Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire by Akala

9 reviews

sakisreads's review against another edition

dark informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

My author friend personally knows the author (!), and it’s a topic I always love to read up on, so I borrowed this one from the library 👏🏼

There were a few quotes that stuck out to me:

When people say ‘But what about [insert injustice here]?’ the response of ‘You have not made an insightful observation by distraction’ was SO powerful 😳

When discussing how media portrays something like tax evasion to gang crime: ‘Rich people crime good, poor people crime bad.’ 

When in discussion about how black people living under apartheid said not nice things about white people: ‘White people’s hurt feelings are conceptually equivalent to black humans’ actual lives.’

Honestly? Incredibly insightful 🗣️ I didn’t know about Cuba having one of the biggest, (and well-maintained) healthcare systems either!

Definitely one to read and digest! 4 out of 5 stars for me, thank you ✨

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Colonisation, War, Classism, and Deportation

saskiahill's review against another edition

medium-paced

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Death, Drug use, Genocide, Hate crime, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Mass/school shootings, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

Minor: Antisemitism

waybeyondblue's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective slow-paced

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Classism

Moderate: Genocide, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Slavery, Violence, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Colonisation, and War

Minor: Cultural appropriation

selimhannah's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Xenophobia, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Genocide, Hate crime, Violence, Police brutality, and Islamophobia

Minor: Emotional abuse, Sexism, Sexual violence, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Antisemitism, Fire/Fire injury, and Deportation

kristenreads's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, and Colonisation

readingthroughinfinity's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

This is an excellent, insightful piece of nonfiction about the history of racism and empire in the UK. It's clear that a lot of research went into this, as Akala delves into the Britain's colonial past and the damaging legacy it left behind for the countries colonised and in the way people of colour are treated in he UK today. He also discusses his childhood and own experiences of racism, weaving these anecdotes and stories together with the wider discussion of the issues faced by global African communities. A fantastic piece of nonfiction and one that I wish everyone (but especially white people) in the UK would read. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Hate crime, Racism, Police brutality, and Colonisation

beca_reads's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Slavery, Violence, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism

lukerik's review against another edition

funny informative reflective fast-paced

4.0

If Zack de la Rocha were British and wrote a book. 

It’s a hard piece of writing to categorise. Political and personal and polemical. It’s almost like a personal work of sociology, properly referenced and with an interesting bibliography. Akala is obviously a very intelligent man with a finely tuned bullshit detector and a laser-like intellect that he turns on some very confusing issues. Thorough, precise, and sensible arguments and he never takes rhetorical shortcuts even when he’s angry. I didn’t agree with all his conclusions, but if we’re all going to agree we may as well give up and stop thinking now. A very thought-provoking book. I often found it sending my mind off at tangents so that reading it is almost like engaging in a dialogue. Also very funny at times. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Genocide, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Blood, Police brutality, Colonisation, and Classism

emcatbee's review against another edition

challenging funny hopeful informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, and Colonisation

Moderate: Cancer, Rape, Violence, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Trafficking, and War