Black Privilege Book Review

I must admit I had not been Charlamagne’s biggest fan prior to picking up this book, I had listened to a few of The Breakfast Clubs interviews and had been very aware of how blunt and frank he could be with his words. I was one of the many people on the fence about whether or not I can actually say I liked him, I can say after reading this book I have a better understanding for his approach and much more respect for his delivery. Black Privilege gives you information on the background from which he hailed, insight on the advancement of his career to a nationally syndicated radio show and the highs and lows of his personal life. Charlamagne’s willingness to give readers an open and honest view into world is a rare commodity amongst those in the music industry. Whether you are looking to enter into the music industry or just interested in what he could possible have to teach anyone you will undoubtedly be pleased with your decision to give Black Privilege a chance. Honesty, the importance of putting in the work and the willingness to learn are the central themes throughout this book.

As you would suspect, many people assume his success happened overnight, after all for many of us outside of the South Carolina, Philly and NYC area, we hadn’t known much about him before he achieved a reasonable amount of success. His success may have looked easy but there were plenty of hurdles and obstacles that stood in the way of him reaching the platform he has today. Charlamagne came from a small town called Moncks Corner about a half hour drive from Charleston, South Carolina. He had barely made it out of middle school, had been put out of high school and sent to jail twice by the time he was 18. He changed not only his outlook on life but his lifestyle, taking control over his health and his time. He has mastered the art of maximizing the use of his time to achieve his goals.

Charlagmagne’s mother had encouraged him at a very young age to read, not just to read but read a variety of genres, this very basic lesson would later serve to teach him self love, and about the world beyond what he could see in his small town. One of the first lessons you will learn from this book is that you cannot let the origin of your journey determine the destination, you can come from anywhere and become absolutely anything. Much of his success he repeatedly accredits to God, although he doesn’t associate himself with any one religioin but considers himself more of a spiritual individual.

Passion, poison and procrastination are the three options you have to choose the direction in which you want your life to follow; it is a personal choice to choose two of the latter and endure pain and ultimately prolong you in actually reaching your potential. Another lesson you will learn is that you need to make sure it’s your dream your following, following another’s dream won’t help you reach your full potential or provide the gratification you’re searching for. Don’t do something because its cool or you see everybody else doing it, let it be something you are passionate about. Listen to those trying to help you hone in on what your skill is, it may not always be what you think it is and their constructive criticism may not be what you like to hear. Make sure this persons advice is coming from a good place and not just killing your dream. It’s safe to say that most people fear the consequences of speaking candidly to everyone you encounter so its no surprise that many of his superiors disagreed with his delivery and had asked him to reign in his brutally honest opinions. Charlamagne had refused to change anything about what made him who he was, choosing individuality over conforming to society’s expectations.

Despite the current state of their relationship Charlamagne doesn’t deny the vast amount of experience he gained while working with Wendy Williams. His work with Wendy had not been paid experience, he had been asked to accept the position knowingly without any compensation. While most people today wouldn’t even give the opportunity a second thought especially having established some paid experience prior to, Charlamagne understood the value of experience. He choose to focus on mastering his skills, which he frequently refers to as “putting the weed in the bag”, a principle taken from the movie Belly. The point of this lesson is that you have to learn the process in order to progress, you can’t just skip the steps to success, each step is essential no matter how trivial it may seem. One of the most overlooked positions is that of the intern, he goes to great lengths to explain the benefits outside of financial benefits that you gain as an intern. In order to reach the different levels of success on your career path you have to be willing to learn, stressing the importance of admitting when you are ignorant about a certain subject in exchange for knowledge.

As he reflects back on the video that had surfaced of him being sucker punched on his way to work he doesn’t take the time to bash the individuals for the cowardly act but he uses this situation as a learning lesson. Many saw the video of him running from the situation as him acting cowardly when in fact he explains he had done what was best for himself, the future of his career and his family. His honesty and decision to be forthcoming with this altercation allowed him to get ahead of a situation which could have damaged his career. Once again his openness and honesty paid off. Living your truth will give you an advantage in most situations, being honest with others even if they do not openly welcome your honest opinion will earn you at the very least their respect if they’re honesty with themselves.

As much as putting in the work is reinforced so is the importance of making connections to those who can help you reach your goals along the way. Most steps involving the progression of his career came thanks to those relationships he built along the way. Much of the credit for this life lesson he accredits to his grandmother who taught him the value of manners and greeting others with respect and a pleasant attitude.

Nearing the end of the book he chooses to explain the reasoning behind the naming of the book. Most African Americans wouldn’t hesitate to argue the inexistence of “black privilege”, and it does seem like a very far fetched concept considering the current state of our country. Black privilege is however real, we all have privileges that someone else is less fortunate to have; it is our job to recognize these privileges and capitalize on them. Acceptance of your black privileges will help you to ignore those who choose to make you feel you are inferior. Using your race, economic status or location as an excuse for not achieving your goals is unacceptable and as he states in his subtitle “opportunity comes to those who create it.” Charlamagne leaves his readers who believe in their black privilege with a final message that with faith and hard work anything can be accomplished and if we put in the work no one can stop us from claiming what God has held in store for us.

I am so glad I choose to pick up this book and give it a chance, my opinion of him has changed for the better and I can respect his hustle and who he has become today. You can catch him on The Breakfast Club, and watch him on Guy Code. His future seems to be very promising at this point and I look forward to watching him take on new opportunities. For a hardback copy you’ll be looking to pay around$25.99 but to be quite honest you can find it on sale in most bookstores, I would reccomend this read to an adult audience to some of the graphic language used.

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