The author and public speaker, Austin Channing Brown, combines her own personal experiences with social commentary in order to understand what it means to be Full of Myself.
In May 2018, Austin Channing Brown released her first book, a memoir dubbed I’m Still Here, in which she speaks about predominantly white spaces. Writing her second book, she entered with a new perspective.
Brown dove into writing Full of Myself, a series of short stories that contain her own personal tales living as a Black woman in present-day society. Released on Aug. 26, the book is divided into nine sections with each title following the same format: I love myself when. These sections come together to illustrate why one should always be full of themselves. By this, Brown means that we should live happily as our full selves and love all of the different versions of ourselves from when we are laughing to when we are failing.
“I explore what it looks like to live joyfully in a hostile world, to become full of ourselves—our needs, wants, desires, curiosities and passions.”
Austin Channing Brown
“Full of Myself is the most personal piece of writing I have ever published,” Brown said. “I explore what it looks like to live joyfully in a hostile world, to become full of ourselves—our needs, wants, desires, curiosities and passions, in a world that would rather we be empty vessels.”
In addition to being an author, Brown is a public speaker who has consistently spoken out about racial justice. In order to open her listeners up to the realities of systematic racism, she merges together humor, story-telling and pop-culture. These elements all intermingle within her new book which contains stories of her own life from her experience being fired from her job as a Diversity and Inclusion Coordinator at a megachurch to playing handgames on the playground with fellow Black girls and conversations between her and her fellow residence life staff members during the 2016 election.
“I was inspired to write Full of Myself in the wake of 2020 and so many things have happened since,” Brown said. “As the demands on the time and energy of Black women has increased, most of us have desired more softness, more gentleness, more ease.” This desire led Brown to an overwhelming question: “How do we reconcile our commitment to justice and our desire for our own humanity to be honored beyond our work? I’m still working out the answer but I hope Full of Myself is a starting point.”
Embedded in Full of Myself is a deep sense of identity, empathy and humanity. Although Brown’s book details her life as a Black woman, it is a memoir that can appeal to any minority woman as well as anyone looking to improve their life. Brown’s stories are witty, thought-provoking and speak to life as a Black woman from an autobiographical and intensely human perspective—a viewpoint that is often overlooked both in history and in the modern world.
Brown’s stories contain her own individual thoughts and feelings which are as relatable and heart wrenching as they are clever and charming, and a cast of both amusing and contemptible characters like her cousin’s grandson Baby Dhay and her bosses at the megachurch. At the center of her work is the strength to persevere during life’s most difficult moments as well as a desire to grow and heal as a person.
As she chronicles and analyzes different events from all stages of her life, Brown paints a picture of what it’s like to be a Black woman in today’s society. She provides captivating stories from her own personal journey of becoming an individual that can save themselves and hold her own, even in an unforgiving world that would rather see her fail. A well-written and deeply personal body of writing, Brown’s book is a must-read for anyone who is seeking to become Full of Myself.
