I Heard What You Said

A Black Teacher, A White System

By: Jeffrey Boakye

Narrated by: Jeffrey Boakye

An Amazon Best Non-Fiction Book of 2022

'Essential reading' - The Guardian
'Sharp and witty with moments of startling candour' - The i
'Makes a powerful case' - Rt Hon Lady Hale
‘Revealing and beautifully written’ - David Harewood
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Before Jeffrey Boakye was a black teacher, he was a black student. Which means he has spent a lifetime navigating places of learning that are white by default. Since training to teach, he has often been the only black teacher at school. At times seen as a role model, at others a source of curiosity, Boakye’s is a journey of exploration – from the outside looking in.

In the groundbreaking I Heard What You Said, he recounts how it feels to be on the margins of the British education system. As a black, male teacher – an English teacher who has had to teach problematic texts – his very existence is a provocation to the status quo, giving him a unique perspective on the UK’s classrooms.

Through a series of eye-opening encounters based on the often challenging and sometimes outrageous things people have said to him or about him, Boakye reflects on what he has found out about the habits, presumptions, silences and distortions that black students and teachers experience, and which underpin British education.

Thought-provoking, witty and completely unafraid, I Heard What You Said is a timely exploration of how we can dismantle racism in the classroom and do better by all our students.
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'Hugely important' - Baroness Lawrence
'Deeply compelling, intellectually rigorous and essential' - Nels Abbey
'Personal and political, profound and playful' - Darren Chetty
'Written with passion, fury, knowledge and, in spite of the painful subject, wit' - Patrice Lawrence

Critic reviews

Essential reading for teachers, those who run educational institutions, parents – but perhaps most of all for Black children . . . it could be a ray of hope.

Makes a powerful case: until we have rid our educational system of its dominant whiteness we cannot hope to give all our children the educational experience they need and deserve.

Brave, brutally honest, funny and necessary. Jeffery captures the Black teaching experience in such a powerful and potent way. The book of the year.

Written with passion, fury, knowledge and, in spite of the painful subject, wit.

Deeply compelling, intellectually rigorous and essential.

Personal and political, profound and playful, Boakye's sharp analysis of the classroom and the staffroom is essential reading for anyone with a stake in education.

I couldn't put it down . . . a must read.

An incredibly powerful, gripping book . . . energising, uplifting and optimistic and eye-opening and challenging.

I found myself being educated, delighted, saddened, informed, surprised, shocked, touched and enlightened in turn . . . A must-read book.

A signature blend of endearing wit and engaging prose.

Timely and thought provoking.

Very informative everyone should read this book

Totally enjoyed this book well written. As a product of a English Birmingham early education whereby in 1960 there were only 2 black kids in the school my brother and I. Totally can identify then there were a total of 5 non whites who were always bullied by our white class mates. Born in England of Jamaican immigrant parents. My parents left England and returned to Jamaica in 1969. Where I am proud to say we had excellent black teachers and role models who looked like us for our high school years. Then we moved to USA 10 years later for College and racism reared its ugly head again. However glad I had the opportunity to be schooled in 3 different education system’s definitely taught me well on how to navigate the privileged system. However reading the book very disappointing to see progress has been very slow for black and brown folks. Until the past histories along with systematic racism is taught and understood change will never happen. Thanks for continually shining a spotlight on the systematic unfairness in the education system that is still prevalent to our black and brown children. Keep up the good work!!!