You Can’t Touch My Hair: and Other Things I Still Have to Explain by Phoebe Robinson

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You Can’t Touch My Hair: and Other Things I Still Have to Explain by Phoebe Robinson



                Honestly, Phoebe had me at the title and the cover photo. I knew a kindred spirit when I saw her and I wanted to know if me and Phoebe would be bosom buddies in real life. I like her. Why? Because the fact that she could throw in so much humor, while being honest and tackling really complicated issues concerning race made me happy. It’s hard talking to people about life as a black woman. Yet, Robinson did it very well, with some well-timed humor included. This book won’t be for everybody and that’s okay. She makes it very clear that there is no niche that you can contain her in. She is multidimensional, so whatever box you thought you were going to hold her in, you might as well completely disregard. That’s why I enjoyed this collection of essays. I felt like I was having a really honest conversation with one of my friends that included many glasses of wine, served chilled.
                So this is what (a conversation with one of my friends) You Cant Touch My Hair was truly about: a thirty-one year old black woman, who has contemplated race for most of her existence, is really funny, loves doing stand-up comedy and has finally figured out this thing called life… sort of. Now I’m not a stand-up comedian, that’s not my style of funny, but I recently turned thirty, have contemplated about race for a large part of my life and I think I’ve got this life thing pretty under control. Robinson though knows how to convey her story with a raw emotion that most people will be able to understand, empathize, sympathize and relate to. Not to mention the fact that she is pretty damn funny and I had plenty of moments when I found myself laughing hysterically.

                Now you may not love every single essay. These essays may make some people uncomfortable and make you question the microaggressions you just realized you’ve been committing for years. But if you can see past the things that make you uncomfortable I genuinely believe many people can enjoy this collection. Besides being really funny and racially conscious it’s an easy read with quotable moments and hilarious visuals. I enjoyed it. I’m glad I decided to let Robinson’s essay’s wash over my senses and envelope my mind. Her stories are genuine and I saw my own story in many of them. I related in more ways than I thought possible. At the end of the story I was grateful I took the time to get to know Robinson through this collection. I give this 4 out of 5 stars.

Thanks to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.



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