Black Arsenal

Thanks to decades of fielding iconic Black players on the pitch, and the diverse histories of its terraces, Arsenal has emerged as a powerful symbol of what an organic and welcoming multicultural club can be.

Black Arsenal, edited by Clive Chijioke Nwonka and Matthew Harle, is the first dedicated exploration of the club’s relationship to contemporary Black identity. It sees the club transcend football and spread across cultures: in the media, music, fashion, politics and everyday social experiences.

Join Nwonka and Harle, alongside Baroness Lola Young and chair Musa Okwonga, for this examination and celebration of an iconic club and its place in Black British culture.

Musa Okwonga is an award-winning author, poet and musician. The co-host of the Stadio football podcast with Ryan Hunn, he studied law at St. John’s College, University of Oxford, where he is now an Honorary Fellow. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, he has written seven books, the first of which, A Cultured Left Foot, was nominated for the 2008 William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award.

Baroness Lola Young is a former actor, professor of Cultural Studies and Head of Culture at the Greater London Authority. She has written and broadcast extensively on a wide range of cultural issues and has served on the boards of several national cultural organisations. Baroness Young has Chaired the Caine Prize for African writing, the Orange Prize for Women’s Fiction, and the Man Booker Prize.