This is a compelling, thought-provoking memoir that explores being Black and growing up as a minority in town and school, as well as in the NYC fashion industry. the included stories are interesting and share important lessons and hard-hitting truths that those in a largely white world may not have considered.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #LITTLEa for sending me Token Black Girl: A Memoir for review. This book just did not hit for me. The author made too many generalizations. She did however made me feel grateful to be from a predominantly black area, her wanting to be a black girl was so cringe. If you are a black girl that lives in a white bubble maybe it will be able to relate. I got mad reading and I felt like she put all of us (black girls) in a box.

"'What's going on' at many brands is simple: racism."

Danielle Prescod's "Token Black Girl" is an in depth look at how white supremacy pervades the entire world from top to bottom. She details this so thoroughly from childhood through her time in the fashion industry forward and how in steeping everything in the white gaze, tokenism, white supremacy, white preference and colorism, (and way more) far more damage is done than just some off hand comments that the industry loves to tell you to "just ignore" or "shake it off".
In Danielle's case we see how this culture affected her perception of self, eventually turning into severe eating disorders. It's not just a few bad people doing this, it's the base of the culture and especially fashion culture.
Danielle really gives an insightful look into the industry standards, how it's run, how wide-spread and far-reaching it is. It's incredibly eye opening and at the same time a very hard read because this is Danielle pouring her story onto these pages and re-visiting her trauma in order to help change the world.
Absolutely recommend this to everyone - I don't know anything about fashion, I might be the least fashionable person I've ever met, but this is a read for everyone.

Token Black Girl was a fascinating look at a young woman's life from childhood to her early-to-mid thirties as she navigates school/college in predominantly white schools and various jobs in media/fashion industry as the "Token Black Girl." Danielle Prescod easily draws you into her story as she relates her experiences to the larger issues of systemic racism that are rampant in so many parts of her life and career. Her personal struggle with an eating disorder is heart-wrenching as she tries to adapt her body to the models seen on the pages of fashion magazines. Overall, Token Black Girl was a refreshing and compelling read. Definitely recommend! Thank you to Little A and NetGalley for the chance to read this book.

A fascinating look into one woman's experience and grapples with systemic racism. Danielle tells us she knows what it's like to be the "Token Black Girl" and has played that role in school and in the workplace. Her writing is clear and compelling, and though it is difficult to read about her many encounters with awful people, this memoir is an important reminder or eye-opener of how deeply ingrained white supremacy is in the U.S.'s cultural and social norms. Much of the focus throughout the memoir is on Danielle's childhood and experience being one of the only Black students in her school and her battle with a negative body image and disordered eating. We also get a glimpse into the (unsurprisingly) unsavory world of fashion which is obsessed with thinness and whiteness.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a copy.

Throughout this extraordinary memoir, I felt a sense of gratitude for being able to learn more about the author’s experience being the “token” black girl in her predominantly white school and neighborhood as well as a in her career as an adult in the fashion industry. I truly appreciated reading her thoughts and experiences and insights. Everyone should. This would be an exceptional book club choice. Thanks to Little A for the advanced copy.

Reading Token Black Girl was definitely an eye opening experience for me. As a Caucasian that has grown up in rural New England with very limited access to any race other than Caucasian, each page served as a relevation of the obvious division between growing up as I did and growing up as Danielle Prescott did. There were three black students enrolled in my own high school that housed about 800 students. Two were very quiet and shy while one male always seemed to be the life of the party, affectionately known as Bubbles, to this day I have no clue why. He was probably the most popular boy in school and I have to wonder how he felt and how his childhood affected his comfort level during his teens.
Even my rural college had few students that were not Caucasian, and then most were Asian. Now I am also wondering if other cultures experience the same issues, given the media’s overwhelming Caucasian influence.
As an elementary educator I had very few black or biracial students. I was unaware of any difference in the way they were treated by their classmates as they all seemed to bond together easily.
I currently live in a retirement community that is probably 95% Caucasian. Rural America tends to lean that way apparently.
This thought provoking book certainly made me realize the effects the media, especially magazines, had on young adults in the 60’s and 70’s which probably continues even now. As I travel and enjoy my retirement years my eyes will be more open to the struggle others face trying to meld into what they perceive as the preferred ones.
Thank you to Daniele Prescott for sharing your experiences and educating so many others, Little A for having the wisdom to publish it and NetGalley for providing an arc to me. This just published book was a definite eye opener for me.

This is an important generational book on the millennial focus on white supremacy and thinness. The disordered eating portrayed I related to with my whole being. The racism doesn’t need my commentary except PLEASE read this book. It’s an honest and shocking debut that should be discussed.
Thank you NetGalley for giving me this book in exchange for my honest review.

I got an ARC of this memoir through NetGalley, but it’s available now! I didn’t really know much about Danielle Prescod before reading this, but I saw so many people across Instagram sharing this book so I was intrigued enough to read it, and I’m so glad I did. Danielle grew up as one of the only Black girls in a wealthy, predominately white community, and spent much of her life adapting and hiding to fit this ideal. She went on to work in fashion, where she continued to do much of the same – try to hide herself and change to fit the mold of an overwhelmingly skinny, white industry. She became the “token black girl” everywhere she went, enduring microaggressions and racism for years. But when she decided she didn’t want to live like that anymore, she had to confront her own demons and realities. It’s a really honest look at herself and her life, and it’s really compelling to read.

(ARC from NetGalley) I’ve followed Danielle on Instagram for years and was so excited to get into this! The memoir centers around Danielle’s upbringing in an overwhelmingly white, affluent area and how tokenism affects society as a whole.
Not gonna lie this was not the comfiest, coziest of reads, but still managed to find a little humor. As someone who also grew up with the token minority label, it’s really hard to come to terms with your identity later in life. It feels like a 2nd puberty. Genuinely felt like she read my journal at times.
Loved Danielle’s writing style and look forward to more from her.

This book was uncomfortable, hard to read and so eye opening. The connections between media and our own self worth and lack of representation go hand in hand.

The author is brutally honest with her journey as a young Black girl growing up in a mostly White school. Not taking aim at the particular kids but rather that she had a subconscious belief that she was less then due to the colour of her skin. The reality is that the words she writes are heartbreaking and worth reading. She tackles diets, dolls and media. With even snippets of celebrities we all know and the bias that we subconsciously all hold.

I don’t rate memoirs but I would say that this was a quick but direct hit memoir on the authors “Token Black girl” experience. It’s worth the read.

Leaving a review for a memoir is so difficult. I'd like to start by saying that I think anyone that has the courage to write their experiences, feelings, and opinions are incredibly brave and I find an inspiration. I believe you can't rate someone's experience.

Danielle Prescod works in the fashion and media industries for over 10 years. Her memoir dives into her childhood of living in a predominantly white neighborhood and how that influenced her into adulthood. She goes into her experience in these two industries and the struggles and blatant ignorance she's faced. Overall, she speaking on her experiences and trauma of being the token black girl.

The fashion and media industry is foreign to me. I have never wanted to work in these industries but I think that's what makes me so interested in them. Hearing those experiences from a black woman, as I myself am a white woman, is a chance to see it from a perceptive that sadly isn't at the forefront of material that is out there and one that I typically wouldn't have the chance to see it from. This book definitely delivered on teaching me about the horrors these industries offer and life in general that I have not and will never see for myself. There were also parallels to my own experiences such as body image, eating disorders, and the all around social conditioning that happens to young girls. We're close in age so the trends and people to "look up to" I remember well.

While I found the flow of the book a bit difficult, overall I thought it was very educational and eye opening. Prescod's writing has a unique voice that I haven't experienced in many memoirs. Her writing talent is apparent and she's clearly a driven and smart person. And I love someone who shares their honesty with the world. Since reading this I've followed her on social media and I'm excited to see what she does from here!

I initially loved this book, it felt raw and real and Danielle's honesty was at times heartwrenching. However, as we delve deeper into her journey, she is sometimes brutally honest, and at times, it made me shake my head. At the same time, I found that some parts of the book dragged a bit and that there were instances where she basically said the same thing differently a few paragraphs later.

I connected a lot with her wanting to fit in and being a visible minority - at times, one of the only ones in a predominantly white community. Her discussions about the media, school curriculum and how this impacts us all were interesting and timely. I related to the fact that blonde and blue-eyed was her ideal. I, too, held this ideal, and these parts were where I felt the most seen.

Danielle discusses how the negative representations of Black communities contributed to and upheld her internalized anti-Black racism, and I found this especially interesting when she talked about not being accepted by Black peers because of how she moulded herself to fit into her white school and the broader community. I also found it interesting how she talks about her upper-class wealthy status but doesn't dive deep into the intersections of race and class. There are some instances where I believe her assertions were impacted by this status, and I felt this discussion could've contributed a lot of insight.

Overall, this was a deeply moving memoir that provides many insights into what it's like to be the Token Black Girl. I also learned a lot about different areas that affect Black girls/women that I never thought a lot about - like the discussion around natural hair. I appreciated learning about different facets that impact Black identity and how the media contributes to internalized racism. This book felt raw, real and almost always kept me engaged.

I did not finish this title. The story of a Black girl growing up in a white environment is pretty familiar, and I didn't feel like Prescod added anything original to the genre so to speak. That is not to say her experiences aren't valid, because they are and are shared by many, but it doesn't add to the many memoirs and autobiographies already out there.

After following Danielle Prescod on Instagram for a couple years, I was really interested to read this memoir and get to know more about her story. Written in her signature honest, relatable and enlightening style, Danielle shares her experiences growing up as the Token Black Girl in a predominantly white environment, as well as working in the white-dominated fashion world. Prescod relates various insightful observations about the inherent racism and sexism within the fashion/beauty industry, while not shying away from her own perceived "meanness" and bad behaviour.
I highly recommend this book, it is an illuminating depiction of what so many marginalized people experience while trying to break into white dominated industries.
Thank you to NetGalley and Little A for the advanced copy.

3.5-4 stars

This was a very well-written memoir. For a young Black woman growing up in a predominantly white area of the country, surrounded by whitewashed media, and then assimilating into a overwhelmingly white profession, it came as no surprise that Danielle was shaped by the world around her. She is brutally honest with how her identity was negatively impacted, and it broke my heart to see her go to such extremes with self-destructive behaviors.

While I agreed with her on much of what was said throughout this memoir, there were times where I thought her opinion was reaching a bit to fit her narrative. Branding Blake Lively as racist because she got married on a former plantation and labeling an entire industry (that she continued to work in for years) as white supremacist are bold statements. There’s no doubt that racism is alive and well within this country, and it has unfortunately weaseled its way into almost every aspect of our lives, but the further I got into this memoir, the more it felt like she was going off on bitter tangents and it quickly drew attention away from the importance of the topic at hand.

Overall, I think this book was worth reading, and it sheds light on a subject that definitely needs to be addressed and more openly discussed. I would also be interested in reading more about Danielle’s current work in aiding fashion and beauty brands on their anti-racism journeys because this wasn’t really mentioned, and considering this is her memoir, it seems it would be pertinent to her story.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Little A for providing a copy of this book to review.*

If you enjoy coming-of-age memoirs, you need to read this compelling memoir about growing up Black in a predominately white wealthy community (and later working in mostly white establishments). Prescod is at times funny, heartbreaking, and always engaging.

Many thanks to Little A and NetGalley for a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy. I have been following Prescod on Instagram for several years and I have always appreciated her voice there. That candid voice is also present in this memoir and I really enjoyed reading more about her childhood and her experiences in the fashion industry. I especially appreciated her honesty in detailing mistakes she has made and regrets she has in feeding into fatphobia and white supremacist systems. So many people are not willing to admit they have been less than perfect and I love this about Danielle and the stories she has chosen to share in this book. I will definitely be recommending this one.

An interesting memoir. I try to read all different kinds of biographies to grasp a better insight into other people’s lives and upbringing.
The author posits many opinions as fact, which I don’t necessarily agree with,
Nonetheless, it’s an enterprising read.

I’ve followed Danielle for years on Twitter and was so excited to learn more about her. This memoir started off strong, but unfortunately fell a little flat as it progressed. Prescod has a strong voice and the theme of being the “Token Black Girl” is thoroughly thought out and well executed chapter after chapter. The mix of essay style and social commentary with personal anecdotes was unique from other memoirs I’ve read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little A for the advanced copy.