The book caught my eyes while I was walking through the Indigo bookstore. The book cover instantly captured my eyes. I read through the title 'More Than Enough'. This is it! Definitely I am gonna read this book. I didn't know the author. I flipped through the pages and I liked the way it is written. And I googled who is Elaine Welteroth.
Elaine Welteroth is an American journalist, editor and New York Time best-selling author. But the fact that shocked me is she is just 32 years old. She already worked as editor-in-chief of magazine Teen Vogue in real. And the book is her memoir.
The book starts from her childhood. She was born into mixed race family. Since she is biracial, she was too white to be black and too black to be white. Her childhood period was when the white society started accepting blacks into their world. Despite of all that insecurities, she worked hard. She knew that you have to work hard since you don't have the privilege of being white.
Elaine moved into New York after the college to work with Ebony magazine. She worked hard for the magazine. Later became the Beauty and Style editor of Glamour magazine. Yes, she entered into the white powered fashion magazine world. Later became the Editor-in-Chief of Teen Vogue magazine making her the first African-American to hold this position.
She used her position to work for the racial gaps in the fashion world. She helped the teenagers to embrace their own beauty. Helped the white world to learn about the beauty and fashion in the other races. She had written about the project she did to make a collages that represent family during her school days. But all the magazines she went through had only white faces. And you can imagine how the society is teaching a kid with different color to see herself.
One of the excuse that most of us are using are, I didn't reach there because I didn't have the privilege. I didn't have enough money to go to the college. Elaine also had no privilege of color to enter into the fashion world. Instead she dreamed about it, believed it and reached the position. I have realized that accepting the things in your life as it is , is the first step. She accepted the differences in the society. Then get a clear vision on what you want and how to get it by overcoming the unfair system. You can see how she evolved and embraced herself. That's the beauty of this book.
I am quoting some words from the book below:
*I was ready to challenge what society tells us about beauty.
*What I know now is that when we derive our worth from the relationships in our lives- the intimate ones, the social circles we belong to, the companies we work for - we give away our power and become dependent upon external validation. When that is taken away, our sense of value, and identity, goes with it.
*Sometimes just being yourself is the radical act. When you occupy space in systems that weren't built for you, your authenticity is your activism
*Women aren't taught to get comfortable with making people uncomfortable.
*"Wokeness" doesn't work like a light switch. Instead, it is a process of learning, listening, stripping away the blinders that privilege puts on, and exposing yourself to suffering that doesn't always affect you in order to act from a place of understanding and empathy.
*You are not good to anyone if you are not good to yourself.
* There is no glory in a grind that literally grinds you down to dust.
*Oprah says the hardest thing about breaking up is never just the end itself. It is the death of the dream.
*There is more honor in losing a battle with dignity than in winning a war without it.
* There are no destinations, no happily ever afters in real life, no glossy pots of gold at the end of the rainbow. There are only new beginnings.
*When you find yourself existing in the space between dreams realized, parts of you will feel too big for where you are, while other parts of you will feel too small for where you're going.
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