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Variety has reported that ABC and Baratunde Thurston are working to create an animated adaptation of Thurston's 2012 book, How to Be Black. Leading the way, Thurston will write the series and executive produce it. Along the way, he will share executive producing duties with legendary actor Laurence Fishburne, Black-ish producer Helen Sugland and Arrested Development's Courtney Lilly.
Released months before former President Barack Obama was elected to a second term in office, Thurston's How To Be Black examines his upbringing in 1980s Washington, D.C., the politics of race in predominantly white spaces and much more. Along the way, he delivers a number of comical and eye-opening anecdotes about his experience as a Black person in America.
"The Onion’s Baratunde Thurston shares his 30-plus years of expertise in being black, with helpful essays like How to Be the Black Friend, How to Speak for All Black People, How To Celebrate Black History Month and more, in this satirical guide to race issues—written for black people and those who love them," the book's description reads.
"Audacious, cunning, and razor-sharp, How to Be Black exposes the mass-media’s insidiously racist, monochromatic portrayal of black culture’s richness and variety. Fans of Stuff White People Like, This Week in Blackness, and Ending Racism in About an Hour will be captivated, uplifted, incensed, and inspired by this hilarious and powerful attack on America’s blacklisting of black culture: Baratunde Thurston’s How to Be Black."
Beyond How To Be Black, Thurston has published three other books, served on the board of the Brooklyn Public Library and worked on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Currently, he serves as the host of How To Be Citizen.
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