Akala's 'Natives': a MUST read!
Rose Chaplin discusses the reasons why everyone should educate themselves on the Black Lives Matter movement and why this book is so essential in that education.
The Black Lives Matter movement, which was energised by the death of George Floyd on 25 May this year, still resides in the society we live in as powerfully as it did amid the strikingly passionate protests worldwide. One of the most prominent, influential voices of the movement in the UK came from the rapper, intellectual and writer, Akala, whose semi-autobiographical book ‘Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of the Empire’ discusses issues and questions surrounding race and culture in the UK and on a global scale.
This book really presents the reader with an educational perspective into structural racism, white privilege, class and identity. Written with calm understanding, Akala explores his life and childhood growing up as a mixed race citizen in 1980s' England and weaves his narrative into a wider understanding of history and politics surrounding British and colonial culture with logical analysis at a local and global scale. We hear of stereotyping, underestimations and exposure to violence as well as the colourism, police bias and work-place discrimination Akala encounters even as an adult.
“The concept of whiteness goes hand in hand with the concept of white supremacy – hence why the progress against white supremacy that has been made so far feels, to some white people, like an attack on their identity.”
Despite not being an easy or particularly enjoyable book to read due to its uncomfortable statistics and a focus on disturbing truths of British history, I believe this is such an important book for everyone, especially those of a privileged background, to read, as it will allow them to educate and enlighten themselves on a deeper level concerning the recent Black Lives Matter movement and racial dynamics. It is a brilliant summary of systemic racism and overall an extremely clever, insightful, zeitgeist political biography that left me stunned and shocked with a much wider sociological knowledge than when I first picked it up.
“Never mind that Britain has a German royal family, a Norman ruling elite, a Greek patron saint, a Roman/Middle Eastern religion, Indian food as its national cuisine, an Arabic/Indian numeral system, a Latin alphabet and an identity predicated on a multi-ethnic, globe-spanning empire.” Akala- Natives
By Rose Chaplin, year 13
The Black Lives Matter movement, which was energised by the death of George Floyd on 25 May this year, still resides in the society we live in as powerfully as it did amid the strikingly passionate protests worldwide. One of the most prominent, influential voices of the movement in the UK came from the rapper, intellectual and writer, Akala, whose semi-autobiographical book ‘Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of the Empire’ discusses issues and questions surrounding race and culture in the UK and on a global scale.
This book really presents the reader with an educational perspective into structural racism, white privilege, class and identity. Written with calm understanding, Akala explores his life and childhood growing up as a mixed race citizen in 1980s' England and weaves his narrative into a wider understanding of history and politics surrounding British and colonial culture with logical analysis at a local and global scale. We hear of stereotyping, underestimations and exposure to violence as well as the colourism, police bias and work-place discrimination Akala encounters even as an adult.
“The concept of whiteness goes hand in hand with the concept of white supremacy – hence why the progress against white supremacy that has been made so far feels, to some white people, like an attack on their identity.”
Despite not being an easy or particularly enjoyable book to read due to its uncomfortable statistics and a focus on disturbing truths of British history, I believe this is such an important book for everyone, especially those of a privileged background, to read, as it will allow them to educate and enlighten themselves on a deeper level concerning the recent Black Lives Matter movement and racial dynamics. It is a brilliant summary of systemic racism and overall an extremely clever, insightful, zeitgeist political biography that left me stunned and shocked with a much wider sociological knowledge than when I first picked it up.
“Never mind that Britain has a German royal family, a Norman ruling elite, a Greek patron saint, a Roman/Middle Eastern religion, Indian food as its national cuisine, an Arabic/Indian numeral system, a Latin alphabet and an identity predicated on a multi-ethnic, globe-spanning empire.” Akala- Natives
By Rose Chaplin, year 13