pickHakim Adi's selection of writings about Britain (mainly England) by Black people of the late 18th to the early 20th century is carefully chosen to establish their presence in all strata of society at a date earlier than certain commentators would wish it known. There's a thread showing the development of abolitionism into emancipation into supremacism to justify the continued exploitation of Black Labour, and Adi's selections often strongly ⬇️
"There is great pleasure in sauntering about the tombs of those with whom we are familiar through their writings; and we tear ourselves from their ashes, as we would from those of a bosom friend."
- Not H. P. Lovecraft, but rather William Wells Brown, on his visit to Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey, 1849. Like Brown, on my visit I was somewhat disappointed by the modesty of most of the memorials to poetic geniuses, these being the most striking.
Ideally, I'd be reading Black Joy as I have that from the library and have needed to renew it, but this one was to hand and I forgot I had the other, and I'm reading it now, so... 🤷🏻♂️ I'm a book flibbertigibbet!
This is history, as it ranges from the 18th to early 20th centuries, biography as it's mainly first-person accounts, political as it exposes oppressive policies, and sociological as it describes experience in lived context. ⬇️
Black Voices on Britain | 
There's also many fascinating glimpses into Georgian and Victorian society and, while varying degrees of racism are noted, many of the impressions of visitors to the island are positive about their reception and of the culture in which they find themselves.
⬇️ (edited) 1y