Manorism

Manorism is an examination of the lives of Black British men and boys. At the heart of the book is the ongoing pressure of code-switching – changing one’s behaviour and language to suit radically different cultural contexts and environments. The violence of artists such as Caravaggio in 17th-century Rome, and modern-day commentary by the likes of David Starkey and Piers Morgan, provide a lens for considering differences of impunity afforded to white and Black people. Snippets of Yoruba interweave with English, and a moving final sequence – adapted for the Almeida stage in June 2021 to glowing reviews from the Guardian, Time Out and others – charts the dramatic reconciliations surrounding a death in the family. The result is a thrillingly original book that charts the vulnerabilities and rich nuances of Black masculinity in Britain.]]>