Black Lives in Scotland: Telling Our Stories

By Jeanette R. Davidson

Shares over 50 in-depth interviews of Black Scottish born and New Black Scots from Africa and the Diaspora

• Includes an interweaving of Scottish-Caribbean history and its impact on the lives of contemporary Black Scots, Scottish Windrush Stories (including Sir Geoff Palmer) as well as the author’s own story growing up in Scotland
• Explores comparisons of the United States and Scotland related to race, Scotland’s slavery past and links to the present and Scotland as a multiracial country
• Contains stories of Black Scots from birth to adulthood as well as stories of Black newcomers to Scotland, challenges experienced and strengths earned

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.