Episode 115 - Reading About Structural Racism From Best-Selling English Book by Reni Eddo-Lodge

Welcome to part 2 (there are 4) of our International Women's Day celebration. In this episode I'll read a short excerpt from Reni Eddo-Lodge's book 'Why I'm no longer talking to white people about race.' Reni is an award winning British journalist, author and podcaster who's writing has a focus on feminism and structural racism. The book began as a blog post and after release quickly became a best seller.    You can find out more about her work on her website: https://renieddolodge.co.uk/ As I mentioned in the podcast, if you want to know more there are three ways you can access this work. You can buy the book. You can read the blog post or you can watch the Emma Watson interview.  Book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Longer-Talking-White-People-About/dp/1408870584 Blog Post: http://renieddolodge.co.uk/why-im-no-longer-talking-to-white-people-about-race/ Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JklR7jZT-zU  Vocabulary It flew off the shelves. - Idiom used to describe best selling books, or anything that sells well. It's not, for the record. - 'for the record', idiom used before or after a phrase we want to clarify as true or factual. tip of the iceberg - idiom, it literally means the small part of the iceberg that sits above the water and that we can see. When we talk about something being 'the tip of the iceberg' what we mean is that there is a lot more we don't know about. monolith - literally tall column, in this case used to demonstrate something imposing and difficult to move or change insidiousness - something that moves gradually or slowly but is very harmful noxious - overpowering or bad, most commonly used to describe smells. elusive - something that isn't easy to find, see or capture intensification of personal prejudices of group think - there are two parts to this, first the 'intensification of personal prejudices' this means the increasing anger people feel about people who are different to them. The second part is 'group think', this is the idea that a lot of people can have similar ideas and once they connect it's hard for any of them to change their mind. hierarchies - systems or people grouped so that some have a higher level or importance, priority or power than others. pervasive - something that is starting to happen everywhere take up the mantle - idiom, perhaps from the bible. The 'mantle' in this idiom refers to a cloak. The idea is that when the leader leaves his cloak the next leader picks it up and wears it. So, to 'take up the mantle' means to take on a role or commit to doing something someone else was doing before. pipe up - British phrasal verb meaning to 'speak up' inviting inertia - inertia is the tendency to do nothing or remain the same, so in this statement she means rather than moving forward we are trying to stay the same. keenly feel - 'keenly' means acutely, so to 'keenly feel' something means you feel something deeply. dismantle - to take apart narratives - narratives are just stories, in this case the stories we tell ourselves. we can't wait for a hero to swoop in - idiom, from superhero stories, especially Superman, meaning expecting someone to come and save the day. feel the fire coursing through your veins - idiom, this means to feel anger or fury. Sometimes when we get so angry our whole body feels like it's on fire, this idiom describes that feeling. household name - idiom meaning something that is commonly known, known by every family or household. this is commonly used to describe big brands for example we could say 'heinz is a household name'. chipping away - phrasal verb meaning to slowly change something over time. It comes from the idea of creating a statue, where we chip away at the rock to create something else. It gives the idea that this will take time but change can happen. warped power relations - when something is 'warped' it is bent or no longer flat. In this context it means something that isn't the way it should be, it's not a straight or clear power relationship.