Review: Tribes by David Lammy

I am an active member of the Labour Party and get out and about here in Monmouthshire, supporting election campaigns and attending the local Severnside branch meetings. I have been trying to get work with the Foreign Office for some time, and had applications ready to join there when I was halfway through a Translation degree at Cardiff University but unfortunately I didn’t complete that degree. I was tweeting David Lammy regularly and keeping close tabs on him during his time as Foreign Secretary. He has since moved to become Justice Secretary in the new Labour government. I saw him advertising this book and thought it would be a good idea to get to know a potential boss a bit better by reading it so I picked up ‘Tribes’ and have just completed reading it.

David identifies that there is a form of tribalism developing in society, affecting us politically. Tribes have always existed and the author identifies the different sort of tribes that people connect to, in order to justify their beliefs and history and interests in life, The writing of the book was triggered by David conducting a DNA gene test that identified his ancestors hailing from a variety of places: 25% Tuareg tribe in Fafa, Niger, 25% Temne tribe, Sierra Leone, 25% Bantu, South Africa and traces to Scottish DNA on his mother’s side. David decided to go on an investigative journey to discover his roots and in doing this he develops an autobiographical tale of his life and roots and uses the book to espouse political beliefs and ideas on how to improve society, with the book not aiming to an audience with any fixed political position. It is for the left-wing, the centre and the right.

David has led a colourful life. His parents whose ancestors were African slaves,  who ended up in Guyana, Latin America, migrated to the United Kingdom as part of the Windrush generation. They settled in Tottenham, near to the Broadwater Farm estate where the 2011 riots so infamously kicked off. His working class background didn’t restrain his academic progress and David got accepted at a grammar school up in Peterborough as his journey through social mobility began. He was now mixing in school with middle England up in East Anglia I connected very much with this part of the book as I know Peterborough very well as my paternal grandparents retired there and I spent a lot of time visiting them up in Longthorpe which surprisingly gets a mention in Lammy’s book. David went on to have a high-flying academic career, attending prestigious universities and working out in Los Angeles in a law firm. During this time he felt lonely and isolated and was taking the anti-depressant Prozac. I connected too with this part as I have had a very bad experience with Prozac and also the mental health system here in the U.K. and New Zealand. Prozac almost killed me and I still hold the GP who prescribed it as responsible for what happened to me back in my 20s. David was lucky in that he came off this medication. He settled into family life with a wife back in England and went into politics, becoming a rare Black MP in the Houses of Parliament, representing his home constituency in North London and the Labour Party.

I Won’t spoil the book by dishing out all the gory details and spoil your fun. Suffice it to say that the story is easy to follow and well-written. We journey from England through to darkest Africa and David is always questioning tribalism and division and especially race, slavery and social justice. He is in a privileged position due to his broad journey through life and his erudite manner in recounting personal stories and constructing in the most simplest terms, rational arguments and politically-fired arguments that will guarantee to sway your belief system, however much you may prejudge or think you know the topics in question or the man, David Lammy. I think he was very frank and revealing on some very personal philosophies and the honesty in the writing shines through and makes it a highly recommendable book to read.

PS. I f you happen to read this, Mr. Lammy, I do hope Liverpool smash Tottenham on the weekend. #ynwa The Reds are my football tribe! https://gerrardthered.com

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Wez G – Shaman Of The Tribe (DJ Set 27)