman, situations like those happen every single day to Black people. I laughed because I had been through quite a few of the same situations. I have had random people touch my hair then act shocked when I swiftly reprimand them. I have been called my other Black co workers names as if we look anything alike. Take my word for it...we don't whatsoever. I had so many stories from college that when I tell people that aren't Black they're shocked. When I tell my friends, absolutely no one is shocked. I also want to drop a quote from the phenomenal Toni Morrison about racism.

“The function, the very serious function of racism is distraction. It keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you explaining, over and over again, your reason for being. Somebody says you have no language and you spend twenty years proving that you do. Somebody says your head isn’t shaped properly so you have scientists working on the fact that it is. Somebody says you have no art, so you dredge that up. Somebody says you have no kingdoms, so you dredge that up. None of this is necessary. There will always be one more thing.”

I absolutely loved this book. I loved every page and every moment of reading it. I wanted to pick a book for Black History Month that was made in modern times. I know the history lessons children are taught in school tend to tell them that Black History starts when slaves arrived in American and ends right after the Civil Rights era. It doesn't. Black History is happening everyday and all around us. In art, literature, music, theatre, politics, fashion, and more. I cannot recommend this book enough because of how it speaks about racial injustice and the importance of checking your privilege. It does so in such a accessible and humorous way. " What our secret hope is that this book has give you the courage to never stop telling these stories. At almost every job I've ever had, it always got to the point that whenever people saw me coming they would say "Here comes Lacey about to say something racist happened." And they were right. I did. And sometimes I got fired and sometimes I didn't. But I always did exactly what I wanted to do when I wanted to do it. I would also like to say that it's sad that people feel , in this day and age, that they have to remain silent. And every situation is different, but I'd like to invite you to the possibility that remaining silent is no longer a requirement."

Go read this book y'all!