He grew up in London, in Kentish Town and he suggests that if you are from the rough part of town and never see anyone like you presented as intelligent and if you are consistently presented as a “hoodie”, you become alienated which in turn affects your mental health, your feeling of self-worth, and the way you conduct yourself in society.Īkala draws from incidents that happened in his life that are relevant for the history of class and race in the history of the United Kingdom of the 20th and 21st century, where black people, male in particular, are depicted as the source of violence. His background was stereotypically “rough”. He is biracial, second-generation black Caribbean and half white Scottish. It approaches the systematic and institutional oppression of people of colour, especially those with black skin, in a way nothing else I have read before does.Īkala (real name, Kingslee Daley) is a rap artist, poet, author, activist and a very talented and charismatic speaker. It’s a revealing, inspiring and uncomfortable read. Part memoir, part a sociological analysis of racism and several other themes, including the legacy of colonialism, Natives investigates the pernicious racism that can be found throughout our media and education system and the complex interplay between race and class.
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