Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire - The Sunday Times Bestseller - Hardcover

Akala

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1473661218 ISBN 13: 9781473661219

Publisher: Two Roads, 2018

Synopsis

From the first time he was stopped and searched as a child, to the day he realised his mum was white, to his first encounters with racist teachers - race and class have shaped Akala's life and outlook. In this unique book he takes his own experiences and widens them out to look at the social, historical and political factors that have left us where we are today.

Covering everything from the police, education and identity to politics, sexual objectification and the far right, Natives speaks directly to British denial and squeamishness when it comes to confronting issues of race and class that are at the heart of the legacy of Britain's racialised empire.

About this title

About the Author

Akala is a BAFTA and MOBO award-winning hip-hop artist, writer and social entrepreneur, as well as the co-founder of The Hip-Hop Shakespeare Company. With an extensive global touring history, Akala has appeared at numerous festivals both in the UK and internationally, and has led innovative projects in the arts, education and music across South East Asia, Africa, India, Australia and New Zealand. Akala has also appeared on Channel 4, ITV, MTV, Sky Arts and the BBC promoting his music and poetry, and speaking on wide-ranging subjects from music, race, youth engagement, British/African-Caribbean culture and the arts, with numerous online lectures and performances that have millions of views on YouTube. More recently known for his compelling lectures and journalism - he has written for the Guardian, Huffington Post and the Independent, and spoken for the Oxford Union and TEDx - Akala has gained a reputation as one of the most dynamic and articulate talents in the UK.

Review

Vital * Blouin Art Info * Fantastic * Novaramedia * An engaged and nuanced exploration of the complex interplay between race and class * Morning Star * In personalised chapters covering the police, education and identity, politics, sexual objectification and the far right, he confronts the issues of race and class at the heart of the legacy of Britain's racialised empire in this fierce and articulate polemic. * The Bookseller * A book bristling with intelligence and insight * Irish Times * A history lesson of the kind you should get in school but don't ... This is a searing, thought-provoking book * Stylist * A potent combination of autobiography and political history which holds up a mirror to contemporary Britain * Independent * Akala is at his best destroying the comfortable myths that are invoked by white fragility to downplay attempts to correct the historical record ... Akala makes it clear that he is not brimming with optimism. But reading Natives - witnessing the kind of disruptive, aggressive intellect that a new generation is closely watching - I can't help but be just that -- Afua Hirsch * Guardian * Part biography, part polemic, this powerful, wide-ranging study picks apart the British myth of meritocracy * Guardian *

Edition details

• Publisher: Two Roads
• Publication date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1473661218
• ISBN 13: 9781473661219
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 352