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Richly imagined, radical and revisionist - a portrait of Black masculinity, through the lives and voices of five remarkable Black men
Ira Aldridge: trailblazing Shakespearean actor, playwright, abolitionist, acclaimed and feted across nineteenth century Europe.
Matthew Henson: the first man ever to reach the North Pole, after eighteen years of successive attempts.
Frantz Fanon: revolutionary psychologist and political philosopher, a forefather of modern post-colonial theory.
Malcolm X: firebrand leader in the American civil rights movement, an icon in the fight for racial justice.
Justin Fashanu: gifted sportsman and notorious showman, the first professional footballer in the world to come out publicly as gay.
What do these five men, separated by centuries and continents, have in common? The Strangers tells their stories one by one: as pioneers who made history in their fields, and as sensitive, often solitary individuals moving through a hostile world. And it locates them within the vibrant, restless, richly detailed landscape of Black art, culture, history and politics over the past several centuries.
Author: Ekow Eshun
Hardback Published 19 October 2024 400 pages
Ekow Eshun is a genius. He holds a torch where institutions have refused to look and helps us all to see through shadows to the magnificent strangers. His writings on the Black aesthetic are unsurpassed – and my world is a better place because he is writing in it. This book will be referenced for years to come -Lemn Sissay, author of 'My Name is Why'
Thrilling and ingenious, propulsive and genre-defying: The Strangers is an outstanding book. Ekow Eshun resurrects five pioneering figures, connecting them thematically to each other while constantly recalibrating the contexts around them, revealing wider global histories, cultures and patterns of power. Compelling and imaginatively expansive, this is something very special – creative non-fiction that inspires, stirs and challenges the reader - Bernardine Evaristo, Booker Prize-winning author of 'Girl, Woman, Other'