Black History Month reading list: Home

Dame Elizabeth uncovers the layers of her life from a childhood defined by secrets, to discovering the identity of her father, to her political awakening, and her journey to becoming a Black health radical. She uses her "bellyful of anger" to great effect, highlighting the ethnic health inequalities exposed by sickle cell disease right through to Covid-19.

Why and how do those from black and minority ethnic communities continue to be marginalised? Bhopal explores how neoliberal policy-making has increased discrimination faced by those from non-white backgrounds. This important book examines the impact of race on wider issues of inequality and difference in society.

Anger. Fear. Guilt. Denial. Silence. These are the ways in which ordinary white people react when it is pointed out to them that they have done or said something that has - unintentionally - caused racial offence or hurt. But these reactions only serve to silence people of colour, who cannot give honest feedback to 'liberal' white people lest they provoke a dangerous emotional reaction. Robin DiAngelo coined the term 'White Fragility' in 2011 to describe this process and in this book shows us how it serves to uphold the system of white supremacy.

Reni posted a piece on her blog, entitled: 'Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race' and it went viral as others wanted to speak about their own experiences. This book explores issues from eradicated black history to the political purpose of white dominance, whitewashed feminism to the inextricable link between class and race. It is a searing, illuminating, absolutely necessary exploration of what it is to be a person of colour in Britain today.

Madhun's career was significantly impacted by experiencing and witnessing various forms of racism. As well as telling his story, terms like direct, institutionalised and internalised racism are critically analysed and placed in a much wider socio-historical-political and contemporary context.

The remarkable, previously untold story of a Black nurse in Britain over fifty years before the founding of the NHS. Sarah Woodbine was working in Britain from 1894.

A collection of more than twenty essays by Stuart Hall that highlight his extensive and groundbreaking engagement with race, representation, identity, difference, and diaspora.

A groundbreaking account of the effects of everyday racism on the identity and mental health of Black British men, explored through the lens of Homeland and Supergirl actor David Harewood's personal experience.

You're British. Your parents are British. You were raised in Britain. Your partner, your children and most of your friends are British. So why do people keep asking you where you are from? Afua Hirsch in ”Brit(ish)'” talks about the search for identity and the everyday racism in British society.

Kendi takes readers through a widening circle of antiracist ideas--from the most basic concepts to visionary possibilities--that will help readers see all forms of racism clearly, understand their poisonous consequences, and work to oppose them in our systems and in ourselves.

Using archive photographs and oral history, this publication explores the stories of some of these men and women who came to live and work in Britain from the late 1940s through to the 1960s, and considers the challenges and discrimination they had to overcome. It recognises the significant part that immigrants from the Caribbean played in the development of the NHS during its formative years.

A powerful collection of stories from the men, women and children of the Windrush generation - West Indians who emigrated to Britain between 1948 and 1971 in response to labour shortages, and in search of a better life.

The autobiography of Mary Jane Seacole, a Jamaican nurse who travelled great distances in order to heal the sick and wounded during the Crimean War. This was the first autobiography to be written by a black woman in Britain.

This book explores the theory of Othering, examining why it is so much part of human biology and conditioning. Through a narrative approach, the experiences of women of colour growing up in 1970s and 1980s Britain are explored, sharing individual stories and common themes. Ultimately this book is a celebration of their deep commitment to self-work and development and their success in navigating the additional burden of being different.

In this memoir, Webley-Brown tells how she joined the National Health Service as a student nurse more than forty years ago in 1976, undertaking her psychiatric training first.