Brown Girl in the Ring

Olukemi Ogunyemi is a highly successful body therapist, who also speaks and blogs on racism and transgender issues (http://olukemiogunyemi.com).

In this, her first book, she tells of her momentous struggle growing up as a mixed-race child in Scotland. She describes, in horrific, gut-wrenching detail, the treatment she received at the hands of the so-called 'good people' of Scotland; acts of racism that continued into adulthood and wreaked havoc for her as a wife and a mother of four children.

Her captivating story calls out unconscious, racial bias - even in her own family - but through the obvious pain and suffering, she still allows her sense of humour and her deep love for her husband and her children to shine through.

Not content with just telling her story, Ogunyemi spells out her quest to tackle racism head-on, but not with a 'call to arms'. Forget anger and finger-pointing and think more sit-down chat with someone who understands. She lives and breathes compassion, not blame.  

Brown Girl in the Ring is a beautifully crafted, deeply personal memoir; not only is it the ultimate message on how to put an end to racism, it is a true story for our times.