Afua Hirsch is a bestselling writer, journalist, presenter, professor and broadcaster. She is the author of Brit(ish), a Sunday Times bestselling Jonathan Cape publication that explores Britishness and identity, and their seismic social and political impact, for which she was awarded the Royal Society of Literature Jerwood Prize for Non-Fiction. A former barrister, she has also worked in international development, and in addition to reporting on issues ranging from politics and policy, terrorism, the War in Mali, and Africa's tech revolution, she writes and speaks extensively about social issues around justice and identity around the world. She was the co-presenter of Samuel L. Jackson's major BBC TV series Enslaved in 2020. Afua is a columnist for the Guardian and appears regularly on the BBC, Sky News and CNN.
Exceptionally rich, inspiring, challenging, wise and moving. I
didn't realise I needed this book until I read it and felt
stirrings towards my own ancestral awakening of African female
cultural beliefs and practices that were sadly long ago lost to the
colonial project. This is a ground-breaking book that speaks to all
women.
*Bernardine Evaristo, author of 'Girl, Woman, Other'*
I would wholeheartedly recommend Decolonising My Body by Afua
Hirsch. It is a very brave and honest exploration, almost and
excavation of Eurocentric standards of beauty and perceptions of
body, particularly of the female body. It is also a calm and wise
call of an awakening, a friendly – or sisterly – invitation to a
transformative journey beyond these mental walls that have been
erected around and between us by capitalism and patriarchy and
colonialism. I found it both universal and timely
*The New Statesman Books of the Year 2023*
There's something on every page of this book that you didn't know
before, or makes you look at things a new. An important
publication.
*Sathnam Sanghera, author of 'Stolen History' and 'Empireland'*
Decolonising my Body is both a generous offering, and a joy filled
testimony. Afua skilfully pulls us into her world, and generously
allows us to accompany her on a journey of questioning and
unpacking notions of beauty. This exploration lights a path for all
people who seek to (re)connect with more expansive understandings
of beauty.
*Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah, author of 'The Sex Lives of African
Women'*
Afua has cut through so much of the noise to provide an
enlightening and necessary reflection on how we can learn from the
wisdom and beauty of our ancestors to become spiritually healthier
humans. This book is a knowledge gift to us all.
*Naomi Evans, author of 'The Mixed Race Experience', co-Founder of
Everyday Racism*
The journalist, commentator and author of Brit(ish) reflects on
twelve months radical unlearning of Eurocentric and patriarchal
conventions of beauty in this powerful and challenging volume.
*Waterstones, 'Best Books of 2023: Politics'*
This is a vital, challenging account of reassessing body image
beyond the colonial, patriarchal gaze – told with Hirsch’s
trademark rigour and purpose
*i, *Christmas Gift Guide 2023**
Decolonising My Body is Hirsch’s pilgrimage towards another
definition of rest and care, one that feels ancestral and intimate.
As a reader you can’t help but be swept up in her quest of gentle
unlearning and relearning
*The Guardian*
A remarkable journey to unlearn western beauty standards and
explore ancestral skin, hair and body modification rituals.
*Observer*
Disarmingly honest... quietly radical
*Evening Standard*
Praise for Brit(ish): Highly personal and yet instantly universal,
this is a book that millions will instantly relate to. The book for
our divided and dangerous times.
*David Olusoga, author of 'Black and British'*
Praise for Brit(ish): A warm, informative and occasionally
heart-wrenching blend of personal and political and the messiness
between the two'
*Nikesh Shukla, author of 'The Good Immigrant'*
Afua Hirsch’s Decolonising My Body is a breath of fresh air and is
a travel book, a beauty book, and a history book all in one. It
made me think about capitalism and race and the body in a new
way
*New Statesman*
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