Layla Saad
Layla Saad is a globally respected writer, speaker and podcast host on the topics of race, identity, leadership, personal transformation and social change.
As an East African, Arab, British, Black, Muslim woman who was born and grew up in the West, and lives in Middle East, Layla has always sat at a unique intersection of identities from which she is able to draw rich and intriguing perspectives. Layla's work is driven by her powerful desire to 'become a good ancestor'; to live and work in ways that leave a legacy of healing and liberation for those who will come after she is gone.
Me and White Supremacy is Layla's first book. Initially offered for free following an Instagram challenge under the same name, the digital Me And White Supremacy Workbook was downloaded by close to ninety thousand people around the world in the space of six months, before becoming a traditionally published book. Layla's work has been brought into homes, educational institutions and workplaces around the world that are seeking to create personal and collective change.
Layla earned her Bachelor of Law degree from Lancaster University in the United Kingdom. She lives in Doha, Qatar with her husband, Sam, and two children, Maya and Mohamed.
Books (2)
Synopsis:
Author Layla F. Saad wrote Me and White Supremacy to encourage people who hold white privilege to examine their (often unconscious) racist thoughts and behaviors through a unique, 28-day reflection process complete with journaling prompts. This guided journal, which includes the book's original weekly prompts and lots of space for note-taking and free-writing, is the perfect place to begin your antiracism journey. You will unpack:
Week One: White Privilege; White Fragility; Tone Policing; White Silence; White Superiority; White Exceptionalism
Week Two: Color Blindness; Anti-Blackness against Black Women, Black Men, and Black Children; Racist Stereotypes; Cultural Appropriation
Week Three: White Apathy; White Centering; Tokenism; White Saviorism; Optical Allyship; Being Called Out/Called In
Week Four: Friends; Family; Values; Losing Privilege; Your Commitments.
Awareness leads to action, and action leads to change. Create the change the world needs by creating change within yourself.
Additional Information
304 pages | 5.25" x 7.75"
Synopsis:
This eye-opening book challenges you to do the essential work of unpacking your biases, and helps white people take action and dismantle the privilege within themselves so that you can stop (often unconsciously) inflicting damage on people of color, and in turn, help other white people do better, too.
Based on the viral Instagram challenge that captivated participants worldwide, Me and White Supremacy takes readers on a 28-day journey, complete with journal prompts, to do the necessary and vital work that can ultimately lead to improving race relations.
Updated and expanded from the original workbook (downloaded by nearly 100,000 people), this critical text helps you take the work deeper by adding more historical and cultural contexts, sharing moving stories and anecdotes, and including expanded definitions, examples, and further resources, giving you the language to understand racism, and to dismantle your own biases, whether you are using the book on your own, with a book club, or looking to start family activism in your own home.
This book will walk you step-by-step through the work of examining:
- Examining your own white privilege
- What allyship really means
- Anti-blackness, racial stereotypes, and cultural appropriation
- Changing the way that you view and respond to race
- How to continue the work to create social change
Awareness leads to action, and action leads to change.
Reviews
"Layla Saad moves her readers from their heads into their hearts, and ultimately, into their practice. We won't end white supremacy through an intellectual understanding alone; we must put that understanding into action."—Robin DiAngelo, author of New York Times bestseller White Fragility
"Layla Saad is one of the most important and valuable teachers we have right now on the subject of white supremacy and racial injustice."—New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Gilbert
"As an educator and writer in this space, I well understand the difficulties of productive discourse on topics like white supremacy, white fragility, and complicity. In Me and White Supremacy, Layla not only engages readers effectively – she hands them the tools they need to change themselves so that they can better the lives of millions of people worldwide." - Rachel Cargle, activist, writer, and lecturer
Additional Information
256 pages | 5.25" x 7.75"