Natives

Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire

By: Akala

Narrated by: Akala

Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

A searing modern polemic and Sunday Times best seller from the BAFTA- and MOBO-award-winning musician and political commentator, Akala.

From the first time he was stopped and searched as a child, to the day he realised his mum was white, to his first encounters with racist teachers - race and class have shaped Akala's life and outlook. In this unique audiobook he takes his own experiences and widens them out to look at the social, historical and political factors that have left us where we are today.

Covering everything from the police, education and identity to politics, sexual objectification and the far right, Natives will speak directly to British denial and squeamishness when it comes to confronting issues of race and class that are at the heart of the legacy of Britain's racialised empire.

©2018 Akala (P)2018 Hodder & Stoughton Limited

Critic reviews

"My book of the year. It's personal, historical, political, and it speaks to where we are now. This is the book I've been waiting for - for years." (Benjamin Zephaniah)

"A history lesson of the kind you should get in school, but don't...This is a searing, thought-provoking book." (Stylist)

"A potent combination of autobiography and political history which holds up a mirror to contemporary Britain." (Independent)

Very enlightening!

I thought I had some idea of the aspects of institutional racism that this excellent book covers, at least as much as someone who had grown up in the UK protected from these injustices through my skin colour. However, this very well written and read book by arguably one of the most eloquent and informed experts on the topic, opened my eyes to a whole world of disparity that I was completely unaware of.

Essential reading, I’d argue, as a step towards taking the necessary action to heal these so obvious injustices.

a must listen for revolutionary souls

to anyone who loves the revolutionary books of Franz Fanon, James Baldwin or Cornel West

Pretty deep-insightful

It is quite amazing the depth and breadth of knowledge. The bring of personal experience to bear on the dynamics and ramifications of race relations over the past few centuries makes listening to this pretty vivid and edifying.

Thought-provoking and well researched!

Akala has done an incredible job laying out plainly and clearly the history of some ideas resonant throughout our Western lives. From his personal anecdotes to the vast research employed to create this manuscript, it is a journey with many points of reflection. This is a compelling invitation to navigate one's own ideas of and relationship to state, education, history, and whiteness and offers so much more than that.

Excellent Read

I can’t say enough good things about this book. Written from both a personal and social perspective, it was thought provoking and emotional.

Absolutely brilliant

This book opened my eyes to the untold stories of the other side to black history in the U.K. I lived in London and taught in London school and never once heard these things mentioned in my 10 years of working in a very diverse school in NW10.

Excellent! I am a fan.

I loved how Akala debunked flemsy arguments regarding race relations in the UK and it's colonies. He put some things in perspective for me...

AKala does it again

I was very impressed by the information that was given. A non-biased opinion and very educational; the fact that he narrated was perfect.

Excellent history lesson and just WOW!

Brilliant storytelling that captured many of the hidden struggles many minorities experience in the education system and the impact lives across the board. Gained a greater perspective to the atrocities minorities face in UK and the historical brutality that I never heard about in America.

Thought provoking and insightful

I enjoyed how Akala articulates the differences in racism prejudice in its current form.

Should be required reading for any ethics class.