Black Lives in Scotland: Telling Our Stories

by Jeanette R. Davidson

Do you ever wonder what life was like for the one Black child or few Black children, you knew growing up in Scotland? What happened to those children? Do you consider their experience to be part of Scotland’s legacy? Are they even Scottish? Are you one of us? Jeanette Davidson was one of these children. Setting the scene within Scotland’s spotted racial history and ongoing social and cultural context, she relates poignant stories of challenge, love, hostility, support, vulnerability, strength, abandonment, resilience, empowerment, accomplishment and identity of Black Scots growing up in the country, from babyhood to adulthood. Understanding their importance to a strong, evolving multiracial Scottish society, she also includes narratives of new immigrant families from Africa and the Diaspora. The book addresses “from the inside” the myths and realities of Scottish values and history related to people of African descent and sheds light on daily life, community, belonging, surviving, Black-Scottish identity, anti-racist behaviour, truth, liberation, hope and possibilities for the future.

Reviews of Black Lives in Scotland: Telling Our Stories

'Jeanette Davidson has written a magnificent book with a narrative brilliance that engages the reader from the very first page! The book is a treasury of stirring stories, inspired writing and suspense. Davidson's search for Europe and Africa is a personal triumph of research and testimony.' – Molefi Kete Asante, author of Africa's Gifts of the Spirit