Heart Of The Race

Black Women's Lives in Britain

Beverley Bryan, Stella Dadzie, Suzanne Scafe

• Publisher: Verso
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781786635860
• eBook ISBN: 9781786635877
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Black Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

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, 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 an introduction by Lola Okolosie and an interview with the authors, chaired by Heidi Mirza, focusing on the impact of their book since publication, and its continuing relevance today.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Halftitle Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Foreword
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction: The Ties that Bind
• 1. Labour Pains: Black Women and Work
• 2. Learning to Resist: Black Women and Education
• 3. The Uncaring Arm of the State: Black Women, Health and the Welfare Services
• 4. Chain Reactions: Black Women Organising
• 5. Self-consciousness: Understanding Our Culture and Identity
• Afterword to Second Edition
• Bibliography
• Historical Black Women’s Groups (Compiled in 1985)
• Index