The Essay: Thinking Black

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The Essay: Thinking Black: Peter Fryer

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Peter Fryer

Thinking Black

BBC Radio 3 - The Essay, Thinking Black, Peter Fryer

Colin Grant explores whether it’s appropriate for a white writer to write black history.

Examining the life and work of historian Peter Fryer, writer Colin Grant explores whether it’s appropriate for a white writer to write black history.

‘There were Africans in Britain before the English came here.’ So begins the book 'Staying Power', the first comprehensive history of black people in Britain. Its publication in 1984 caused great controversy because its author, Peter Fryer, was white. Some argued it wasn’t his place to tell their story. Anticipating this, Fryer had written in the preface that he would make every effort to "‘think black’ – to grasp imaginatively as well as intellectually the essence of the black historical experience." But it was felt by some not to be enough. 

'Thinking Black' is a series of personal essays in which the writer Colin Grant explores the fascinating stories of five individuals who have each attempted, in one way or another, to transcend or challenge the boundary of race. 

In this first essay, Colin asks whether it is appropriate for a white author to write black history or whether it's simply appropriation. Does empathy have a place in the writing of history? Peter Fryer’s empathetic skill is clear in his writing, so does this help justify his authorship, especially in the absence of any other written history? Colin Grant examines these questions, the book 'Staying Power' itself and the life of its author. 

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The stories of five individuals who have each attempted to challenge the boundary of race.

Writer Colin Grant explores the fascinating stories of five individuals who have each attempted, in one way or another, to transcend or challenge the boundary of race.

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