Quote by Afua Hirsch: “Britain is a story told without us. We need to change that narrative.”

Official national histories often leave out the people who built the country, were brought there against their will, or shaped its culture from the margins. Changing the narrative means insisting that your story is also the nation's story — not a footnote but a chapter.

Hirsch published Brit(ish) in 2018 during a period of intense national debate about British identity following the Brexit referendum. The book argued that Britain's inability to honestly reckon with its colonial history was directly connected to its contemporary struggles with racism and national identity.

British-Ghanaian journalist, author, and broadcaster whose 2018 book Brit(ish) examined what it means to be Black and British in contemporary Britain. She has written and presented widely on race, identity, and British history for the Guardian, Sky News, and television documentaries.