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A review by livsliterarynook
The Heart of the Race: Black Women's Lives in Britain by Suzanne Scafe, Stella Dadzie, Beverley Bryan
4.0
The Heart of Race was initially published in 1985 and Verso re-released it in 2018 with a new Foreward and Afterwords to bring context to the work of these women in the 21st Century. It highlights how systemic racism has been and continues to be a problem in the UK. The work focuses on the Black women that came across in the 1950s and 1960s from the Caribbean, when all of the West Indies (as they were known then) under British rule were deemed British citizens and could freely come to Britain.
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The book has an initially academic set-up with chapter one, but then quickly falls into a much easier narrative that combines women's voices and facts. The book splits into 5 chapters focusing on; Black Women and Work, Education, Health and Welfare Services, Black Women's Organisation and Black women's understanding of their culture and identity. This split offered a cohesive and thorough examination of core needs of women and people and how Black women suffered unnecessarily because of gender and race in Britain.
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I think the book really benefited from the stories from various women that were included (who remained anonymous to protect their identity). There was lots of great poetry excerpts (and I'm not a poetry fan generally but I enjoyed these). One personal favourite was from Louise Bennett Jamaica 'Oman.
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This book was an excellent introduction to British racism and the problems Black British women have faced and continue to face. I bought this e-book last month, but the e-book is currently free on Verso, they just ask you to donate the amount to a relevant cause.
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"The mainstay of British culture has been the assertion of its superiority over others, it's total negation of non-European cultures in general and Black people's cultures in particular."
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
The book has an initially academic set-up with chapter one, but then quickly falls into a much easier narrative that combines women's voices and facts. The book splits into 5 chapters focusing on; Black Women and Work, Education, Health and Welfare Services, Black Women's Organisation and Black women's understanding of their culture and identity. This split offered a cohesive and thorough examination of core needs of women and people and how Black women suffered unnecessarily because of gender and race in Britain.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I think the book really benefited from the stories from various women that were included (who remained anonymous to protect their identity). There was lots of great poetry excerpts (and I'm not a poetry fan generally but I enjoyed these). One personal favourite was from Louise Bennett Jamaica 'Oman.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
This book was an excellent introduction to British racism and the problems Black British women have faced and continue to face. I bought this e-book last month, but the e-book is currently free on Verso, they just ask you to donate the amount to a relevant cause.