Book Review - Safe: 20 Ways To Be A Black Man In Britain Today Edited By Derek Owusu

British Black men are not a monolith. This is such an obvious and self-evident statement to make that its almost ridiculous to actually write it down much less make it the first sentence to a book review. Looking at the state of media representation for Black men in the UK however, it seems like a statement which needs to be made. Representation of Black men in UK media often defaults to a few negative stereotypes with little room for nuance or exploration. More books, and other media are being made, especially over the last few years, to correct this, allowing for more exploration of the nuances and layers of British Black men, and Black masculinity in modern Britain. Safe: 20 Ways to be a Black Man in Britain Today is one of the books taking up this task. Safe: 20 Ways to be a Black Man in Britain Today is an anthology edited by Derek Owusu. It is a collection of 20 essays from Black actors, musicians, poets, writers and more which explores the myriad complexities and experiences that come with life as a Black man in Britain today.

As could be expected, the fact that it is a series of essays from 20 writers given free rein to write about whatever they want, Safe is a book which covers a lot of ground and a lot of subjects. While the essays can be wildly different to each other in terms of topics and tone, certain themes reoccur throughout the book. Several of the essays detail the writer’s experiences growing up in the UK school system. It makes sense as our formative years tend to be highly influential on who we become as adults regardless of gender or race. These essays specifically show how early racially focussed impacts can be a defining factor in Black men’s lives. These men were constantly held under the microscope by both the teachers, and the other students in a way I as a white man was not. They also show how all-pervading and ever-present racism is. The essays include stories from normal state schools, and one from Derek Oppong who attended St Ignatius, a school with high standards for its pupils which “was trying its damned hardest to be a British public school without taking the obligatory step of rejecting taxpayer’s funding”. It didn’t matter that his school was strict in its standards and conduct; he was still subjected to racism. These essays show it doesn’t matter what class a person is or where they go to school, racism cuts across class lines regardless. It paints a picture of a school system less interested in educating and encouraging Black boys, and more focused on controlling them and herding them away from academics and towards more stereotypically acceptable things like sports and athletics.

Just as several of the essays in this anthology describe growing up in the UK school system, several contributors also write about their lives growing up at home, their families, and their relationships with their parents. To be more specific they write about their relationships with their fathers. Concepts of masculinity have long been tied to concepts of fatherhood to the point where to many people, the two, go hand in hand. The absent Black father, and the broken family are more harmful stereotypes that Black men have forced upon them. This is despite the fact that the absent father is not a uniquely Black phenomenon, there are absent fathers of all races, yet it is a stereotype which sticks to Black men in a way it doesn’t stick to white men such as myself. This is because it is an easy stereotype for many to buy into as it is one which demonises Black men, gives validation for racist beliefs, and provides a handy explanation for the inequity Black people face in UK society. It ignores the structural barriers, and systemic inequalities that can make it more difficult for Black men to be the fathers they might want to be. It also ignores the real impact that absent fathers and broken families can have on the children at the heart of them. Safe includes stories from Black men who write about their father’s absence, but it does so to share the pain these men felt, and the trauma that absence has had on their lives since. These essays peel away the surface level stereotypes to delve deeper into the emotions, and thoughts that lie underneath. Emotions and thoughts which men in general, and Black men especially are discouraged from expressing by society.

A lot of the essays in this book push back against or challenge racist stereotypes our society has about Black men like this. It shows Black men can’t just be put into a box, or assigned a label that is convenient to society. Some do this indirectly, but other essays do so explicitly with their focus being challenging negative portrayals of Black men in the media. There are essays which identify how the negative images of Black men we see in the media and news shapes, and affects Black communities in Britain, as Nels Abbey writes in his essay, ‘Images shapes perception’. And whether we like it or not, perception shapes reality”. They argue that part of the reason for a lack of representation on camera, is a lack of representation off camera. They encourage Black men to not let other people write their stories, and their lives, but to take the pen, or camera, and write their own stories themselves. The harm caused by these negative stereotypes, and negative representation runs too deep to let things continue as they have. Even so called “positive” stereotypes around Black men can be damaging, and act to control what Black men are, or what role they can play in society. For example, two of the career paths for Black men which are “approved” for lack of a better term are sports, and entertainment. Black men can have lucrative careers as footballers, athletes or musicians and it is acceptable as these paths don’t challenge the underlying power structures in our society. It isn’t a coincidence that the most acceptable careers for Black men all involve some form of them performing in a stadium, or on a stage, for the entertainment of a majority white audience. It is a lot easier to dismiss a Black footballer and say stick to your day job than it is to dismiss a Black astrophysicist. The first doesn’t challenge unspoken racist assumptions around Black men the way the second does.

A couple of the contributors show both the positive and negative effects of these stereotypes by writing about the relationships between Black men and white women. On its surface the stereotype that all Black men are “well endowed” could be seen as one of the “positive” stereotypes as mentioned above, but it has fed into the perception of Black men as being hyper sexualised predators. Alex Wheatle turns to a historical example of how deadly these stereotypes can be, writing about the lynching of Emmett Till. Till’s lynching, and the subsequent miscarriage of justice at his killers’ trial is a harrowing and shameful tale from the not too distant past which has recently (as of the time of writing) been adapted to cinema with the film Till. This film incidentally is a prime example of the kind of quality media we can get when Black people are able to reclaim their own history and tell their own stories, as Abbey advocates for. Courttia Newland also writes about Till’s lynching in his essay but in addition he gives a much more personal example, writing about how he was sexually harassed by a white woman in a position of power in the workplace. Reading his essay the reader can feel his frustration at the lack of any avenues for recourse, as well as his grappling with the complexities and layers that can be involved in interactions between Black men and white women.

To conclude this piece, thanks to its variety, this is a book which is many things. There is much more here than can adequately be explored within the narrow confines of a single book review. I could probably write separate articles about each individual essay as there is a lot of rich ore to dig into and mine in every single one. Taken together as a collective whole this is a book which gives Black men a safe space (as the title implies) in which they can express themselves, and open up about the pains, the traumas, and the joys, and pride that come with being a Black man in Britain today. It shows that Black men are not flat 2D stereotypes, but rather multi-faceted 3D individuals. It shows, as I said at the beginning of this review, that Black men are not a monolith.

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