The heart of the race : Black women's lives in Britain / Beverley Bryan, Stella Dadzie and Suzanne Scafe ; foreword by Lola Okolosie.

First published: London : Virago, 1985.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 275-278) and index.

Cover Page -- Halftitle Page -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Contents -- Foreword -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction: The Ties that Bind -- 1. Labour Pains: Black Women and Work -- 2. Learning to Resist: Black Women and Education -- 3. The Uncaring Arm of the State: Black Women, Health and the Welfare Services -- 4. Chain Reactions: Black Women Organising -- 5. Self-consciousness: Understanding Our Culture and Identity -- Afterword to Second Edition -- Bibliography -- Historical Black Women's Groups (Compiled in 1985) -- Index.

Heart of the Race is a powerful corrective to a version of Britain's history from which black women have long been excluded. It reclaims and records black women's place in that history, documenting their day-to-day struggles, their experiences of education, work and health care, and the personal and political struggles they have waged to preserve a sense of identity and community. First published in 1985 and winner of the Martin Luther King Memorial Prize that year, Heart of the Race is a testimony to the collective experience of black women in Britain, and their relationship to the British state throughout its long history of slavery, empire and colonialism. This new edition includes a foreword by Lola Okolosie and an interview with the authors, chaired by Heidi Safia Mirza, focusing on the impact of their book since publication and it continuing relevance today.