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From the Age of Empire to Black Power, the Journalists who Transformed Britain
Before social media, much less #BLM, journalists of colour were putting hot metal to paper to declare that Black lives matter. Central to these newspapers were driven, often heroic, individuals passionate about the need to address global racial injustice and whose publications acted as a catalyst, raising the consciousness of Black and minority ethnic communities in the UK.
The work of Samuel Jules Celestine Edwards, Dusé Mohamed Ali, Claude McKay, George Padmore, Una Marson, Claudia Jones and Darcus Howe had a formidable role to play in the birthing pains of multicultural Britain. When overt colour bars were operating in much of the Western world and the injustices of empire loomed large, it was the newspapers of these journalists that highlighted these atrocities to a wider audience, fomenting the movement for change.
Their combined story arc covers a transformative period – from when Britain’s empire spanned nearly a quarter of the globe, to the heady start of the 1980s when the Black British and Asian communities were asserting their voices. INK! reveals a fascinating history: a story of how the sacrifices and struggles of the past have shaped Britain’s present and ultimately laid the blueprint for a progressive future.
'Terrific. Yvonne Singh brings hidden histories to the fore with care and specificity in this galvanising work. A must read.' - Irenosen Okojie MBE, award-winning author (Butterfly Fish, Curandera), fellow and vice-chair Royal Society of Literature
Irenosen Okojie MBE,
'Yvonne Singh has given us a fascinating gallery of people whom we all ought to know more about. Their lives sometimes leapt between continents, and their writings illuminate the highly unjust world in which they found themselves. This book is a sterling example of bringing to life not just unduly forgotten history, but the forgotten narrators of that history.' - Adam Hochschild, historian, journalist and award-winning author of King Leopold’s Ghost, To End all Wars and Bury the Chains
Adam Hochschild,
'Yvonne Singh has done something truly powerful with INK! – she brings to light the stories of pioneering Black journalists who, long before social media or digital platforms, challenged racism, built solidarity, and laid the foundation for the multicultural Britain we live in today. Operating with little more than typewriters, determination, and community trust, these changemakers shaped public discourse from the margins. Their names should be as familiar as Orwell or Attlee, and Singh gives them the platform they always deserved. This is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how real social change is made – from the ground up, in newsprint, and against the odds. I wholeheartedly commend this book.' — Patrick Vernon OBE, social historian, campaigner, and co-author of 100 Great Black Britons
Patrick Vernon OBE,
'Reading Black British History, through the work of pioneering Black journalists provides a fresh, invigorating read.' - Dr Kadija George, scholar and activist
Dr Kadija George,
'Involving and moving stories, important for our history: what characters, so mixed and human and courageous and contradictory.' - Tessa Hadley, author
Tessa Hadley,
'This is a work of deep historical recovery and narrative clarity. Yvonne Singh brings to light the lives and legacies of journalists whose contributions to British public life have been overlooked for too long. Through careful research and vivid storytelling, INK! reframes the history of British media and political culture by centring the voices of Black writers and editors who shaped it from the margins. It’s a book that doesn’t just fill a gap - it reorients the conversation.' - Dr Juanita Cox, Black British History Community Engagement Fellow, Institute of Historical Research
Dr Juanita Cox,
‘Yvonne Singh's INK! is an intensely readable book about journalists who made an important but overlooked contribution to British history and culture. This is a world we could have lost but Ms Singh's diligent research and passion for the subject brings it alive.’
Stephen Bourne,
