Reni Eddo-Lodge Is The First Black British Author To Top UK Book Charts

Eddo-Lodge’s “Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race” topped Nielsen BookScan’s UK top 50 in the week to 13 June, 2020, making her the first black British author to take the top slot since Nielsen began recording book sales in 2001.

The only black author to have taken the No 1 spot on the overall charts is the former US first lady Michelle Obama in 2018, with her memoir “Becoming“.

The book which was first published in 2017, became extremely popular in the wake of the recent Black Lives Matter protests. “Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race” details why the author would not be having conversations about race with most white people because they “refuse to accept the legitimacy of structural racism and its symptoms”.

Early Life

Eddo-Lodge was born and raised in London, England, by a Nigerian mother.She attended St Anne’s Catholic High School in Enfield.

She studied English literature at University of Central Lancashire, graduating in 2011. While at university, she became involved in feminist activism and the 2010 student protest movement. She was president of the University of Central Lancashire students’ union until 2012, and was an elected member of the National Executive Council of the National Union of Students from 2012 to 2013.

Career

As a freelance journalist, Eddo-Lodge has written for a number of publications, including The New York Times, The Guardian, The Independent, and several others.

Reni Eddo-Lodge has also appeared on BBC Radio 3’s Night Waves, discussing feminist issues. In April 2014, she was a judge in the BBC Woman’s Hour Power List 2014. In July 2020, Lodge partnered with Emma Watson and the WOW Foundation to spearhead a project reimagining the London Underground Map, renaming the 270 stops to spotlight women and non-binary people who have shaped the city’s history.