Shades of Black

In her book Shades of Black, Nathalie Etoke explores Black existence in a white supremacist world, examining the paradox of being Black or human, the embodiment of sub-humanity, and the relations of violence, oppression, dispossession, and inequalities.

Format: Hardback
Length: 144 pages
Publication date: 09 April 2021
Publisher: Seagull Books London Ltd

One could argue that the womb of death—the Middle Passage, slavery, and colonization—gave birth to Black populations. Taking this observation as her point of departure, Nathalie Etoke examines Black existence today in her captivating new book, Shades of Black. In a white supremacist world, Black bodies hold a specific position, invested with a range of meanings that maintain them in a fixed role, with a script they did not write. The white world has invented and defined the Black person according to its own interests, endowing her with a bereaved humanity. The Black person is confronted with an essential paradox—exist as Black or as a human being? Does the Black person exist for herself or for the other? In the white world, is the Black race the embodiment of a sub-humanity? Situated at the crossroads of three countries—Cameroon, France, and, now, the United States—Nathalie Etoke is uniquely positioned for this polyphonic reflection on race. She examines what happens when race obliterates historical, social, cultural, and political differences among populations of African descent from different parts of the world. Focusing on recent and ongoing topics in the United States, including the murder of George Floyd, police brutality, the complex symbolism of Barack Obama and Kamala Harris, Etoke explores the relations of violence, oppression, dispossession, and inequalities that have brought us here, face to face with these existential questions: Are you breathing? Are we breathing?

Weight: 376g
Dimension: 159 x 236 x 21 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780857428530