Akala: BAFTA and MOBO Award-Winning Hip Hop Artist, Writer, and Social Entrepreneur; Co-Founder of The Hip Hip Shakespeare Company, and Sunday Times Bestselling Author

You cannot speak on race, social justice, and equity around the world without mentioning AKALA's influence throughout Europe, Australia, Africa and the USA. 

In his Sunday Times bestseller, Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire, the award-winning hip-hop artist, writer, and social entrepreneur pulls readers into an account of how race and class have shaped the British Empire, whilst contextualising race relations in the USA. In this unique book he takes his own experiences and widens them out to look at the social, historical and political factors that have left us where we are today. Covering everything from the police, education and identity to politics, sexual objectification and the far right, Natives speaks directly to both the British denial and squeamishness when it comes to confronting issues of race and its global context, and is now being adapted into a documentary series on the BBC. 

With a potent grasp of history and profound storytelling ability, Akala's debut young adult novel The Dark Lady gives a rare insight on the life and times of multicultural London during the 16th century - this brilliant, at times brutal, novel from the amazing imagination that is Akala is inspired by Shakespeare’s 'Dark Lady' sonnets and offers young people a different view of history and ultimately, themselves. Already beloved by many, The Dark Lady has quickly garnered media coverage and acclaim, featured in Bustle, GRM Daily and NME, to name a few and recently shared on Angelina Jolie's Instagram account as a favorite book.

Eager to hear what Akala had to say in light of the global multi-ethnic anti-racist movement in June 2020, over 750k viewers tuned in to his Instagram Live in which he discussed the international protests and police brutality. His Oxford Union address is amongst one of their most viewed with 1.9 million views, and in his TED Talk with 1.2 million views, Akala gives a different view of the arts by

chronicling the work of The Hip-Hop Shakespeare Company, a music theater production company he co-founded that bridges the world of William Shakespeare and hip-hop. More recently, he joined TikTok to post about music, culture and learning, further amplifying his educational content for followers. 

Whether virtual or in-person, Alaka's presentations are impassioned and creative, whilst being both deeply personal and rich with history. Akala is an excellent choice for Black History Month and/or general history, culture, diversity events.