8 books to celebrate Black History Month

An excellent and important book, the book cover alone is a major conversation (or argument) starter. Reni provides historical summaries and sociological insights into the complexities of confronting white privilege. Her perceptive analysis is articulated in ways which will fuel conversation and motivate anti-racist action. Reni skilfully considers the intersection of race, gender and class in Britain today. The book is for those among us with a stomach for real change and is a must read for anyone who is honestly interested in unpicking and bringing to an end the social construct that is “race.”

David Olusoga’s history of Black Britain is a revealing exploration of the long relationship between Great Britain and Africa. A History reaches back to Roman Britain, with the aid of new genetic and genealogical research, original records, expert testimony and contemporary reviews. It’s an insightful, inclusive history of black people in Britain which is rich in detail and packed with strong, interesting characters.

An epic novel set in my homeland of Ghana, beginning with two African sisters who experience life during the slave trade in different ways: one is taken as a wife by a white Englishman and remains in Ghana; the other is sold into slavery in America. The novel follows the descendants of the sisters as they grow up on two different continents over the next 300 years. Moving and haunting, Homegoing is a compelling story that takes us further along the road of understanding who we are.

A superbly realised take on gender, class, race and sexuality in Jamiaca. In this book, the lives of poor Jamaicans living in the slums are in stark contrast with the world of the wealthy white men who frequent the island, often for sex tourism. But as one Jamaican woman gets caught up in this lifestyle, things quickly spiral out of control.

Anyone looking to understand the immigrant experience today can learn a lot from the past. Both devastating and funny, The Lonely Londoners centres around a group of hopeful new arrivals from the West Indies who step off the boat train, ready to start afresh in Fifties London. The messages of the book is even more vital today than it was then: although we live in increasingly divided societies split along racial, ideological and religious lines, we must remember what we still have in common — our humanity.

Set in rural Georgia, the Pulitzer Prize winner focuses on the lives of black women in the deep south during the Thirties. The instances of abuse and sometimes violent imagery mean that this is not story for the faint of heart. The book deals with a black woman’s struggle to free herself from a position of servitude in a male-dominated society. Each of the characters within the book must fight their own battles against repression and prejudice, while also helping each other.

Ghana Must Go tells the story of Folasadé Savage, who leaves Lagos for Pennsylvania, where she meets her Ghanaian husband, Kweku Sai, a surgeon. Fola gives up her dream of going to law school in order to raise their four children. After losing his job, Kweku abandons them all and returns to Ghana. Despite the suggestion of its title, this book is about the high stakes of staying, to face challenges and deconstruct some of the American ideals of success, failure and nuclear family.

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