'A book all should read, particularly white people.' Irish Times 'A powerful - and varied - portrait of the Black British experience.' Guardian BLACK BRITISH LIVES MATTER is a clarion call for equality, from nineteen of the most prominent Black figures in Britain today. Lenny Henry and Marcus Ryder introduce an essential collection of essays arguing how and why we need to fight for Black lives to matter - not just for Black people, but for British society as a whole. Writing across a wide range of subjects, and drawing on personal experience, all nineteen writers explore the unique contributions, perspectives and importance of Black Britons to the UK and beyond. It is both a celebration of Black British lives and an urgent, agenda-setting manifesto for change. Contributors include David Olusoga, Baroness Doreen Lawrence, Kit de Waal, Dr Anne-Marie-Imafidon, Sir David Adjaye, Leroy Logan and Professor Kehinde Andrews.

Featuring essays from David Olusoga, Dawn Butler MP, Kit de Waal, Kwame Kwei-Armah, and many more. In response to the international outcry at George Floyd's death, Lenny Henry and Marcus Ryder have commissioned this collection of essays to discuss how and why we need to fight for Black lives to matter - not just for Black people but for society as a whole. Recognising Black British experience within the Black Lives Matter movement, nineteen prominent Black figures explain why Black lives should be celebrated when too often they are undervalued. Drawing from personal experience, they stress how Black British people have unique perspectives and experiences that enrich British society and the world; how Black lives are far more interesting and important than the forces that try to limit it. "We achieve everything not because we are superhuman. We achieve the things we achieve because we are human. Our strength does not come from not having any weaknesses, our strength comes from overcoming them" Doreen Lawrence. "I always presumed racism would always be here, that it was a given. But the truth is, it was not always here, it was invented." David Olusoga "Our identity and experience will shape every story, bleed into every poem, inform every essay whether it's about Black 'issues' or not" Kit de Waal

** PRE-ORDER LENNY HENRY'S NEW AUTOBIOGRAPHY RISING TO THE SURFACE NOW ** Sir Lenny Henry rang up the Office for National Statistics to confirm something he'd been thinking about for a long time. They told him that only 29.5% of the United Kingdom's population is made up of white, heterosexual, able-bodied men; so, he wonders, why do they still make up the vast majority of people we see in our media? Joining forces with the former Chair of the Royal Television Society's Diversity Committee Marcus Ryder, he draws on decades of experience to reveal why recent efforts to diversify media have been thus far ineffective, and why they are simply not enough. With wit, humour and unflinching gravitas they analyse the flaws of current diversity initiatives, point out the structural and financial imbalances working against the cause, and provide clear solutions to get the media industry back on track. Access All Areas is an urgent, actionable manifesto that will dramatically shift the debate around diversity and the media.