Joy and pain, struggle and achievement – who best tells the story of Black lives?

We asked a group of Black Britons, some famous, some not: who do you most revere as a chronicler of the Black journey, in Britain and abroad?

The first book I read by Paul Gilroy was There Ain't No Black in the Union Jack. I was 19 and studying fine art at Goldsmiths, and it turned my head like nothing before. For a young person looking for answers and clues, to have that sort of book was eye-opening. It uncovered and revealed things. And then I read his masterpiece, The Black Atlantic. It was huge. His ideas about modernity and double-consciousness represented a major shift in thinking throughout the world. That book spoke to so many people.