Mandem, edited by Iggy London, features essays by Yomi Sode, Jeffrey Boakye, Christian Adofo, Ashley Hickson-Lovence, Athian Akec, Dipo Faloyin, Okechukwu Nzelu, Phil Samba, Sope Soetan and Jordan Stephens.

Together they share a collection exploring the lives and experiences of Black men in today’s Britain by dismantling stereotypes about Black masculinity that are still permeating our society.

“Black men, like all humans, are not beyond confrontation. But rarely ever is the violence inflicted upon us by this society’s institutions talked about.”

Mandem offers wonderfully written accounts by writers, performers, educators and artists. Each of them has a clear and distinct voice able to bring personal experiences and unique angles to the conversation, mixing predominately prose with a bit of poetry.

Mandem’s themes cover various topics: race, role models, ingrained misogyny, familial relationships, sexual pressures and black queerness. It’s a book for anyone seeking to understand and challenge society’s perspectives and is willing to confront the harmful consequences of imposing toxic standards for masculinity.

I genuinely invite you all to read Mandem, gift it and share it. It is more than simply a crucial conversation to take part in. It needs personal reflection. I believe in the power of books to afford that space between us and the words we read, where we can explore things outside of our experiences and put ourselves in someone else's shoes.

“Sometimes the most human thing we can do is look at these horrors without flinching.”

I enjoyed reading these essays. THey really captured and held my interest and it was insightful and beautiful. I thoguht that some of the essays cane across really sensitive and vulnerable. I would recommend this book!