A resource list for members of Islington North CLP.

Introduction: 

The wave of street protests, gatherings, and Zoom meetings that have been taking place all over the country following the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, reflect both a powerful solidarity with the Black Lives Matter! movement in the USA, but also a sense that Black Lives still do not matter to those in power in Britain, that racism still runs through Britain’s institutions, and we seem to be moving further from equality rather than closer to it. That has to change and the Labour Party needs to be one of the vehicles of change. But if Labour members are to play an important role then we need to educate ourselves about the issues at stake so that we can act effectively and meaningfully.

Simon Hinds, the INCLP BAME Officer, and David Rosenberg, Political Education Officer, with suggestions from Party members and Black activists around the country, have compiled a list of resources to help that process. It is not meant to be an exhaustive list, but it aims to provide an inclusive sample of both recent writing and classic texts about slavery, imperialism and colonialism; writings that convey personal experience; deep analysis; and key moments in Black history in Britain. We hope you will find it useful.

Must-Read books ­

Books that have changed how politically-conscious Black people think.

  • Capitalism and Slavery, Eric Williams, University of North Carolina Press
  • How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, Walter Rodney, Bogle-l’Ouverture Publications
  • Staying Power: The History of Black People in Britain, Peter Fryer, Pluto Press
  • The African Origin of Civilization: Myth or Reality? by Cheikh Anta Diop, Lawrence Hill Books
  • The Wretched of the Earth, Frantz Fanon, Penguin

Recent publications

  • A Suitable Enemy: Racism, Migration and Islamophobia in Europe, Liz Fekete, Pluto Press
  • Afropean: Notes from Black Europe, Johnny Pitts, Penguin
  • Back to Black: Retelling Black radicalism for the 21st Century, Kehinde Andrews, Zed Books
  • Black, Listed: Black British Culture Explored, Jeffrey Boakye, Dialogue Books
  • Brit (ish), Afua Hirsch, Vintage
  • Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire, Akala, Two Roads
  • Safe: On Black British Men Reclaiming Space, edited by Derek Owusu, Trapeze
  • The End of Tolerance: Racism in 21st Century Britain, Arun Kundnani, Pluto Press
  • The Good Immigrant, edited by Nikesh Shukla, Unbound
  • Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Racism, Reni Eddo Lodge, Bloomsbury

Memoir

  • Between the World and Me, by Ta Nehisi Coates, Text Publishing Co.
  • Black by Design: a Two-Tone Memoir, Pauline Black, Serpent’s Tail
  • Brown Baby: A Memoir of Race, Family and Home, by Nikesh Shukla, Bluebird
  • Don’t Touch My Hair, Emma Dabiri, Penguin
  • Forced Out: A Detective’s story of prejudice and Resilience, Kevin Maxwell, Granta
  • Mother Country: Real Stories of the Windrush Children, edited by Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff, Headline
  • Sugar in the Blood: A Family’s Story of Slavery and Empire, Andrea Stuart, Portobello Books
  • Voices of the Windrush Generation, edited by David Matthews, Blink Publishing
  • Whatever Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker, Damon Young, HarperCollins

Post-war experience

  • Are you saying I’m racist? An evaluation of work to tackle racist violence in three areas of London, Robin Oakley, Sarah Isal, Aine Woods, Runnymede Trust
  • Bengalis in London’s East End, Ansar Ahmed Ullah, John Eversley, Swadhinata Trust
  • Black and White on the Buses: the 1963 Colour Bar Dispute in Bristol, Madge Dresser, Bookmarks Publications
  • Black Britain, Chris Mullard, Allen & Unwin
  • Black Star: Britain’s Asian Youth Movements, Anandi Ramamurthy, Pluto Press
  • Blood on the Streets, Bethnal Green and Stepney Trades Council
  • Claudia Jones: A Life in Exile, Marika Sherwood, Lawrence & Wishart
  • Criminal Justice  v Racial Justice: Minority Over-Representation in the Criminal Justice System, edited by Kjartan Pall Sveinsonn, Runnymede Trust
  • Daily Racism: The Press and Black People in Britain, Paul Gordon, David Rosenberg, Runnymede Trust
  • Dying for Justice, Harmit Athwal and Jenny Bourne, Institute of Race Relations
  • From Resistance to Rebellion: Asian and Afro-Caribbean Struggles in Britain, A Sivanandan, Institute of Race Relations
  • Here To Stay, Here To Fight, Paul Field, Robin Bunce et al, Pluto Press
  • Multi-Racist Britain, edited by Philip Cohen, Harwant Bains, MacMillan
  • One Minority at a time: Being Black and Gay, by April Gausp, Hannah Kibirige, Runnymede Trust
  • Southall: the Birth of a Black Community, by CARF & Southall Rights
  • Tell it like it is: How our Schools Fail Black Children, edited by Brian Richardson, Bookmarks Publications
  • The New Cross Massacre Story, John la Rose, New Beacon Books
  • There Ain’t No Black in the Union Jack, Paul Gilroy, Hutchinson
  • Young Children and Racial Justice, Jane Lane, National Children’s Bureau

Women

  • Ain’t I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism, Bell Hooks, Pluto Press
  • Dreams, Questions, Struggles: South Asian Women in Britain, Amrit Wilson, Pluto Press
  • Finding a Voice: Asian Women in Britain, Amrit Wilson, Daraja Press
  • Heart of the Race: Black women’s Lives in Britain, Beverley Bryan, Stella Dadzie et al, Verso
  • I Will Not be Erased, gal-dem collective, Walker
  • It’s Not About the Burqa: Muslim Women on Faith, Feminism, Sexuality and Race, edited by Mariam Khan, Picador
  • Motherland: West Indian Women to Britain in the 1950s, Elyse Dodgson, Heinemann
  • Women, Race and Class, Angela Davis, Penguin

UK History

  • Black and British: A Forgotten History, David Olusoga
  • Across Seven Seas and Thirteen Rivers: Pioneer Sylheti Settlers in Britain, Caroline Adams, THAP Books
  • Black Britain: A Photographic History, Paul Gilroy, Saqi Books
  • Black British History, edited by Hakim Adi, Zed Press
  • Black British Rebels, Hassan Mahamdallie, Bookmarks Publications
  • Black Poppies: Britain’s Black Communities and the Great War, Stephen Bourne
  • Racism and Black Resistance in Britain Robert Moore, Pluto Press
  • South Asian Resistances in Britain 1858-1947, edited by Rehana Ahmed, Sumita Mukherjee
  • The History of African and Caribbean Communities in Britain, Hakim Adi
  • The Peopling of London, Nick Merriman, Museum of London
  • William Cuffay: the Life and Times of a Chartist Leader,  Martin Hoyles, Hansib Publications

Slavery, Imperialism, Colonialism and Resistance

  • Black Jacobins: Toussaint L’ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution, CLR James, Penguin
  • Caribbean Slave Revolts and the British Abolitionist Movement, Gelien Matthews, LSU Press
  • Inglorious Empire, What the British Did to India, Shashi Tharoor, Penguin
  • The Coloniser and the Colonised, Albert Memmi, Souvenir Press
  • The Whole Picture: The Colonial Story of the Art in our Museums and Why We Need to Talk About It’, Alice Proctor, Cassell

Essays/Briefing Papers/Articles

  • Coronavirus May Not Discriminate, But Racism Does, David Rosenberg
  • For Joshua, Racism and Austerity Carved a Channel from Autism to Prison, Amrit Wilson, Open Democracy, June 2019
  • Why Preferential Policies Can Be Fair: Achieving Equality for Members of Disadvantaged Groups, Omar Khan, Runnymede Trust

Poetry

  • Surge, Jay Bernard
  • Slave Song, David Dabydeen

For Young People

  • Institute of Race Relations pack of four booklets:
    • Roots of Racism
    • Patterns of Racism
    • How Racism Came to Britain (cartoon book)
    • The Fight Against Racism: A pictorial history of Asians and Afro-Caribbeans in Britain
  • ‘Jamaica Hidden Histories‘ (educational pack), Taureg
  • ‘What is Race? Who are Racists? Why Does Skin Colour Matter? And Other Big Questions’, Claire Huechan, Nikesh Shukla, Wayland

For a range of children’s books, fiction and non–fiction centering Black and multicultural experience, look at the catalogues of New Beacon Books, Bis Publications and Willesden Bookshop

https://www.newbeaconbooks.com/childrens, http://bispublications1.blogspot.com/p/catalogue.html, www.willesdenbookshop.co.uk

Other useful information

Summary of the Equality Act 2010: Click Here

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