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  • Natives

  • Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire
  • By: Akala
  • Narrated by: Akala
  • Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins
  • 4.9 out of 5 stars (8,466 ratings)
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Natives

By: Akala
Narrated by: Akala
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Summary

SHORTLISTED FOR THE JAMES TAIT BLACK PRIZE | THE JHALAK PRIZE | THE BREAD AND ROSES AWARD & LONGLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL WRITING

From the first time he was stopped and searched as a child, to the day he realised his mum was white, to his first encounters with racist teachers - race and class have shaped Akala's life and outlook. In this unique book he takes his own experiences and widens them out to look at the social, historical and political factors that have left us where we are today.

Covering everything from the police, education and identity to politics, sexual objectification and the far right, Nativesspeaks directly to British denial and squeamishness when it comes to confronting issues of race and class that are at the heart of the legacy of Britain's racialised empire.

Natives is the searing modern polemic and Sunday Times bestseller from the BAFTA and MOBO award-winning musician and political commentator, Akala.

©2018 Akala (P)2018 Hodder & Stoughton Limited
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

Critic reviews

"My book of the year. It's personal, historical, political, and it speaks to where we are now. This is the book I've been waiting for - for years." (Benjamin Zephaniah)

"A history lesson of the kind you should get in school, but don't...This is a searing, thought-provoking book." (Stylist

"A potent combination of autobiography and political history which holds up a mirror to contemporary Britain." (Independent)

What listeners say about Natives

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A Very Interesting and Challenging Listen

Being a big fan of Frankie Boyle I've seen a number of Akala's appearances on his panel style show. I always felt that Akala was able to cut straight to the heart of whatever matter was being discussed and have been a keen follower of him since.

This book is both an excellent account of the experiences of a mixed race boy growing up in 80's/90's London as well as a dig deeper in to the Empirical history of England and how that has shaped the nations views on race and colour and how they continue to manifest themselves today.

This goes beyond the obvious incidents of racism, such as overt name calling and racially motivated violence and in to the far more damaging and covert world of institutional racism that exists within not only the nations institutions of power but in peoples subconscious thoughts and actions.

I always enjoy audiobooks more when read by the author and Akala does a great job of taking you through his book in a lively and passionate manner which certainly adds to the personal accounts raised by the author.

I'd highly recommend this, it helped me to understand why racism is such a problem today, where it's roots lie and why it won't just go away if we ignore it. Essential and thought provoking reading/listening for people of all colour and creed.

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80 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Every boy racialised as BAME must take notes

As a young social scientist myself of mixed raced heritage and from a working class background born in 1993 alot of what Akala has said and experienced is shared with myself and also resonates deeply with me.

This is the first audibook I have ever listened to in my life. The reason I bought this audio book was because I found akalas music and then after content online and was also showed his works at my university in Cambridge Anglia Ruskin University International ARU by several of our lecturers on numerous different occasions.

I have also ordered the hardback copy of natives for Christmas so I have two copies now which is fantastic. If every working class boy in the UK was given this for Christmas then they would be inspired and be able to have foresight on future events and closure on more traumatic past experiences shared by those from the socio demographic backgrounds. Akala is simply amazing and I will endeavour to get my copy of his booked signed as a goal of mine for 2019 big up yourself bigman knowledge is certainly power and there is so much more for us to learn and share.

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44 people found this helpful

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  • M
  • 23-07-19

SPECIAL NEEDS CHAPTER. Nothing has changed.

My 10 year afro Caribbean son had his annual report about a month ago. He is on target for everything yet today I found out they want to put him in the special needs class. Not one
indication of there being a problem throughout the whole year. My son wants to be headboy the system wants to destroy him. AKALA. Nothing had changed. In fact I would argue the educational system has got worse. A brilliant book. I have both hard copy and Audio. We need more like this.

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34 people found this helpful

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a real eye opener

I am a 25 year old white male who has a mixed raced fiance. this has really opened my eyes and helped me understand black history. also how the media and government controls what they want you to know and how much of an impact they have on the every day persons thoughts. I recommend this book to everyone no matter what race or age.

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32 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Negative

After seeing Akala on various media outlets over the years I wanted to really read or listen to his opinion on Britain and it's society struggles through the years with racism and class and the issue with the British Empire and it's legacy.
At first I found it interesting and wanted to understand but after a while I found the book to be of negative thought process and actually counterintuitive.
Anybody can look at anything on the planet and pick out flaws within society as that is nature and it is not perfectly formed and Akala strangely dismisses his own mum because she is "white and will never understand " which I found strange even though his father was never around , I totally respect Akala and the racism recieved undoubtedly through life I condone but from my feel of the book he has underlying hang ups about colour and race and he focus to much on negatives.
I could not go past the fifth chapter because of the constant repeating of word like "whiteness" blackness it's almost monotone .
For all his intellect Akala is quite self absorbed about himself but he keeps going on about race he's never going to unshackle himself from his predetermined reality which is sad because he sounds like a nice chap.
Apologies for not finishing the book.

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27 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Chip on his shoulder

Akala is on a journey to find himself and it clearly manifested in this book. He is clearly bright and intelligent but unable to come to certain conclusion about issues on race and class.
Firstly hats off to his mother who raised him as a single parent of a mixed race child in the 80s and 90s where the social landscape was inherently ‘racist’. She did her best to ensure he grew up with love and had every opportunity (i.e to go to a ‘posh white boy’ school), pan-African school and football practices but still failed to protect him from being part of the ‘youth club’ that carried knife / committed ASBOs and failing in school (despite being a top performing student up until a certain age). This picture is far too familiar and why has it not moved on since he was a teenager?
He repeatedly reject the notion of ‘black on black’ violence and attempted to refute it with other violent acts committed by other ethnic groups upon their own. He failed to make the connection on this occasion that the unique factor in the case of ‘black on black’ violence in the hood is that they live by the no-snitch code and how ‘the street will sort itself out’. Akala witnessed a guy chopped another guy’s head in a barber shop but no one reported it to the police and how a girl is often used a bait to lure the victim to the trap. This is still prevalence in 2019. I’m sure he also missed out the fact that Jamaican people don’t accept him as Jamaican (my brother was called English by the people there when he got sent back to Jamaica).
His sources and research are spotty and biased from the start i.e he said the British imposed opium on the Chinese – opium dens were not established by the British and it was one of the Chinese generals who sparked the war (destroyed the British opium stock) in which they lost due their outdated military technology. He also cited about the performance of black students who outperformed white students in school, the source says otherwise – Black Caribbean boys performed weaker than Black African but overall still behind White boys on average. I’m surprised with his intelligence, he did not engage in a conversion with his friend in Venice when the issue of race came up and now they are no longer friends. His lack of confidence and wisdom showed again when he had to lie to students when they questioned him why they are learning Pythagoras or Shakespeare (there are plenty of practical reasons)!
I find it very insightful that he included examples and historical events to explain the treatment of certain groups under empire rule, however his elaboration lacks clarity. Nonetheless I enjoyed this book and through his eyes the society still have work to do – his teacher mistreated him, police suspected him a drug dealers etc…These are issues that affect certain communities disproportionately. I conclude that he seems to live up to the stereotype of someone who still has a ‘chip on their shoulder’ by using a very small group of people who exhibit racist view and therefore everyone of that race is like them – racist teacher, racist police, racist tweets (Rue shouldn’t be black – a handful of people) and accept this group of people’s view upon all the black people including himself. I applaud him for actually doing something about the issue he cares about and speak at schools and lectures – although I may not agree with him on everything, he is doing something about it and I hope it goes in the right direction.

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24 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Astonishing in every way

I simply cannot recommend this more highly. Being narrated by the author added to my enjoyment, but it is a superbly researched, considered articulate account of race and class - both its history and present situation. Perhaps the highest praise I can offer is that it has inspired me to learn more about aspects of history I was either unaware of or had simply accepted at face value. Having listened to this (and I will listen to it again and possibly also buy the book), I will be far more conscious not just of what I am reading, but who it is authored by and what their perspective and bias might be. Illuminating, accessible, fascinating. Simply the best book I have read/listened to in a long time.

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21 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Outstanding work by Akala.

Written and read by the brilliant Akala, not a single fault with the book. Tells his story with real history.

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21 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great book for anyone with interest in history, class and race

This book gives you a personal look at UK inner-city life coupled with great historical insight. Taking on political, instructional and historical views of race and class, and why the world views different races and classes the way it does in 2018 and beyond.

I gave this book five stars for delivery and depth of the content. Also, I feel unlike other books with a similar theme; I can personally relate to the experiences of Akala.

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16 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

I couldn't stop listening. Eye-opening and honest.

I was enthralled and educated in areas of human nature and experience that I haven't consciously been exposed to in my 33 years pottering around this ball of rock. The perspective that this book brings is captivating, with humour, sadness and irony dotting the narrative. From start to finish you'll hoping that there's more to come. The only downside of this book is that it wasn't 10 hours longer. Thank you for writing it.

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15 people found this helpful