Black Teacher: ‘An unsung heroine of Black British Literature’ (Bernardine Evaristo)

Being denied teaching jobs due to the colour bar. Working in an office amidst the East End’s bombsites. Serving as a lady’s maid to an Empire-loving aristocrat. Raising two children in suburbia. Becoming one of the first black headteachers in Britain.

In 1952, Beryl Gilroy moved from British Guiana to London. Her new life wasn’t what she had expected - but her belief in the power of education resulted in a revolutionary career. Black Teacher, her memoir, is a rediscovered classic: not only a rare first-hand insight into the Windrush generation, but a testament to how one woman’s dignity, ambition and spirit transcended her era.

‘Full of wit, perceptiveness, humour and compassion … A hugely important memoir from the rare perspective of a black woman transported to the colonial motherland.’ - Bernardine Evaristo