Natives: Race and Class in The Ruins of Empire by Akala

Original version

BBC Radio 4 FM

BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

BBC Radio 4

Radio 4

Radio 4 (FM)

BBC Radio 4 LW

Natives: Race & Class in the Ruins of Empire by Akala: Episode 2

Natives: Race & Class in the Ruins of Empire by Akala

Episode 2

BBC Radio 4 - Natives: Race & Class in the Ruins of Empire by Akala, Episode 2

At the age of five, the author experiences a shocking realisation.

Racially abused at the age of five, Akala tells his mother. Suddenly, he becomes aware of his place in the gaze of those around him and begins to understand a complex history.

From the first time he was stopped and searched as a child to his first encounters with racist teachers, race and class have shaped Akala's life and outlook. In Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire he charts his own personal story alongside the social, historical and political factors that have shaped the world we live in today.

Kingslee  Daley, better known by his stage name Akala, is a British rapper, author, and activist. In 2006, he was voted the Best Hip Hop Act at the MOBO Awards. He is the founder of the The Hip Hop Shakespeare Company and has recently published a novel called The Dark Lady, which features a 15-year-old orphan on the streets of Elizabethan London.

Written and read by Akala
Abridged by Jill Waters and Isobel Creed
Produced by Jill Waters
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Audiobooks

Podcasts

Factual

Akala explores the modern-day repercussions of colonialism, slavery and class conflict.

Book of the Week. Akala charts his own personal story alongside the social, historical and political factors that have shaped the world we live in today.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Natives: Race & Class in the Ruins of Empire by Akala

Episode 2

Genres

Series

BBC Radio 4 FM

About BBC Radio 4