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A review by amyvl93
Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire by Akala
informative
medium-paced
3.5
This was really compelling written and I found the passages that particularly focused on education and Akala's experience of pretty overt racism within the classroom to be shocking and a real call for change. I also appreciated Akala's honesty about what draws young black boys in particular into gang culture within our cities, coming from a place of real experience and understanding rather than some of the misguided not from the community campaigns.
My criticisms are that women feel largely absent from a book about race and class - he talks about his challenging relationship with his white mother (who I admit I felt for which may not have been the point) and makes passing reference to his sister (MS DYNAMITE!) but doesn't really reflect on how race, class and gender collide to make life even harder for women of colour in Britain. I also can't say I agreed at all with the slightly strange chapter defending Fidel Castro - he had some interesting points about messengers of change, but I'm not sure Castro - who oversaw numerous human rights abuses - is a man to celebrate, regardless of his views on social status and the environment.
My criticisms are that women feel largely absent from a book about race and class - he talks about his challenging relationship with his white mother (who I admit I felt for which may not have been the point) and makes passing reference to his sister (MS DYNAMITE!) but doesn't really reflect on how race, class and gender collide to make life even harder for women of colour in Britain. I also can't say I agreed at all with the slightly strange chapter defending Fidel Castro - he had some interesting points about messengers of change, but I'm not sure Castro - who oversaw numerous human rights abuses - is a man to celebrate, regardless of his views on social status and the environment.