Pluto Press Staying Power: The History of Black People in Britain

“A fascinating account of the growth of the black community in Britain over the past centuries.”—Guardian “For this retrieval of the lost histories of black Britain, Mr. Fryer has my deep gratitude. An invaluable book.”—Salman Rushdie Staying Power is a panoramic history of black Britons. First published in 1984 amid race riots and police brutality, Fryer's history performed a deeply political act, revealing how Africans, Asians, and their descendants had been erased from British history. Stretching back to the Roman conquest, encompassing the court of Henry VIII, and following a host of characters from the pioneering nurse and war hero Mary Seacole to the abolitionist Olaudah Equiano, Peter Fryer paints a picture of two thousand years of black presence in Britain. By rewriting black Britons into British history, showing where they influenced political traditions, social institutions, and cultural life, Chapters include: *'Those Kinde of People' *Britain's Slave Ports *The Black Community Takes Shape *Eighteenth-Century Voices *Slavery and the Law *The Rise of English Racism *Up from Slavery *Challenges to Empire *Under Attack *The Settlers *The New Generation As Fryer writes in his preface, “This however, though peopled to a large extent by Africans, West Indians, Afro-Americans, and Asians, is a history of the black presence in Britain. And it is written, not just for black or just for white readers, but for all who have a serious interest in the subject.” Staying Power presents a radical challenge to racist and nationalist agendas. This edition includes a new foreword by Gary Younge examining the book's continued significance in shaping black British identity today, alongside the now-classic introduction by Paul Gilroy.