In June 2020, as the world reckoned with the horror of the recent murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, the Black Lives Matter movement reached new heights and activists took to the streets in the UK and around the world. As people sought to educate themselves on endemic and structural racism and make sense of the moment they found themselves in, Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race was repeatedly recommended as a resource. In mid-June it topped the overall UK book charts, making Eddo-Lodge the first Black British author to achieve this goal since records began.
First published in June 2017, and exploring everything from eradicated black history to the inextricable link between class and race, the book quickly became the lightning rod of a national conversation. Among prize wins – the book won the Jhalak Prize and the British Book Award for Non-Fiction Narrative Book of the Year, plus numerous shortlistings and longlistings – it was called ‘a wake-up call to a nation in denial’ by the Observer, and ‘the black British Bible’ by gal-dem. Five years on from its initial publication, in this newly updated edition, Eddo-Lodge reflects on the seismic changes of 2020, the movement the book came from, the movement it helped fuel and the people it connected.
When my book was featured on an episode of EastEnders, it truly hit home to me that it had become a cultural phenomenon. I felt compelled to write this brand new chapter so I could try and take stock of the last five years – the global consciousness raising that took place in the summer of 2020, the ominous government pushback, and the small and big ways that our world has shifted. I could never have envisaged any of this when my book was first published, and I know it couldn’t have become what it has without its readers. It has prompted so many conversations, I had to respond.
When Reni’s ground-breaking book was first published, it was immediately recognised as one of the most important and influential books about society and race, influencing a whole generation of readers. Over the next five years its significance has grown, as both a landmark publication and a book that has become even more relevant to the society we live in. I know that it will continue to inspire and guide us for many years to come as Reni’s ideas resonate with ever more readers. It is remarkable when any book reaches sales of one million copies and we couldn’t be prouder to be the publishers of Reni and of Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People about Race.
Reni Eddo-Lodge is a London-based, award-winning journalist. She has written for the New York Times, the Voice, Daily Telegraph, Guardian, Independent, Stylist, Inside Housing, Dazed and Confused and the New Humanist. Her work earned her a place on Forbes’ European 30 Under 30 list in 2019. In 2020, she became the first Black British author since records began to top the overall Nielsen charts, and in 2021 she received a Nielsen Gold Bestseller Award for sales surpassing 500,000. Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People about Race (Bloomsbury, 2017) is her first book. It won the 2018 Jhalak Prize and the British Book Award for Narrative Non-Fiction Book of the Year, was chosen as Foyles Non-Fiction Book of the Year and Blackwell’s Non-Fiction Book of the Year, was longlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize and the Orwell Prize, and shortlisted for a Books Are My Bag Readers Award for Non-Fiction.
For further information, please contact Mari Yamazaki and Fran Owen, publicity directors at Bloomsbury: [email protected]
