Several of his stories focus on the combative relationship he had with his white teachers and as a reader I could feel the frustration at how he was treated radiating through the page. The importance of our environment in shaping the person we become is emphasised throughout, and while it might not be his specific aim, Akala makes a strong argument for the importance of pan-african supplementary schools. Numerous times throughout the book he writes about how things could have easily gone another way for him and he could have ended up in prison or dead, and not become the author, artist, and lecturer he is today. While writing about his own experiences growing up Akala seems to be of the opinion that our upbringing, and our surroundings play a very important role in making us who we are. Akala exposes the racism baked into the mainstream media at the time pointing out that the first reaction of the media to Christie’s victories was not to celebrate his historic success on the world stage but instead to focus on his body, sexualising, and dehumanising him. This is especially so in a chapter called “Lindford’s Lunchbox” where he takes a microscope to the media’s reaction to the Olympic success of athlete Lindford Christie in the 90’s.

Where Hirsch explored the hypersexualisation of both black men and women Akala looks at the hypersexualisation of black men. This difference in focus can be seen as where Hirsch wrote about the stigma she experienced that comes with natural black hair, Akala wrote about aspects of black masculinity and how they have changed as he has aged. Both books feature writers exploring ways personal identity can be linked to heritage but Natives, as could be expected, comes at the subject from the perspective of a mixed race man racialized as black. The more autobiographical aspects of the book where Akala examines his own mixed Jamaican, Scottish, and English heritage makes it almost work as a companion piece to Brit(ish) by Afua Hirch (which TREC has previously reviewed).

Akala jumps from personal stories from his youth to deep dives into the Haitian revolution, to give but two examples, and threads them together effortlessly. It is a book which defies efforts to put it in a box, and actively resists attempts at categorisation. Similar to how Akala himself is a rapper, author, lecturer, activist, poet, and entrepreneur this book is part autobiography, part history lesson, and part exploration of the ways race and class impact society and people. Natives: Race And Class In The Ruins Of Empire by Akala is a book which doesn’t fit neatly into any single genre.

Akala book