Franchesca became internet famous. Anderson Cooper interviewed her, which gave her the opportunity to launch a career in both television and online as a writer, actress, and correspondent. She might be best known for her work with MTV’s “Decoded,” Comedy Central’s “The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore” and BET’s “Black Girls.”
In Well, That Escalated Quickly, Franchesca writes about her background growing in a mostly white community, her education, her forays into the world of making videos, social media, and her relationship with her (ex)husband, Patrick.
Many of her first videos were tutorials on her hair locs (dreadlocks). But dealing with a lot of racism and sexism (often called misogynoir), she decided to do her videos on the micro-aggressions she deals with coming from white people. She had no idea her videos would go viral, but instead of hiding out, she instead, clapped back, which gained her both fans and haters.
But beyond, getting a career boost from her videos. Franchesca realized she wanted to get more involved in social media issues. She figured she could do this through social media and television.
All of this was fine. I enjoyed reading about her life both before and after she became internet famous. And I’m proud of her success. Yet, I didn’t see a whole lot of activism going on. Making videos and appearing on MTV is one thing, but activism takes a lot more than that, marching the streets, getting involved in the community, writing to your representatives, and so on. I just didn’t read about it in Well, That Escalated Quickly.
Still, I like this book. Franchesca is a talented writer and quite funny. I just hope her activism goes beyond videos making white women look ridiculous. And I’m quite sure Franchesca Ramsey knows this and is growing and learning as a person.
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