{"title":"Mission's Black History Month Reading List","description":"A reading list for Black History Month, curated especially for the team at Mission","products":[{"product_id":"manifesto-a-rallying-cry-to-never-give-up-from-the-booker-prize-winning-author-of-girl-woman-other","title":"Manifesto","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe powerful, urgent manifesto on never giving up from Booker prize-winning trailblazer, Bernardine Evaristo.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eIn 2019, Bernardine Evaristo became the first black woman to win the Booker Prize since its inception fifty years earlier - a revolutionary landmark for Britain. Her journey was a long one, but she made it, and she made history. \u003cem\u003eManifesto\u003c\/em\u003e is her intimate and fearless account of how she did it.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eFrom a childhood steeped in racism from neighbours, priests and even some white members of her own family, to discovering the arts through her local youth theatre; from stuffing her belongings into bin bags, always on the move between temporary homes, to exploring many romantic partners both toxic and loving, male and female, and eventually finding her soulmate; from setting up Britain's first theatre company for Black women in the eighties to growing into the trailblazing writer, theatre-maker, teacher, mentor and activist we see today - Bernardine charts her rebellion against the mainstream and her life-long commitment to community and creativity. And, through the prism of her extraordinary experiences, she offers vital insights into the nature of race, class, feminism, sexuality and ageing in modern Britain. Bernardine Evaristo's life story is a manifesto for courage, integrity, optimism, resourcefulness and tenacity.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eIt's a manifesto for anyone who has ever stood on the margins, and anyone who wants to make their mark on history. It's a manifesto for being unstoppable. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Bernardine Evaristo","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":40327679443106,"sku":"9780241993620","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0573\/8600\/8738\/files\/websitecovertemplate-2023-10-07T162030.527.png?v=1696692077"},{"product_id":"the-confessions-of-frannie-langton-the-costa-book-awards-first-novel-winner-2019","title":"The Confessions of Frannie Langton","description":"\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003ci data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e'They say I must be put to death for what happened to Madame, and they want me to confess. But how can I confess what I don't believe I've done?'\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e1826, and all of London is in a frenzy. Crowds gather at the gates of the Old Bailey to watch as Frannie Langton, maid to Mr and Mrs Benham, goes on trial for their murder. The testimonies against her are damning - slave, whore, seductress. And they may be the truth. But they are not the whole truth.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eFor the first time Frannie must tell her story. It begins with a girl learning to read on a plantation in Jamaica, and it ends in a grand house in London, where a beautiful woman waits to be freed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eBut through her fevered confessions, one burning question haunts Frannie Langton: could she have murdered the only person she ever loved?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eA beautiful and haunting tale about one woman's fight to tell her story,\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eThe Confessions of Frannie Langton\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eleads you through laudanum-laced dressing rooms and dark-as-night back alleys, into the enthralling heart of Georgian London.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sara Collins","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":40327684325538,"sku":"9780241984017","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0573\/8600\/8738\/products\/frannielangtoncover.jpg?v=1636990414"},{"product_id":"girl-woman-other","title":"Girl, Woman, Other","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTeeming with life and crackling with energy – a love song to modern Britain and black womanhood.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eGirl, Woman, Other\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003efollows the lives and struggles of twelve very different characters. Mostly women, black and British, they tell the stories of their families, friends and lovers, across the country and through the years.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJoyfully polyphonic and vibrantly contemporary, this is a gloriously new kind of history, a novel of our times: celebratory, ever-dynamic and utterly irresistible.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Bernardine Evaristo","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":40327684489378,"sku":"9780241984994","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0573\/8600\/8738\/products\/girlwomanothercover.jpg?v=1635341775"},{"product_id":"the-girl-with-the-louding-voice-the-bestselling-word-of-mouth-hit-that-will-win-over-your-heart","title":"The Girl with the Louding Voice","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eI don't just want to be having any kind voice... \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eI want a louding voice. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eAt fourteen, Adunni dreams of getting an education and giving her family a more comfortable home in her small Nigerian village. Instead, Adunni's father sells her off to become the third wife of an old man.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eWhen tragedy strikes in her new home, Adunni flees to the wealthy enclaves of Lagos, where she becomes a house-girl to the cruel Big Madam, and prey to Big Madam's husband. But despite her situation continuously going from bad to worse, Adunni refuses to let herself be silenced. 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Until one day they are ripped apart by circumstances neither could have imagined. Roy is arrested and sentenced to twelve years for a crime Celestial knows he didn't commit.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eDevastated and unmoored, Celestial finds herself struggling to hold on to the love that has been her centre, taking comfort in Andre, their closest friend. 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To three small children, their heritage dual like hers.                                   \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDaughter. To a mother who immigrated to make a better life but has been rejected by her chosen country.  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWife. To a man who loves her but who will not defend her to his intolerant family.  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWoman. Whose roles now define her and trap her in a life she no longer recognises. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMeet Monica, the flawed heroine at the heart of \u003cem\u003eLives Like Mine\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eWith her three children in school, Monica finds herself wondering if this is all there is. Despite all the effort and the smiles, in the mirror she sees a woman hollowed out from putting everyone else first, tolerating her in-laws' intolerance, and wondering if she has a right to complain when she's living the life that she has created for herself. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eThen along comes Joe, a catalyst for change in the guise of a flirtatious parent on the school run. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eThough the sudden spark of their affair is hedonistic and oh so cathartic, Joe soon offers a friendship that shows Monica how to resurrect and honour the parts of her identity that she has long suppressed.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e He is able to do for Monica what Dan has never managed to, enabling her both to face up to a past of guilty secrets and family estrangements, and to redefine her future.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Eva Verde","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":40655464988834,"sku":"9781398502857","price":8.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0573\/8600\/8738\/products\/SIMPLEWEBSITEPRODUCTIMAGE_4_26d2cbd6-e07a-4e81-91ef-43d05fb50073.png?v=1663074897"},{"product_id":"sister-outsider","title":"Sister Outsider","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe woman's place of power within each of us is neither white nor surface; it is dark, it is ancient, and it is deep. 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Years later, desperate to understand the opioid addiction that destroyed her brother's life, she turns to science for answers.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eBut when her mother comes to stay, Gifty soon learns that the roots of their tangled traumas reach farther than she ever thought. Tracing her family's story through continents and generations will take her deep into the dark heart of modern America. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eTranscendent Kingdom\u003c\/em\u003e is a searing story of love, loss and redemption, and the myriad ways we try to rebuild our lives from the rubble of our collective pasts.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Yaa Gyasi","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42665056076033,"sku":"9780241988657","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0573\/8600\/8738\/files\/websitecovertemplate-1906.png?v=1770049251"},{"product_id":"all-about-love-new-visions-1","title":"All About Love: New Visions (Love Trilogy #1)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'\u003cem\u003eThe word \"love\" is most often defined as a noun, yet. . . we would all love better if we used it as a verb\u003c\/em\u003e,' writes bell hooks as she comes out fighting and on fire in \u003cem\u003eAll About Love\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eHere, at her most provocative and intensely personal, the renowned scholar, cultural critic, and feminist skewers our view of love as romance. In its place she offers a proactive new ethic for a people and a society bereft with lovelessness.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eAs bell hooks uses her incisive mind and razor-sharp pen to explore the question 'What is love?' her answers strike at both the mind and heart. In thirteen concise chapters, hooks examines her own search for emotional connection and society's failure to provide a model for learning to love. Razing the cultural paradigm that the ideal love is infused with sex and desire, she provides a new path to love that is sacred, redemptive, and healing for the individuals and for a nation.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eAll About Love\u003c\/em\u003e is a powerful affirmation of just how profoundly she can.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"bell hooks","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42804823326977,"sku":"9780060959470","price":11.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0573\/8600\/8738\/files\/websitecovertemplate-2023-07-01T135213.354.png?v=1688215943"},{"product_id":"copy-of-assembly","title":"Assembly","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eCome of age in the credit crunch. Be civil in a hostile environment. \u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003eStep out into a world of Go Home vans. Go to Oxbridge, get an education, start a career. Do all the right things. \u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003eBuy a flat. Buy art. Buy a sort of happiness. \u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003eBut above all, keep your head down. Keep quiet. And keep going.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eThe narrator of \u003cem\u003eAssembly\u003c\/em\u003e is a Black British woman. She is preparing to attend a lavish garden party at her boyfriend's family estate, set deep in the English countryside. At the same time, she is considering the carefully assembled pieces of herself.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eAs the minutes tick down and the future beckons, she can't escape the question: is it time to take it all apart?\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eAssembly\u003c\/em\u003e is a story about the stories we live within \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e– those of race and class, safety and freedom, winners and losers. And it is about one woman daring to take control of her own story, even at the cost of her life. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Natasha Brown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42870928539905,"sku":"9780241992661","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0573\/8600\/8738\/products\/SIMPLEWEBSITEPRODUCTIMAGE_14_15ed0ff9-b124-4a1f-b1e2-2c95cb4a62fc.png?v=1664354797"},{"product_id":"honey-spice","title":"Honey \u0026 Spice","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eKiki Banjo is an expert in relationship-evasion. In fact, she has made it her mission to protect the women of Whitewell University from the dangers of players and heartbreak, supplying advice, tips and essentials to paying men no mind on her student radio show, Brown Sugar. \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd then Kiki meets distressingly handsome newcomer Malakai Korede, who threatens to tear apart the community of women she's fought so hard to protect.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eKiki publicly declares Malakai the 'Wasteman of Whitewell' on Brown Sugar and brings a stop to her girls chasing his attentions. But when she and Malakai suddenly find themselves shackled into a fake relationship to salvage their respective reputations and save their academic futures, she is in danger of falling for the very wasteman she warned her sisters about. With her heart compromised and defences weakened, Kiki has to learn to open herself up to the perils of love...\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eand face up to a past that forced her to close down in the first place. A funny and sparkling debut, Honey \u0026amp; Spice is full of delicious tension and romantic intrigue that will make you weak at the knees.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Bolu Babalola","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43066467877121,"sku":"9781472286420","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0573\/8600\/8738\/files\/SIMPLEWEBSITEPRODUCTIMAGE-2023-05-10T145443.903.png?v=1683726905"},{"product_id":"notes-on-grief-1","title":"Notes on Grief","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA personal and powerful essay on loss from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the bestselling author of \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/rarebirdsbooks.live\/products\/americanah?_pos=1\u0026amp;_psq=americanah\u0026amp;_ss=e\u0026amp;_v=1.0\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eAmericanah\u003c\/em\u003e \u003c\/a\u003eand \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/rarebirdsbooks.live\/products\/half-of-a-yellow-sun?_pos=1\u0026amp;_sid=776323218\u0026amp;_ss=r\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eHalf of a Yellow Sun\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e. \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGrief is a cruel kind of education. You learn how ungentle mourning can be, how full of anger.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eYou learn how glib condolences can feel. You learn how much grief is about language, the failure of language and the grasping for language' On 10 June 2020, the scholar James Nwoye Adichie died suddenly in Nigeria. In this tender and powerful essay, expanded from the original New Yorker text, his daughter, a self-confessed daddy's girl, remembers her beloved father.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eNotes on Grief\u003c\/em\u003e is at once a tribute to a long life of grace and wisdom, the story of a daughter's fierce love for a parent, and a revealing examination of the layers of loss and the nature of grief.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43372910805249,"sku":"9780008470333","price":7.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0573\/8600\/8738\/files\/websitecovertemplate-2023-10-07T133750.619.png?v=1696682558"},{"product_id":"just-sayin-my-life-in-words","title":"Just Sayin' : My Life In Words","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMalorie Blackman is one of Britain's best and most beloved children's authors, the landmark \u003cem\u003eNoughts \u0026amp; Crosses\u003c\/em\u003e series included amongst her many books. Her journey to becoming a writer was a long one, but throughout it all she retained a sense of wonder and humour.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eBefore her BAFTA award wins, her OBE and appointment as Children's Laureate in 2013, Malorie was a young girl from South London who fell in love with books and found a home in her local library and a world of words at her fingertips. From embracing her alternative way of seeing the world and all its fascinating differences and possibilities; to her desire to share that passion with others by becoming an English teacher but being told no by her careers advisor because of her race; to the doctor who told her she would be dead by thirty when she was diagnosed with sickle cell, and the eighty plus rejection letters she received from publishers before her first ever children's book was published. Her life's journey - has been an eventful one - marked by trauma, trials, and triumph, yet in spite of all the many setbacks in her life, she held fastidiously on to her dream of becoming a writer.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eMalorie charts her life not in a succinct order of events, but against the principles which have motivated her journey and reasons for becoming a writer - wonder, loss, anger, perseverance, representation, and love. Each tenet has played a unique role in inspiring her writing, her deep resolve and infectious zest for life. Through this lens of extraordinary experiences Malorie offers insight into the nature of growing up in post-war Britain, why we must protect the arts, the fraught navigation of our healthcare system, and surviving structural and societal racism.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eFunny, frank, and full of life lessons, \u003cem\u003eJust Sayin'\u003c\/em\u003e is the deeply personal and vividly compelling story of a natural storyteller, her incredible life which defied expectations and inspired a generation.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Malorie Blackman","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43529305882881,"sku":"9781529118698","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0573\/8600\/8738\/files\/SIMPLEWEBSITEPRODUCTIMAGE-2023-05-04T145402.381.png?v=1683208511"},{"product_id":"black-england-a-forgotten-georgian-history","title":"Black England : A Forgotten Georgian History","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGeorgian England had a large and distinctive Black community. There were special churches, Black-only balls, many became famous and respected. But all, whether prosperous citizens or newly freed slaves, lived under the constant threat of kidnap and sale to plantations.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eBlack England tells their stories, bringing their triumphs and tortures to vivid life, revealing a dramatic forgotten chapter of our shared past. '\u003cem\u003eBlack England\u003c\/em\u003e taught me more history than I ever learned at school'. 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