# Layla Saad
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{{short description|British author}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Layla Saad
| birth_date =
| birth_place = [Wales](/source/Wales), UK
| occupation = Social-media figure, author
| education = [Lancaster University](/source/Lancaster_University) ([LL.B.](/source/Bachelor_of_Law))
}}
'''Layla Saad''' is a British social-media figure and author. After starting an [Instagram](/source/Instagram) trend #MeAndWhiteSupremacy, she developed her work into the digital ''Me and White Supremacy Workbook''. It was published in 2020 as the book ''[Me and White Supremacy](/source/Me_and_White_Supremacy)'', which entered [''The New York Times'' Best Seller list](/source/The_New_York_Times_Best_Seller_list).
==Early life==
Saad's mother was from [Zanzibar](/source/Zanzibar), [Tanzania](/source/Tanzania), while her father was from [Mombasa](/source/Mombasa), [Kenya](/source/Kenya). They both moved to [Wales](/source/Wales), where they met and where Saad was born and raised. She also lived in Tanzania and [Swindon](/source/Swindon), United Kingdom, while growing up.[{{cite web|url=https://www.elle.com/culture/career-politics/a25437280/layla-saad-me-and-white-supremacy-book/|title=Layla Saad Started An Instagram Challenge To Dismantle White Supremacy. Now It's A Best-Selling Book.|work=[Elle](/source/Elle_(magazine))|last=Semaan|first=Céline|date=December 7, 2018|access-date=June 13, 2020}}] As a child, she was a fan of detective fiction.[{{cite web|url=https://americanwritersmuseum.org/in-their-own-words-layla-saad/|title=In Their Own Words: Layla Saad|publisher=[American Writers Museum](/source/American_Writers_Museum)|date=January 28, 2020|access-date=June 13, 2020}}] The family moved to [Qatar](/source/Qatar) when Saad was aged 15.[{{Cite web|url=https://www.meandwhitesupremacybook.com/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190102210325/https://www.meandwhitesupremacybook.com/|url-status=usurped|archive-date=2 January 2019|title=Me And White Supremacy|website=Me And White Supremacy|language=en-US|access-date=June 13, 2020}}]
==Career==
In 2017, Saad wrote a blog post "I Need to Talk to Spiritual White Women About White Supremacy".[{{cite web|url=https://www.refinery29.com/en-gb/2020/05/9830372/white-privilege-definition|title=Me & White Supremacy: How To Check Your White Privilege|work=[Refinery29](/source/Refinery29)|last=Beaty|first=Zoe|date=May 25, 2020|access-date=June 13, 2020}}] Well received by some, it also received a backlash from some white people.[{{cite magazine |last=Van Der Valk |first=Adrienne |date=2019 |title=You and White Supremacy: A Challenge to Educators |url=https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/summer-2019/you-and-white-supremacy-a-challenge-to-educators |magazine=[Tolerance](/source/Tolerance.org) |publisher=[Southern Poverty Law Center](/source/Southern_Poverty_Law_Center) |issue=62 |access-date=June 13, 2020 }}] Following this, she wrote the digital ''Me and White Supremacy Workbook'', which was downloaded by 100,000 people over the course of six months, with public figures including [Anne Hathaway](/source/Anne_Hathaway), [Elizabeth Gilbert](/source/Elizabeth_Gilbert), [Robin DiAngelo](/source/Robin_DiAngelo) and [Glennon Doyle](/source/Glennon_Doyle) endorsing the book.[{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/2020/02/16/combined-print-and-e-book-nonfiction/|title=Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction – Best Sellers – Feb. 16, 2020 – The New York Times|work=The New York Times|access-date=June 13, 2020|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}] As of 2019, a young readers' edition to the book is planned.[{{Cite web|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/profiles/article/81983-doing-the-work-of-antiracism-spotlight-on-layla-f-saad.html|title=Doing the Work of Antiracism: Spotlight on Layla F. Saad|work=[Publishers Weekly](/source/Publishers_Weekly)|access-date=February 24, 2020}}] The book received renewed attention following the May 2020 [murder of George Floyd](/source/murder_of_George_Floyd) and subsequent protests, with a surge in sales of books about race. The book reached number five on the ''New York Times''{{'}} Hardcover Nonfiction list on 12 July 2020.[{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/hardcover-nonfiction/|title=These Authors Are Glad You're Buying Their Books. Now Do the Work.|work=[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)|last=Egan|first=Elisabeth|date=July 12, 2020|access-date=July 3, 2020}}] It was third on the Sunday Times Bestsellers list on 26 June 2020.[{{Cite news|last=|first=|date=|title=The Sunday Times Bestsellers List 26th June 2020|url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/books/article/sunday-times-bestsellers-list-book-sales-chart-2023-wtf0fg8v7|access-date=|website=}}] On the [audiobook](/source/audiobook) sales website [Audible](/source/Audible_(store)), the book was sixth in non-fiction sales for the week ending 5 June 2020.[{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/audible-best-sellers-for-week-ending-june-5/2020/06/09/1982935e-aa86-11ea-a43b-be9f6494a87d_story.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200613103011/https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/audible-best-sellers-for-week-ending-june-5/2020/06/09/1982935e-aa86-11ea-a43b-be9f6494a87d_story.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 13, 2020|title=Audible best-sellers for week ending June 5|newspaper=[Washington Post](/source/Washington_Post)|date=June 9, 2020|access-date=June 13, 2020}}]
Saad hosts the ''Good Ancestor Podcast'', interviewing people about "ancestors" in their family or in wider society who have influenced them.