“Speak” by Tunde Oyeneyin is inspiring and relatable. The conversation in this book is like you are having a conversation with one of your girlfriends that have “been there and done that”. Tunde is authentic as she shares her struggles with her weight, love relationships, failures, and losses. Her honesty and vulnerability are what make this book so great!  She shares countless powerful stories about her life and how she overcame and built resilience. I know Brown & Black women everywhere who have faced adversity can relate. The best part of this all is that in the end Tunde wins, and she shares five principles that guided her along her journey.  The title of the book SPEAK actually stands for five principles that Tunde breaks down in the book. Surrender, power, empathy, authenticity, and knowledge.
 
Tunde discussed that surrendering is actually about trusting the process in life, believing that sometimes no means just not now and there is a reason why everything happens the way it happens in your life.  Power is about building the connections needed to build not only your physical endurance but also mental and emotional resilience. Empathy is about giving yourself grace, it’s about being vulnerable in building bonds and relationships with other people who mean you well on your journey. Authenticity is about loving the true authentic you- All of you- your flaws, corks, blemishes, bruises, and all. Knowledge, as the saying goes knowledge is power, you know the better you do better. Knowledge helps us feel confident in our skills, and our abilities; knowledge sets us up for success and gives us the power to make lemonade with life throws us lemons.

I chose this book as a book on the Black Girls Got Books summer reading list as I am a tech enthusiast, and build AI/ML powered Health Tech devices, I am a member of the Anita B org and I 1st saw Tunde speak at our grace hopper celebration in 2023. She was authentic, and her message resonated with me, the line that stuck with me was” If talking about uncomfortable issues will save the life of my nephews, let’s get uncomfortable”. I knew that I wanted to learn more about her, because so many people brush around the real issues of society, but the events I attend rarely bring those issues to the forefront, they play nice, and make everyone comfortable, so those issues are also swept under the wrong when there is human being out here suffering. So yes, I say please get this book and follow Tunde Journey, it will really entertain and encourage you at the end of the day.