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I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Austin Channing Brown (Narrator, Author), Random House Audio (Publisher)
4.7 out of 5 stars 11,596 ratings

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK From a leading voice on racial justice, an eye-opening account of growing up Black, Christian, and female that exposes how white America’s love affair with “diversity” so often falls short of its ideals.

“Austin Channing Brown introduces herself as a master memoirist. This book will break open hearts and minds.”—Glennon Doyle, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Untamed

Austin Channing Brown’s first encounter with a racialized America came at age seven, when she discovered her parents named her Austin to deceive future employers into thinking she was a white man. Growing up in majority-white schools and churches, Austin writes, “I had to learn what it means to love blackness,” a journey that led to a lifetime spent navigating America’s racial divide as a writer, speaker, and expert helping organizations practice genuine inclusion.

In a time when nearly every institution (schools, churches, universities, businesses) claims to value diversity in its mission statement, Austin writes in breathtaking detail about her journey to self-worth and the pitfalls that kill our attempts at racial justice. Her stories bear witness to the complexity of America’s social fabric—from Black Cleveland neighborhoods to private schools in the middle-class suburbs, from prison walls to the boardrooms at majority-white organizations.

For listeners who have engaged with America’s legacy on race through the writing of Ta-Nehisi Coates and Michael Eric Dyson, I’m Still Here is an illuminating look at how white, middle-class, Evangelicalism has participated in an era of rising racial hostility, inviting the reader to confront apathy, recognize God’s ongoing work in the world, and discover how blackness—if we let it—can save us all.

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  1. Listening Length
    3 hours and 54 minutes
  2. Author
    Austin Channing Brown
  3. Narrator
    Austin Channing Brown
  4. Audible release date
    May 15, 2018
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Random House Audio
  7. ASIN
    B07C88MXG2
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length 3 hours and 54 minutes
Author Austin Channing Brown
Narrator Austin Channing Brown
Whispersync for Voice Ready
Audible.com Release Date May 15, 2018
Publisher Random House Audio
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B07C88MXG2
Best Sellers Rank #26,465 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#20 in Biographies of Activists
#53 in Social Activist Biographies
#54 in Christian Social Issues (Audible Books & Originals)

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
11,596 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book thought-provoking, with one review noting it provides a refreshing first-person perspective. Moreover, the writing style is described as eloquent and difficult yet enlightening, while the author's raw honesty makes it a must-read for understanding racism and discrimination in America. Additionally, the book receives praise for its powerful voice that shines through the writing, and customers describe it as heart-wrenching, with one review mentioning how the pain explodes through the words on every page.

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354 customers mention "Thought provoking"344 positive10 negative

Customers find the book thought-provoking, praising its poignant insights and how it perfectly encapsulates their experiences.

"...It is powerfully written, eye opening, thought provoking, and poignant. It is also angry, unforgiving, and implacable...." Read more

"Powerful messages from a Black woman's lived experience (in the U.S.), here for you to digest and absorb at your own pace...." Read more

"...that said, this is a beautifully written book. intelligent and delivering the information needed to cut through the surface of what we only think is..." Read more

"...Ms. Browns personal account and lived experience is genuinely eye opening in understanding how systemic and institutional racism, oppression and..." Read more

327 customers mention "Readability"327 positive0 negative

Customers find the book highly readable, describing it as a powerful and eye-opening memoir that everyone should read.

"...i think that this in itself is good testimony to why this is a good book." Read more

"Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. This book is powerful. It is “next level.”..." Read more

"...A must read book!!" Read more

"Who proofread this? Page 21, bottom. Loved the book otherwise." Read more

208 customers mention "Writing style"194 positive14 negative

Customers appreciate the writing style of the book, describing it as eloquent and difficult yet enlightening, with one customer noting its approachable tone.

"...Also her writing style I enjoyed very much how she went back and forth between her young and older self and how she explained how everything she..." Read more

"...Austin Channing Brown is a wonderful writer, deftly correlating her personal stories to larger systemic issues...." Read more

"...that said, this is a beautifully written book...." Read more

"This is a beautifully written, raw and honest memoir that anyone and everyone would benefit from reading...." Read more

119 customers mention "Race issues"107 positive12 negative

Customers praise the book's approach to race issues, finding it essential for honest thinking and providing perspective on racism and discrimination in America.

"...And other cultures would benefit from it too. Black people will love this book and hopefully find a little healing and comradery in its pages...." Read more

"...is genuinely eye opening in understanding how systemic and institutional racism, oppression and prejudice are woven into American society...." Read more

"...Her love for her Black church and learning about Black Jesus was touching...." Read more

"...It is a raw look at racism as experienced by the author in which she allows herself the vulnerability to draw us into her world." Read more

92 customers mention "Authenticity"92 positive0 negative

Customers praise the book's authenticity, appreciating its raw and heartbreakingly honest approach to storytelling.

"...Brown's writing expresses pain, expresses anger, expresses pride, and expresses loss, but some of the reviews I read before purchasing the book that..." Read more

"I liked this author’s authenticity and her bravery. Some of what was articulated in the book is familiar to me; most was not...." Read more

"...As a Christian, I am amazed at the strength of ACB’s faith, even as she cries out, Lord, how long?" Read more

"...Austin Channing Brown delivers. This book is heartfelt, honest and revealing, as much about me as it is about the author...." Read more

49 customers mention "Heartbreakingness"44 positive5 negative

Customers describe the book as heart-wrenching, making them cry as they feel the author's pain, with one customer noting how it embraces uncomfortable situations and conversations.

"...'s writing expresses pain, expresses anger, expresses pride, and expresses loss, but some of the reviews I read before purchasing the book that..." Read more

"...Austin Channing Brown pulls no punches, minces no words, and takes no emotional prisoners...." Read more

"...Austin Channing has written a beautiful, heartbreaking, terribly important memoir in which she shares her experiences as a black Christian woman..." Read more

"...This book brought me to tears, made me twist in discomfort, and inspired me to step into true reconciliation, which will mean action...." Read more

24 customers mention "Voice"24 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the author's voice, describing it as a wonderful gift that shines through her writing. One customer notes that the audiobook was narrated by the author herself.

"...This is a powerful gift, something I believe was written into her DNA by the God she so clearly adores, to be used for the edification of all who..." Read more

"...Truly an important voice for white folks in grounding your activism in a deeper understanding of the "othering" we do even when we are with the "..." Read more

"...Highly recommend. The Audible version was read by Austin, which brought me in closer to her world and I could hear the frustrations and passion in..." Read more

"...Let go of all that whilst reading this book. The point is to hear her voice, feel her pain, understand her perspective, and carry her story with you..." Read more

21 customers mention "Importance"21 positive0 negative

Customers find the book super important and so needed, with one customer noting it's particularly relevant for today's America.

"One of the most important and powerful books you can read. If you are looking for an easy read or a “feel good” book, this is not it...." Read more

"...I felt the author’s passion, purpose, and pain explode through the words on every page...." Read more

"...This book is relevant, heart wrenching, and forces you to look within about racial injustice...." Read more

"Essential, illuminating, engrossing, provocative in all the life altering ways. I am deeply grateful for this author's intimate self disclosure...." Read more

Eye opening book
5 out of 5 stars
Eye opening book
Who proofread this? Page 21, bottom. Loved the book otherwise.
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Top reviews from the United States

  • docjaysee
    5.0 out of 5 stars Gave me great insights but little hope
    Reviewed in the United States on August 29, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    Well. If the reader is looking for a book that provides some hope for racial reconciliation, at least at the level Ms. Brown would like to see, this may not be it. It is powerfully written, eye opening, thought provoking, and poignant. It is also angry, unforgiving, and implacable. It was difficult for this white woman to read, yet I did my best not to judge, not to argue or defend along the way, but just to listen. And there is a world of pain, hurt and anger to listen to. Easy to see why she is fed up.

    I see that I have been pretty clueless about many of the assumptions I've held, maybe the biggest one being that lack of access to opportunity and fair treatment are the biggest racial projects that need work. Those sound like a piece of cake compared to what the author seems to be saying.

    The clue I think is in part of the title: Black Dignity. To be tolerated, accepted, included and given a voice in white organizations and institutions as a black person is too superficial for Ms. Brown. What she seems to be getting at goes deeper, to the dignity of feeling one ‘belongs’ in ways I find more difficult to comprehend, maybe because I haven’t experienced being so ‘out’ of the majority culture as have other groups. She gives very little if any credit for what most white folks would call progress, considering little of it meaningful change at best, and at worst, hurtful and exhausting to blacks. The picture she paints certainly make the white people in her orbit look painfully clumsy and oblivious, if at times well meaning. They often made me squirm in discomfort so I can only imagine Ms. Brown’s experience.

    Bottom line, I appreciated most the parts where she is recounting her own experiences and how she feels about them. Though difficult to accept, I can say it gave me much more insight into what some blacks experience and it continues to sink in in new ways as I process. But it has taken away any of my naïve expectation that we can solve this in a way Ms. Brown would find meaningful any time soon. That seems to be her take also.

    I'm left with the conviction that maybe for now, the best thing a white person can do is to simply open themselves up to these stories of pain and anger, keeping judgement, argument or defense to a minimum for the moment, difficult as that may be. And let it work on you. For our black friends and neighbors to be sincerely and compassionately heard and for white people to be present and open to some hard truths, is surely a necessary step if we have any hope of healing racial wounds. As I was reminded recently, listening doesn’t have to mean agreeing. Agreement/disagreement questions can be saved for another day.
    13 people found this helpful
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  • Nina Derden
    5.0 out of 5 stars This Book was amazing
    Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    As a woman who is also African American, the first word just hooked me right away “White people can be exhausting” when I read that I thought no truer words could be spoken. I read this book for my English class, at first I didn’t want to read it because it was only 192 pages and I wanted to challenge myself with a longer book. But when I read the first words and just had to read more.

    And I am so glad I did. I felt like it was actually me in the book like it was my life with just some minor changes. The author not only talks about the struggle of being a black woman but she also talks about not fitting the expectations of others even within your own race. She talks about the struggles of not being “black enough” when she goes to her dad’s all-black neighborhood for the summer from her mostly white Catholic school. I love how she doesn’t just talk about not being accepted in white culture but black too how sometimes people of color “talk white” and are an “oreo” and feel that just don’t belong anywhere. I felt like she was me at that moment because I went from an all-white private school to a very diverse public school and I felt l would never fit in I was to black for white people and to white for back people. Anyone who has experienced that would definitely love this book.

    Also her writing style I enjoyed very much how she went back and forth between her young and older self and how she explained how everything she experienced as a black woman stuck with her and made her who she is. One thing I remember because it stuck with me was a trip she took when she was in college. It was a tour of the south and slavery. It was a half black half white tour. At first, the author was excited to go on the tour and learn but when she heard things like “happy slaves” and “it wasn't our fault because we weren’t there” it really shocked her and changed her view on how white people really want to teach American American history. She also went to a museum where she saw pictures of black people lynched or burned and white people just standing there and smiling proud of what they have done. That made her stomach drop.

    Finally, at the end of the trip, one of the African American girls got up and spoke on how white people were just so evil. This book made my heart stop in more ways than one. I would highly recommend it to African Americans of all ages and even people not of color. It is hard to stomach some of the things we still have to go through because of how we look but once we stand up and don’t back down we can look back and be proud of our accomplishments.
    9 people found this helpful
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  • Tod Hilton
    5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful messages from a Black woman's lived experience (in the U.S.)
    Reviewed in the United States on February 25, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    Powerful messages from a Black woman's lived experience (in the U.S.), here for you to digest and absorb at your own pace. Austin Channing Brown is a wonderful writer, deftly correlating her personal stories to larger systemic issues. She covers a wide variety of her encounters, occurrences, and trials that span school, religion, work, age, and more. While the topics and stories can be challenging for those of us who are white, such as her chapters on white fragility and nice white people, open your mind, focus on empathy, and embrace it as a learning opportunity. We can—and must—do better.

    It was particularly interesting to hear how her childhood in a middle class, Christian, Black family in the Midwest surrounded by white communities (at school, church, and socially) shaped her perspectives. She had many of the stereotypical benefits, such as family and financial stability, well-funded schools, and access to university-level education. Yet she was immersed in white culture that emphasized her membership in the out-group (not white) and limited her exposure to many aspects of Black culture. She goes on to discuss how this affected her at later stages in life and the personal growth she experienced.

    "Instead of offering empathy and action, whiteness finds new names for me and offers ominous advice. I am too sensitive, and should be careful with what I report. I am too angry, and should watch my tone when I talk about my experiences. I am too inflexible, and should learn to offer more grace to people who are really trying."

    Before you ask your Black friend about their traumatic stories—yes, they most likely have them—settle in and absorb Austin Channing Brown's experiences.
    One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Jean
    5.0 out of 5 stars Thought provoking and inspiring
    Reviewed in Japan on August 6, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    I was confronted with my own biases and encouraged and challenged by Austin’s stories and honesty. Highly recommend this book.
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  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Love, love, love this book!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 5, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    This is a great read! Written with easy to understand terminology, it opened my eyes to my own experiences of racism and micro aggression. I would highly recommend.
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  • James Forde
    5.0 out of 5 stars a must read
    Reviewed in Canada on December 6, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    this was a fantastic read.
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  • Sandra
    5.0 out of 5 stars A book that will change my thinking
    Reviewed in Germany on June 10, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    A book that is not only well written, but also stimulates thought. Have I really always behaved correctly towards my fellow human beings as I assume? Could they have been hurt by some comment from me - unintentionally, of course, but that doesn't make it any better. After this book, I will first of all talk to my friends and colleagues to find out whether I have ever offended or hurt them, better pay attention to how I treat others and stand up for others when I notice any (racist) injustices.
    The part in which Austin Brown reported her day in the office particularly shocked me. How can you treat someone like this and didn't recognize it?
    In addition, the letter to her - at the time still unborn - son took me away. About all the joy about the unborn also the worries you have as colored parents. I wasn't aware of that before.
    In conclusion, I can say that this is one of the few books that will change my thinking and acting. Thank to Austin Channing Brown for this really important book.
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  • CL Roxanas
    5.0 out of 5 stars Required reading
    Reviewed in Australia on August 31, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    I devoured this book. Austin writes with a poetic voice that is beautifully crafted while laying bare the harshest realities. this book will make you think, will open your eyes (if you are white) to a world we are so often blind to, and will challenge you to ask important and necessary questions. if you take this book seriously you will not be able to walk away unchanged, it will prompt you to join her in saying, “Doing nothing is no longer an option for me.”

    I will be thinking about this book for a long while to come.
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