In the tradition of Ta-Nehisi Coates, a bracing, provocative and perspective-shifting book from one of Canada's most celebrated and uncompromising writers, Desmond Cole. The Skin We're In will spark a national conversation, influence policy and inspire activists.
DESMOND COLE is an award-winning journalist, radio host, and activist in Toronto. His writing has appeared in the Toronto Star, Toronto Life, The Walrus, NOW Magazine, Ethnic Aisle, Torontoist, BuzzFeed, and the Ottawa Citizen. The Skin We're In is Cole's first book.
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"A masterpiece." -PopMatters
"The sheer strength of this book arises from its insistent linking
of policing, prisons, public education, migrant labour,
impoverished neighbourhoods and the fates of refugees. The Skin
We're In is about the interlocking forces besieging Black life
in Canada; and it is also about organizing resistance and imagining
futures in bravely intimate terms. Desmond Cole is an urgent and
essential voice from a generation that will be heard." -David
Chariandy, author of Brother and I've Been Meaning
to Tell You: A Letter to My Daughter
"In The Skin We're In, Desmond Cole offers us not only
analysis of one year of anti-blackness in the lands we currently
call Canada: he also recovers disappeared histories of Black
resistance, gives richly deserved credit to Black LGBTQ+ activists,
shows solidarity with disabled and Indigenous folks, and, most
importantly, reminds us of the power of Black genius and Black joy.
This smart, powerful, essential book is an act of radical
generosity-one we should all be grateful to receive, hold, share
and revisit." -Alicia Elliott, author of A Mind Spread Out
on the Ground
"Desmond Cole systematically dismantles any lingering illusions
of Canada as a beacon of racial benevolence by exposing the
multiple forms of state violence facing Black peoples of all ages
and genders. His text, further, compellingly highlights the ongoing
refusal of Canada's Black diaspora to submit to conditions of
subjugation, bringing to light both historical and contemporary
legacies of rebellion. A powerful read." -Robyn Maynard,
author of Policing Black Lives: State Violence in Canada from
Slavery to the Present
"It is not an exaggeration to say that Desmond Cole's
book should be taught in classrooms, roiling in the minds of the
next generation, lauded in social justice movements. It's a
striking, searing, perspective-shifting book that draws attention
to the injustices faced by Black Canadians on a daily basis. . . .
His prose contains the grace, clarity, caution and cadence of
someone familiar with speaking up and standing tall. He
seamlessly integrates historical and theoretical material with
analyses of recent events, making the text informative and incisive
without sacrificing emotional resonance. . . . The book represents
a solid introduction to themes of white supremacy, imperialism and
power, anti-Black racism, and Cole's own life and values . . .
[and] as Cole powerfully illustrates, Black pain-and the fight
against it-does not always have a tidy, smooth, palatable ending."
-Quill and Quire, starred review
"Part biography, part journal, part guide to anti-racism activism,
The Skin We're In might be Desmond Cole's first book but its
story is one that people of colour will immediately find
familiar. . . . If you are a human being or socially aware
robot, read this book." -This Magazine
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