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Let it be told: Essays by Black women in Britain
'We are laying claim to our selfhood... as women: separate and equal with men, demanding recognition not only from the host society but from our own community' - Lauretta Ngcobo
In this engaging and dynamic collection of essays by ten Black women writers in Britain are personal stories, glimpses of history, discussions of the intentions and obligations of writing itself, and a powerful sense of resistance in the face of British racism. These essays are also about colonialism and slavery, male domination, the family and motherhood, work and sexuality... Poems, prose pieces, critical commentaries and a comprehensive introduction combine to offer a view of the rich and multi-faceted cultural tradition of this writing in the 1980s
In this engaging and dynamic collection of essays by ten Black women writers in Britain are personal stories, glimpses of history, discussions of the intentions and obligations of writing itself, and a powerful sense of resistance in the face of British racism. These essays are also about colonialism and slavery, male domination, the family and motherhood, work and sexuality... Poems, prose pieces, critical commentaries and a comprehensive introduction combine to offer a view of the rich and multi-faceted cultural tradition of this writing in the 1980s
- GenresNonfiction
145 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1987
94 people want to read
About the author
Lauretta Ngcobo
7 books5 followersLauretta Ngcobo (born 1931) was a South African novelist and essayist. After being in exile between 1963 and 1994, she lived in Durban until her death in November 2015.
The daughter of Simon Gwina, she was born in Ixopo, KwaZulu-Natal, grew up there, and was educated at the University of Fort Hare. She married Abednego Bhekabantu Ngcobo, a founder and member of the executive of the Pan Africanist Congress. In 1963, facing imminent arrest, the family fled the country, moving to Swaziland, then Zambia and finally England, where she taught school for 25 years. Ngcobo returned to South Africa in 1994. Her husband died in 1997.
In South African she taught for a while before becoming a Member of the KwaZulu Natal Legislature, where she spent eleven years before retiring in 2008.
In 2006, she received the Lifetime Achievement Literary Award of the South African Literary Awards. In 2008, she was awarded the Order of Ikhamanga for her work in literature and in promoting gender equality.
(from Wikipedia)
The daughter of Simon Gwina, she was born in Ixopo, KwaZulu-Natal, grew up there, and was educated at the University of Fort Hare. She married Abednego Bhekabantu Ngcobo, a founder and member of the executive of the Pan Africanist Congress. In 1963, facing imminent arrest, the family fled the country, moving to Swaziland, then Zambia and finally England, where she taught school for 25 years. Ngcobo returned to South Africa in 1994. Her husband died in 1997.
In South African she taught for a while before becoming a Member of the KwaZulu Natal Legislature, where she spent eleven years before retiring in 2008.
In 2006, she received the Lifetime Achievement Literary Award of the South African Literary Awards. In 2008, she was awarded the Order of Ikhamanga for her work in literature and in promoting gender equality.
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 9, 2016
My only experience of life so far is being a Black woman. That shapes my writing, and that's good. I don't understand the people who have to run away from these sorts of things... When you write from our perspective you are writing as a person, and our past and our present takes in things that everyone can relate to - tragedy, hope, despair, suffering, joy, you name it
-Marsha Prescod
Lauretta Ngcobo's introduction details a number of key issues addressed in Black women's writing in Britain in the 1980s, as well as factors holding them back such as racism in publishing and feminist movements. She draws on the work of writers who are not represented in this book, such as Iyamide Hazeley, Barbara Burford and Buchi Emecheta to give a view of the resistance to intersecting* forms of domination that is often an important feature of literature by Black women, materialised in myriad stories and styles
The essays that follow are autobiographical and address the broad questions of how and why each writer does her work. Generally I'm not very interested in books about writing/writers/books, but these short, incisive, direct and very varied personal perspectives held me in their grip. Far from providing a snapshot of the life of Black women writers in Britain at the time of writing, they reveal deep, sometimes intergenerational herstories from their different backgrounds and motivations. The collection as a whole compels in both the disparities of writers' experiences and their mutual resonances. Excerpts from novels or a handful of poems are included by each writer, and there are a few brief reviews and commentaries from other writers.
Most of the contributors are familiar to me thanks only to my recent reading of Daughters of Africa. Only Grace Nichols was on my list before that reading and before the recent death of Lauretta Ngcobo herself brought her name to my attention. Reading the poems and extracts here as well as the essays suggests the relative obscurity of these writers (as well as those mentioned in the introduction) is no indication of their work's quality but rather of the persistence (even exacerbation) of the structural and personal racism that hampered their ability to work and be published when these essays were written. This is a short book crammed with illumination, politically significant insight, and encouragement for Black women writers and other creatives.
*I owe the insight that axes of oppression such as race and gender are 'intersecting' to Kimberle Crenshaw
YUH HEAR 'BOUT?
Yuh heat bout di people dem arres
Fi bun dung di Asian people dem house?
Yuh hear bout di policeman dem lock up
Fi beat up di black bwoy widout a cause?
Yuh hear bout di MP dem sack because
im refuse fi help
im coloured constituents in a dem fight
'gainst deportation?
Yuh no hear bout dem?
Me neida.
- Valerie Bloom
-Marsha Prescod
Lauretta Ngcobo's introduction details a number of key issues addressed in Black women's writing in Britain in the 1980s, as well as factors holding them back such as racism in publishing and feminist movements. She draws on the work of writers who are not represented in this book, such as Iyamide Hazeley, Barbara Burford and Buchi Emecheta to give a view of the resistance to intersecting* forms of domination that is often an important feature of literature by Black women, materialised in myriad stories and styles
The essays that follow are autobiographical and address the broad questions of how and why each writer does her work. Generally I'm not very interested in books about writing/writers/books, but these short, incisive, direct and very varied personal perspectives held me in their grip. Far from providing a snapshot of the life of Black women writers in Britain at the time of writing, they reveal deep, sometimes intergenerational herstories from their different backgrounds and motivations. The collection as a whole compels in both the disparities of writers' experiences and their mutual resonances. Excerpts from novels or a handful of poems are included by each writer, and there are a few brief reviews and commentaries from other writers.
Most of the contributors are familiar to me thanks only to my recent reading of Daughters of Africa. Only Grace Nichols was on my list before that reading and before the recent death of Lauretta Ngcobo herself brought her name to my attention. Reading the poems and extracts here as well as the essays suggests the relative obscurity of these writers (as well as those mentioned in the introduction) is no indication of their work's quality but rather of the persistence (even exacerbation) of the structural and personal racism that hampered their ability to work and be published when these essays were written. This is a short book crammed with illumination, politically significant insight, and encouragement for Black women writers and other creatives.
*I owe the insight that axes of oppression such as race and gender are 'intersecting' to Kimberle Crenshaw
YUH HEAR 'BOUT?
Yuh heat bout di people dem arres
Fi bun dung di Asian people dem house?
Yuh hear bout di policeman dem lock up
Fi beat up di black bwoy widout a cause?
Yuh hear bout di MP dem sack because
im refuse fi help
im coloured constituents in a dem fight
'gainst deportation?
Yuh no hear bout dem?
Me neida.
- Valerie Bloom
July 30, 2015
Great book. Definitely one people should read especially if you are interested in black history. Crazy how most the themes are still relevant today.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews