Kehinde Andrews

Kehinde Nkosi Andrews (born January 1983)^[1] is a British academic and author specialising in Black Studies.

Andrews is a Professor of Black Studies in the School of Social Sciences at Birmingham City University.^[2] He is the director of the Centre for Critical Social Research, founder of the Harambee Organisation of Black Unity,^[3] and co-chair of the UK Black Studies Association.^[4] Andrews is the first Black Studies professor in the UK and led the establishment of the first Black Studies programme in Europe at Birmingham City University.^[5][6][7]

Andrews is of British African-Caribbean heritage.^[8] He earned a PhD. in Sociology and Cultural Studies from the University of Birmingham in 2011. His thesis was entitled Back to Black: Black Radicalism and the Supplementary School Movement.^[9]

Andrews regularly appears in the media discussing issues of race and racism, colonialism and slavery, and British nationalism. He contributes to The Guardian,^[10][11] The Independent,^[12] New Statesman,^[13] CNN,^[14] OpenDemocracy,^[15] and often appears as a guest on the BBC^{[16][17][18][19]} and Good Morning Britain.^{[20][21][22][23]}

In 2016, Andrews criticized universities in the United Kingdom for institutional racism, specifically the lack of diversity in students' assigned readings.^[5] The following year, Andrews spoke at the Oxford Union, arguing that British education perpetuates racism.^[24] He also gave a TEDxYouth talk in Birmingham entitled "How to Stay Radical within an Institution", exploring how Black Studies can exist within the historically racist institution of the university.^[25]

In 2019, Andrews took part in a debate on whether or not the West should pay reparations for slavery at Intelligence Squared, arguing in favour of reparations.^[26] He also spoke about his book Back to Black in the John Hope Franklin Center for Interdisciplinary and International Studies at Duke University^[27] and gave a talk at Tate Liverpool on the role of Black radicalism in the United Kingdom and the United States.^[28] In that year, Andrews appeared on Good Morning Britain, where he argued that the Royal Air Force bombing of Nazi Germany constituted a war crime^[29] and equated the racial views of Winston Churchill to those of Adolf Hitler.^[30]

Andrews narrated the film The Psychosis of Whiteness, which explores race and racism through cinematic representations of the slave trade.^[31]

In July 2019, Andrews criticized the idea that prominent non-white members of the Conservative Party automatically represent racial progress, saying that a "cabinet packed with ministers with brown skin wearing Tory masks represents the opposition of racial progress".^[32]

In May 2020, Andrews was a guest on Russell Brand's YouTube channel discussing racism in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd.^[33] He was also interviewed by the Los Angeles Review of Books discussing Malcolm X and the question of violence in Black radicalism.^[34]

In August 2020, Andrews joined calls to drop "Rule, Britannia!" and "Land of Hope and Glory" from the Last Night of the Proms, stating that the lyrics contained "racist propaganda from a time where Britain was the leading slave-trading nation in the world".^[35]

In June 2021, Andrews described Elizabeth II as "the number one symbol of white supremacy in the entire world".^[36] Following her death in September 2022, he called for the abolition of the monarchy.^[37]

• Andrews, Kehinde (2013). Resisting Racism: Race, Inequality, and the Black Supplementary School Movement. London: Institute of Education Press. ISBN 9781858565156. OCLC 952965547.
• Andrews, Kehinde (2018). Back to Black: Retelling Black Radicalism for the 21st Century. London: Zed Books. ISBN 9781786992789. OCLC 1038006618.
• Andrews, Kehinde (2021). The New Age of Empire: How Racism and Colonialism Still Rule the World. London: Allen Lane. ISBN 9780241437445.
• Andrews, Kehinde (2023). The Psychosis of Whiteness: Surviving the Insanity of a Racist World. Penguin Books. ISBN 9780141992396.

• Academic Profile at Birmingham City University
• The Psychosis of Whiteness Archived 9 June 2020 at the Wayback Machine, official film website