I Talk about It All the Time

Camara Lundestad Joof is the 2020-24 playwright in residence at Nasjonalteateret (The National Theatre) in Oslo, Norway; her works have also been staged in Sweden, Denmark, Italy, and Germany. Recent plays include Samtaler med bror and De mA fOde oss eller pule oss for A elske oss. Olivia Noble Gunn is an associate professor of Scandinavian studies and the Sverre Arestad Endowed Chair in Norwegian Studies at the University of Washington and the author of Empty Nurseries, Queer Occupants: Reproduction and the Future in Ibsen's Late Plays.

Introduction: Let's Talk about Race Monica L. Miller and Nana Osei-Kofi Dear Brother Quitting What's in a Name? Friend First National Costume I A Less Significant Event Whiteness Quid Pro Quo Pavlov's Bicycle Going Out Brownness for Sale The Stupidity of Youth Stockholm-Oslo-Copenhagen Stop Mass Effect African Time Pillow Talk Low-Frequency Feelings A Little Man Playing the Victim Cultural Capital Traveling by Plane Traveling by Train The Arts and Culture Center for Nynorsk Tequila Blabbermouth Gratitude Youth, First New Sweater Loop He Hit First The Rope Mania Source Critique Mom's Memory Red Apolitical Someone Else's Brother You're on the Wrong Train, Sir Avalanche National Costume II Mom Is a Superhero Your Silence Will Not Save You Epilogue Translator's Note and Acknowledgments Olivia Noble Gunn

"Beautifully, immersively written, these everyday and reflective snapshots from the life of a Black, queer Norwegian woman are searing, insightful, and so recognizable for other women in the Black European diaspora."-Gloria Wekker, author of White Innocence: Paradoxes of Colonialism and Race "A stunning memoir told in illuminating fragments. Joof's devastating narrative captures what it costs to navigate spaces where you are constantly treated as if you do not belong."-Ethelene Whitmire, author of Regina Anderson Andrews, Harlem Renaissance Librarian "This gemlike book relentlessly dramatizes the particularities of Norwegian racism. The power of Joof's observations increases in proportion to their understated precision. Her gentle voice is wholly deceptive. She slices through the delusions, denials, and defensiveness that distinguish the unthinkable racism of Scandinavian society."-Paul Gilroy, author of The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness