We Were There: How Black culture, resistance and community shaped modern Britain by Lanre Bakare

Running a bookshop that specialises in books by Black authors, we get people from all over the country come and visit us and make contact with us. One of the most common questions we are asked is “Why did you open your shop here. Why not in London?”

My answer is that Black people are all across the UK not just in London and major cities and we need places like Afrori Books all over the country.

Finding books and writers that see the impact of Black people on British culture and not just London culture is rare, so when the publisher contacted me about this book my interest was immediately piqued and I was not alone.

We Were There is about a Black Britain that for too long has been unknown and unexplored – the one that exists beyond London.

This is a book you will return to again and again