SUCCESS WILL NOT SAVE YOU

by Mars Library

Assembly by Natasha Brown 

In a world that rewards conformity, many of us learn to survive by fragmenting ourselves, silencing discomfort, and performing success as it is defined for us. Whether it’s crafting various personas and personalities for different social situations or changing a part of yourself to try to assimilate to workplace culture, these methods of hiding who we are and trying to convey a palatable identity will eventually ruin us. 

Assembly by Natasha Brown tells the story of Black British woman navigating her corporate and personal life. Through her experiences in love and her professional life, we see her struggle to maintain a sense of self. She has lived her life as the world has told her she should, but it is still not enough. Not enough to succeed in the workplace, and not enough to be valued in society.

Natasha Brown excellently showcases the effects of ever-present microaggressions and systemic racism as the protagonist is exploring them herself. In instances of such prejudice, our unnamed main character chooses to protect herself by detaching from these experiences. She imagines herself as a separate entity from that which is experiencing alienation. 

One event in the book that stuck with me after reading was a moment that perfectly reflects misogyny and privilege in professional settings. Our main character was seemingly rewarded for her successes and promoted alongside a white, male co-worker. This was done for the optics of diversity even though she was more dedicated to her work. She is shown to be more competent for the role, yet her collogues do not recognize her skill. Rather than being given a fair advancement, her ethnicity is used against her as a tool to feign inclusivity.  

Just like this character, it can feel at times like finish line keeps moving further and further away from us just when we start to feel like we are advancing.

We eventually ask ourselves, is any of it worth it?

“This endless complying, attaining, exceeding – why?”

Mike Chai

People in places of power and influence, especially the workplace, often come from a background where things were made easier for them in certain aspects of life. If one has not experienced adversity because of their ethnicity, something that cannot be changed, a person such as this would struggle to relate to or understand others unlike them. Anyone who is different is designated as the problem simply because they are not understood. 

You will lose yourself trying to shape your identity into a standard that has been engrained in society since the colonial era. We see this in our main character and the exhausting mental toll it is taking on her. Readers may be able to relate to this. To the act of diminishing one’s authenticity by assimilating into an environment that will never respect you. 

“Be the best. Work harder, work smarter. Exceed every expectation. But also, be invisible, imperceptible. Don’t make anyone uncomfortable. Don’t inconvenience. Exist in the negative only, the space around. Do not insert yourself into the main narrative. Go unnoticed. Become the air. 

	Open your eyes.”

Assembly poses an important question to readers. Can we learn to appreciate the differences of others without insisting upon diminishing their value? To let people succeed based on their merits and intelligence instead of assuming inherent inadequacy.

I highly suggest reading Assembly by Natasha Brown to gain a new perspective on how race, gender, and class dynamics shape power structures and are imprinted and persist in institutions and everyday life.