Dispatches from the Diaspora: From Nelson Mandela to Black Lives Matter

by Gary Younge

For the last three decades, Gary Younge has sat ringside with the most significant personalities to impact the black diaspora and been on the frontline of historic events. He has witnessed the possibilities of change and the power of systems to thwart those aspirations. Dispatches from the Diaspora is an unrivalled body of work from a unique perspective that compels you to imagine a world in which you might thrive, for which there is no evidence. And then fight for it.

Genres: Nonfiction, Race, Politics, History, Journalism, Essays, Social Justice

384 pages, Paperback

Published October 10, 2024

About the author

Gary Younge is an author, broadcaster and editor-at-large for The Guardian, based in London. He also writes a monthly column, Beneath the Radar, for the Nation magazine and is the Alfred Knobler Fellow for The Nation Institute. He has written five books: Another Day in the Death of America, A Chronicle of Ten Short Lives; The Speech, The Story Behind Martin Luther King’s Dream; Who Are We?, And Should it Matter in the 21st century; Stranger in a Strange Land, Travels in the Disunited States and No Place Like Home, A Black Briton’s Journey Through the Deep South. He has made several radio and television documentaries on subjects ranging from gay marriage to Brexit.

Born in Hertfordshire to Barbadian parents, he grew up in Stevenage until he was 17 when he went to Kassala, Sudan with Project Trust to teach English in a United Nations Eritrean refugee school. On his return he attended Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh where he studied French and Russian, Translating and Interpreting.

In his final year of at Heriot Watt he was awarded a bursary from The Guardian to study journalism at City University and started working at The Guardian in 1993. In 1996 he was awarded the Laurence Stern Fellowship, which sends a young British journalist to work at the Washington Post for three months.

After several years of reporting from all over Europe, Africa, the US and the Caribbean Gary was appointed The Guardian’s US correspondent in 2003, writing first from New York and then Chicago. In 2015 he returned to London where is now The Guardian’s editor-at-large.

He has enjoyed several prizes for his journalism. In 2017 he received the James Aaronson Career Achievement Award from Hunter College, City University of New York. In 2016 he won the Comment Piece of the Year from The Comment Awards and the Sanford St. Martin Trust Radio Award Winner for excellence in religious reporting. In 2015 he was awarded Foreign Commentator of the Year by The Comment Awards and the David Nyhan Prize for political journalism from Harvard’s Shorenstein Center. “It’s the powerless on whose behalf he writes,” said the Center’s director. In 2009 he won the James Cameron award for the “combined moral vision and professional integrity” of his coverage of the Obama campaign. From 2001 to 2003 he won Best Newspaper Journalist in Britain’s Ethnic Minority Media Awards three years in a row.

His books have also won many awards. In 2017 Another Day in the Death of America won the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize from Columbia Journalism School and Nieman Foundation, was shortlisted for the Helen Berenstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism from New York Public Library and The Jhalak prize and was longlisted for The Orwell Prize for Books and Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Non Fiction from American Library Association. Who Are We? was shortlisted for the Bristol Festival of Ideas Prize. No Place Like Home was shortlisted for The Guardian’s first book award.

He has also enjoyed considerable acclaim from academia. Currently a visiting professor at London South Bank University, he was appointed the Belle Zeller Visiting Professor for Public Policy and Social Administration at Brooklyn College (CUNY) from 2009-2011. in 2016 he was made a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and in 2007 he was awarded Honorary Doctorates by both his alma mater, Heriot Watt University, and London South Bank University.

He lives in London with his wife and two children.

Reviews

[George Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunning collection of work from one of Britain's finest ever journalists and essayists, period. The kind of work that makes you want to read, write and think more widely, and, I hope it's not too high-handed to say, that this will be an instrumental body of work to inspire my own journalism.

That he had such a bright and exciting start being sent to South Africa at the fall of apartheid only sets the tone for both his career and the rest of the book. Put short, it's perhaps a bit sad how remarkable it feels that the Guardian would take a chance on a 22-year-old black working class kid from Stevenage to be their man in Soweto. My abiding, slightly melancholic thought is where are the next Younges going to come from? And when they do come, does British journalism have the space, money and imagination to afford them the ability to express themselves with the alacrity and uniqueness which Younge applies?

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

An inspiring collection of journalism. Often, reporters can get lost in their expertise and knowledge of a subject, blinding themselves to what readers want to know. Gary Younge wields his deep understand to find new angles on stories, put big issues in context, and leave you richer for having read. It’s a career-spanning masterclass.

The stories on Mandela, Stormzy, Maya Angelou, knife crime and the rousing ending essay were standouts

[Malcolm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written between the mid-1990s and 2020, this collection of articles and columns by Gary Younge – mainly for The Guardian is a reminder of what good journalism and of the ways sharp critical journalism plays an important role in making the public intellectual. Timely, though not timeless – none of this kind of writing is, and easy to dip into along the way. A refreshing reminder of the times, and reasons to be both angry and optimistic.

[Jennifer Fearon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fantastic read. Younge writes with urgency, clarity and authority on issues of the diaspora. From Martin Luther to BLM he paints a narrative that encapsulates our challenges as people of colour. He writes with humour and courage. I would urge everyone to get a copy of this book it’s history in the making. Giving a voice to those people whose voices have gone unheard.

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. The collection of articles fit seamlessly together, despite covering such a huge array of topics, from apartheid, to Obama, Mottingham carnival and civil rights in the US, there is so much information, knowledge and commentary packed into this book. I enjoyed it but also learnt so much!

[Felix · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gary Younge is one of my favourite journalists so I was thrilled to see him interviewed at a book festival, launching this collection of his most noteworthy work. The book doesn't disappoint, Younge has distinct ability to present distinct ideas with clarity, passion and no little charm, which he does across a broad range of topics, analysis and interviews.

[Jim Levi · Rating 5 out of 5]

An anthology of Gary Younge's journalism. Much is really excellent - particularly the pieces written during his 10 years in America. He has a real gift for melding the personal with the hard news story.

[Nico · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been reading Mr Younge's work in newspapers for years, and it was brilliant to be reminded of all the historical milestones that affected my youth were also witnessed and shared by someone I respect greatly.

[Darell Philip · Rating 5 out of 5]

My mentor and inspiration. Outstanding journalism from an outstanding Journalist.

[Kenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gary Younge is such a great and insightful writer. I found this collection of his writing great and insightful.

[Jbondandrews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gary Younge is an incredible writer and I think his mother did an amazing job raising him and his older brothers. I admire Gary Young as a person immensely.

[Oliver Slow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always, always a pleasure to read Gary Younge - whether on race, politics, identity and many other topics in between.

I don't think it's an exagerration to say he's one of the best writers around.

[Theodora]

DNF. Not for me

[Zihannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was an amazing compilation of work spanning a 25 year period of the author's journalist career. So insightful, gripping and a must read!

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting and inspiring. He's met a lot of famous people but also uncovered the unknown.

[Ollie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant, poinent, superbly written account of what it means to be Black in a world where everything is geared against you.

[Miller Ryan-Carter · Rating 3 out of 5]

all so interesting but woww the last two essays blew me away

[Alessandra Garzoni · Rating 4 out of 5]

An inspiring and incredibly well-written collection of articles for anybody interested in working on the diaspora.