“Let nobody else steal your joy.” That’s the quote from Gabourey Sidibe’s book that’s not only a mic-drop, but a war cry for anyone who ever had to fight their way through the most miserable pages of existence. Celebrity memoirs are more appetizing, of course, but the ones that rise above the pack manage to look beyond the tabloid-y headlines to share with us the grit, the growth, and the self-discovery when the cameras aren’t rolling anymore.
For Black stars, being for themselves isn’t a job it’s taking back narrative in a world and an industry that constantly fail to represent them. These books aren’t about their fame; they’re about beating poverty, beating racism, beating self-doubt, and being okay in between. They’re all masterclasses in staying strong, told in their own words.
From Shonda Rhimes’ bold “Year of Yes” challenge to Tiffany Haddish’s laugh-through-the-tears resolve, these books provide us with lessons that linger long after the final page. Six reads that’ll have you departing inspired, empowered, and maybe even equipped to write your own script are below.
1. Shonda Rhimes’ Radical Year of Yes
Before she became the force behind Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal, Shonda Rhimes was quietly saying ‘no’ to nearly everything that frightened her. It wasn’t until her sister bluntly told her point-blank “You never say yes to anything” that the author embarked on an experiment of a year saying ‘yes’ to every offer. Not due to wonderful offers; due to the triumph of fear and doing that with worthiness.
In her book, Rhimes describes how saying “yes” meant speaking in her own voice and not through characters. She loved her body, lost more than 120 pounds for health never for looks and discovered the power of saying “no” to negative people. Her journey shows boundaries and self-love are as strong as any professional success.
2. Michelle Obama’s Transformation
Michelle Obama’s “Becoming” is not just a political memoir no, it’s a blisteringly intimate exploration of a life constructed through grit and determination and even-keel under the microscope. She details the juggling act of job, parenting, and public life from her days growing up on the South Side of Chicago through her time as First Lady.
She openly speaks of how politics put her marriage on the test, raising girls in the White House, and making it her personal mission to create the most inclusive presidential atmosphere in history. In doing so, she demonstrates to the reader how setbacks can be turned into activism such that one can have confidence their small efforts have a ripple effect into grand change.
3. RuPaul’s Blueprint for Self-Creation
In “The House of Hidden Meanings,” RuPaul reminds us of his youth in San Diego, Black, queer, and poor. With neither stable home life nor positive role models, he learned young that identity is something you construct, not are assigned.
From underground drag club culture in New York and Atlanta to documenting the global phenomenon of RuPaul’s Drag Race on life, his book is an homage to the power of culture, evolution, and uncompromising self-expression. A reminder that authenticity isn’t found it’s created.
4. Viola Davis’ Unflinching Finding Me
Oprah Book Club pick Viola Davis’s memoir is a no-holds-barred memoir of her journey from a Rhode Island apartment infested with mice to EGOT-winning actress. She writes for all of us who’ve ever had to start over, heal from trauma, and just keep moving toward that dream.
Davis doesn’t flinch from the hurt poverty, racism, and self-loathing but she flings it into the fire that proved both her art and her humanity. Her message is unmistakable: radical honesty and self-acceptance are the path to freedom.
5. Gabourey Sidibe’s Fierce Self-Acceptance
“This Is Just My Face: Try Not to Stare” is Gabourey Sidibe unapologetic fierce, honest, and uncomfortably exposed. She chronicles her existence with her polygamist father, her work as a phone-sex worker, and her adventures in Hollywood as a plus-sized, dark-skinned actress.
Her accounts of what she witnesses happening within and to her own body are particularly poignant: “This is my body. It’s going to be with me forever… Every day I have to remind myself to be good to my body and allow it to be good to me.” Sidibe’s insistence on not selling out makes her memoir a passionate assertion of self-love in a conformity-driven world.
6. Tiffany Haddish’s Comedy as Survival
In “The Last Black Unicorn,” Tiffany Haddish exposes how comedy was her survival strategy as a child in one of South Central LA’s poorer communities. Comedy protected her from bullies, earned her friends, and eventually her ticket out of poverty.
Her route to success was not straightforward couching together to be able to pay rent while covering stand-up gigs but she never lost the desire to be funny. Haddish’s tale is one that proves laughter can be both shield and ladder, carrying you through worst times.
These six memoirs are not tell-alls by celebrities they’re survival blueprints. These authors each had their own individual demons, but all of their stories converge here: resilience is a daily decision. One may be choosing fear, redefining beauty, or converting pain into beauty, their books assure us that our own books even the ugly ones should be told.
