Read your way through Black History Month with this selection of fiction & non-fiction books
Read your way through Black History Month with this selection of fiction and non-fiction books, shortlisted by our Afro-Caribbean Society. All the books listed are available at Blackwells Bookshop on Kedleston Road.
Non-Fiction
When the world was black: The untold history of the world's first civilisations 2nd edition
In this book, you'll learn about the history of Black people. I don't mean the history you learned in school, which most likely began with slavery and ended with the Civil Rights Movement. I'm talking about Black history BEFORE that. Long before that. In this book, we'll cover over 200,000 years of Black history. For many of us, that sounds strange. We can't even imagine what the Black past was like before the slave trade, much less imagine that such a history goes back 200,000 years or more.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. Born a poor black tobacco farmer, her cancer cells - taken without her knowledge - became a multimillion-dollar industry and one of the most important tools in medicine. Yet Henrietta's family did not learn of her 'immortality' until more than twenty years after her death, with devastating consequences . . .
Rebecca Skloot's fascinating account is the story of the life, and afterlife, of one woman who changed the medical world forever. Balancing the beauty and drama of scientific discovery with dark questions about who owns the stuff our bodies are made of, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is an extraordinary journey in search of the soul and story of a real woman, whose cells live on today in all four corners of the world.
Why I am no longer talking to white people about race by Reni Eddo-Lodge
The book that sparked a national conversation. Exploring everything from eradi cated black history to the inextricable link between class and race, Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race is the essential handbook for anyone who wants to understand race relations in Britain today.
We need to talk about Race: by Ben Lindsay
From the UK Church's complicity in the transatlantic slave trade to the whitewashing of Christianity throughout history, the Church has a lot to answer for when it comes to race relations. Christianity has been dubbed the white man's religion, yet the Bible speaks of an impartial God and shows us a diverse body of believers. It's time for the Church to start talking about race. Ben Lindsay offers eye-opening insights into the black religious experience, challenging the status quo in white majority churches. Filled with examples from real-life stories, including his own, and insightful questions, this book offers a comprehensive analysis of race relations in the Church in the UK and shows us how we can work together to create a truly inclusive church community.
Black and British: A forgotten history by David Olusoga: Touches on the cultural and economic histories of the nation
David Olusoga's A Black History of Britain is a rich and revealing exploration of the extraordinarily long relationship between the British Isles and the people of Africa. Drawing on new genetic and genealogical research, original records, expert testimony and contemporary interviews, A Black History of Britain reaches back to Roman Britain, the medieval imagination and Shakespeare's Othello.
Unflinching, confronting taboos and revealing hitherto unknown scandals, Olusoga describes how black and white Britons have been intimately entwined for centuries.
Fiction
Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams
Tackling issues as diverse as mental health, race, class and consent with a light yet sure touch, Queenie is refreshingly candid, delightfully compassionate, and bracingly real. The perfect fable for a frenetic and confusing time, Carty-Williams' stellar novel is undoubtedly one of the year's most exciting debuts and announces its author as a fresh and vibrant new voice in British literature.