Published in 2018 (first published 1985)
304 pages
Beverley Bryan is a founding member of the Organisation of Women of Asian and African Descent and recently retired from the University of the West Indies, Jamaica, as Professor of Language Education.
Stella Dadzie is also a founding member of Organisation of Women of Asian and African Descent. Her career as a writer, speaker and education activist spans over 40 years, gaining her an international reputation in her field.
Suzanne Scafe is an Associate Professor of Literature at London South Bank University. She was a member of OWAAD and the Brixton Black Women’s Group.
What is this book about?
A powerful document of the day-to-day realities of Black women in Britain
The Heart of the Race is a powerful corrective to a version of Britain’s history from which black women have long been excluded. It reclaims and records black women’s place in that history, documenting their day-to-day struggles, their experiences of education, work and health care, and the personal and political struggles they have waged to preserve a sense of identity and community. First published in 1985 and winner of the Martin Luther King Memorial Prize that year, The Heart of the Race is a testimony to the collective experience of black women in Britain, and their relationship to the British state throughout its long history of slavery, empire and colonialism.
This new edition includes a foreword by Lola Okolosie and an interview with the authors, chaired by Heidi Safia Mirza, focusing on the impact of their book since publication and its continuing relevance today.
