Maybe I Don't Belong Here: A Memoir of Race, Identity, Breakdown and Recovery

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I'm reading this book somewhere in Africa finally giving up on White UK and loving my life just being me.

I like that Harewood didn't think his ethnicity was going to hold him back career-wise (until it did and he realised (sadly) that was just in Britain, not in America. At some point you've got to accept one you are, and accept that a certain section of the community - not everyone is going to like you, not everyone is going to accept you. I've read a lot of memoirs and nonfiction books discussing my country's racist history and present, so it was interesting to see the perspective from a Black British man. It'd be a criminal understatement to say that this book is a brave undertaking in sharing such a deeply personal and debilitating moment of one's life.Last month I got to sit down with the wonderful David Harewood to discuss his book Maybe I Don't Belong Here: A Memoir of Race, Identity, Breakdown and Recovery, which is out in paperback form tomorrow (October 13th). But,you know, as you get older you sort of become happy with yourself and you settle with yourself, and there's also the work I've done on myself. This is a superb memoir, an honest and moving story of a life along with exploration of issues of race, identity and Harewood’s experience of mental illness and psychosis. The portrait's unveiling was accompanied by a temporary exhibition at the house focussing on Harewood's life and career. Recommended reading, especially for those non-black British who are determined to hide behind their assertion of colour-blindness.

I particularly wanted to read this as it's rare to hear about the black experience from a British perspective, and it was clear from interviews that Harewood had been both eloquent and brave in sharing his story.And I try to tell this to all young kids that, you know, don't be afraid of failure, or don't be afraid of the hard times, the hard times, make you who you are.

The way he describes the risky games he played with his siblings when very young you’d think we were bought up in the same household.Only later when I was also confronted with National Front skinheads carrying the flag did I learn that prejudices against my people existed. So it's great that I was a bit of an inspiration for all the young kids who are gonna watch that moment, you know, aerial film and, and see a young black, all the young black girls are gonna watch and be inspired by it. The effects of living in this country as a black person and what does that to your mental health needs to be spoken about more and I honestly believe David Harewood has sparked that conversation.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. I've had issues with identity and belonging in the UK but those feelings came from inside me, because looking like the majority white population, I never experienced rejection such as described here and by other black British men (and to a lesser extent, women).

in the premiere of The Mountaintop, written by American playwright Katori Hall, directed by James Dacre, which opened at Theatre503 in London on 9 June 2009. This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. From a white perspective David's self-penned story is illuminating in such a sad and distressing way unyet he eventually manages to find his way through societies expectations which are projected onto him.