Afua Hirsch (born 1981) is a British writer and broadcaster. She has worked as a journalist for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' newspaper, and was the Social Affairs and Education Editor for Sky News from 2014 until 2017.

Early life

Afua Hirsch was born in Stavanger, Norway, to a British father and an

Akan Akan may refer to: People and languages *Akan people, an ethnic group in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire *Akan language, a language spoken by the Akan people *Kwa languages, a language group which includes Akan * Central Tano languages, a language group ...

mother from

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

, and was raised in Wimbledon, southwest London. Her paternal grandfather, Hans (later John), who was

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

, had fled

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

in 1938. Her great-uncle is the

metallurgist Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the sc ...

, Sir Peter Hirsch. Her maternal grandfather, who graduated from the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

, was involved in establishing the post-independence education system in Ghana but later became a political exile. Hirsch was educated at the private

Wimbledon High School Wimbledon High School is an independent girls' day school in Wimbledon, South West London. It is a Girls' Day School Trust school and is a member of the Girls' Schools Association. History Wimbledon High School was founded by the Girls' Publ ...

, and then studied philosophy, politics, and economics at

St Peter's College, Oxford St Peter's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford and is located in New Inn Hall Street, Oxford, United Kingdom. It occupies the site of two of the university's medieval halls, dating back to at least the 14th ...

(1999–2002). After her graduation with a Bachelor of Arts degree, she took the

Graduate Diploma in Law The Graduate Diploma in Law/Postgraduate Diploma in Law/Common Professional Examination (GDL/PGDL/CPE) is a postgraduate law course in England and Wales that is taken by non-law graduates (graduates who have a degree in a discipline that is not la ...

at the BPP Law School. She qualified as a barrister in 2006 and trained at

Doughty Street Chambers Doughty Street Chambers is a British set of barristers' chambers situated in Bristol, Manchester and London's Doughty Street, undertaking criminal justice, public law, immigration, employment, human rights and civil liberties work. Doughty Str ...

Career

Hirsch began working as a lawyer in criminal defence, public and international law.

Journalism and writings

Hirsch was a legal correspondent for ''

''. She has lived in Britain and

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...

, and served as ''The Guardian''s West Africa correspondent, based in Accra, Ghana. From 2014 to 2017, she was the Social Affairs and Education Editor at Sky News. Hirsch contributed the piece "What Does It Mean to Be African?" to Margaret Busby's 2019 anthology ''

New Daughters of Africa ''Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Words and Writings by Women of African Descent from the Ancient Egyptian to the Present'' is a compilation of orature and literature by more than 200 women from Africa and the African diaspora, ...

''.

''Guardian'' article about Nelson's Column

In August 2017, in ''The Guardian'', Hirsch questioned whether

Nelson's Column Nelson's Column is a monument in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, Central London, built to commemorate Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson's decisive victory at the Battle of Trafalgar over the combined French and Spanish navies, during whic ...

should remain in place, with the implication it might be removed. Not long afterward, the art historian and former museum director Sir

Roy Strong Sir Roy Colin Strong, (born 23 August 1935) is an English art historian, museum curator, writer, broadcaster and landscape designer. He has served as director of both the National Portrait Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. ...

said the suggestion the column should be taken down was a "ridiculous" viewpoint, commenting that "Once you start rewriting history on that scale, there won't be a statue or a historic house standing....The past is the past. You can't rewrite history". The following May, Hirsch said the idea of removing Nelson's Column distracted from her main point that Britain should look more carefully at its past to understand itself better today. In an article introducing her television documentary, ''The Battle for Britain's Heroes'', Hirsch stated that she "wasn't actually waiting in a bulldozer, ready to storm

Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, laid out in the early 19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. At its centre is a high column bearing a statue of Admiral Nelson comm ...

, as some people seemed to believe".

''Brit(ish)''

Hirsch's book ''Brit(ish): On Race, Identity and Belonging'' () was published by Jonathan Cape in January 2018. The book is part-memoir and discusses black history, culture and politics in the context of Britain, Senegal and Ghana. It is a Sunday Times bestseller. Hirsch was awarded a Royal Society of Literature Jerwood Prize for Non-Fiction while writing it in 2016.

Television

Hirsch has been a panellist on the Sky News discussion programme ''The Pledge'' (UK TV programme).

''The Battle for Britain's Heroes''

In the television programme ''The Battle for Britain's Heroes'', first broadcast by Britain's

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

in late May 2018, Hirsch raised lesser-known aspects of the career of former British prime minister

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

, such as his attitude to Indians and advocacy of tear gassing "uncivilised tribes" in

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...

(now partly modern-day Iraq) after the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. In his review of the programme,

Hugo Rifkind Hugo James Rifkind (born 30 March 1977) is a British journalist. A columnist for ''The Times'' since 2005, he began presenting a Saturday morning programme on Times Radio in July 2020. He has been a regular guest on ''The News Quiz'', on BBC Ra ...

in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' wrote that the "subtext is often that Hirsch is attacking Britain in even mentioning this stuff", which itself implies, because of her own background that it "is frankly uppity of her", but Hirsch does not let "her views be defined in opposition to those of her detractors".

''African Renaissance: When Art Meets Power''

In 2020, Hirsch presented the three-year documentary series ''African Renaissance: When Art Meets Power'' on BBC Four. Hirsch visited

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

and

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

, meeting musicians and artists, and recounting the history of each country. In August 2021, it was announced Hirsch's production company Born in Me company had signed a deal with Fremantle.

Recognition

Hirsh was on the panel of judges for the 2019

Booker Prize for Fiction The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. ...

that made Margaret Atwood and

Bernardine Evaristo Bernardine Anne Mobolaji Evaristo, (born 28 May 1959) is a British author and academic. Her novel '' Girl, Woman, Other'', jointly won the Booker Prize in 2019 alongside Margaret Atwood's '' The Testaments'', making her the first woman with Bla ...

joint winners, causing much controversy. Later that year, Hirsch was included in the

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

edition of the ''

Powerlist The ''Powerlist'' is a list of the 100 most influential people of African or African Caribbean heritage in the United Kingdom. The list is updated annually and has been published in book format by Powerful Media since 2007. The ''Powerlist'' is ...

'' of the most influential Britons from African/African-Caribbean heritage. Hirsch was cited as one of the top 100 most influential Africans by

New African ''New African'' is an English-language monthly news magazine based in London. Published since 1966, it is read by many people across the African continent and the African diaspora. It claims to be the oldest pan-African monthly in English, as w ...

magazine in 2020. Furthermore, in the '' Powerlist 2021'', she made the top 10, ranking ninth-most influential person of African or

African Caribbean Afro-Caribbean people or African Caribbean are Caribbean people who trace their full or partial ancestry to Sub-Saharan Africa. The majority of the modern African-Caribbeans descend from Africans taken as slaves to colonial Caribbean via the ...

heritage in the United Kingdom.

Personal life

Hirsch met Sam, her partner, while each was pursuing a legal career. He is from

Tottenham Tottenham () is a town in North London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Wal ...

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire. The term ''nor ...

, and of Ghanaian descent. The couple's daughter was born in 2011.

Bibliography

Books

* ''Brit(ish): On Race, Identity and Belonging'', London: Jonathan Cape, 2018, * ''Equal to Everything: Judge Brenda and the Supreme Court'' (for children), Legal Action Group, 2019

Selected articles

* "What's It Like Being Black in Norway?". ''The Guardian'', 26 May 2013 * "Britain: Rainbow Nation, Racist Background", ''Prospect'', 16 March 2017 * "Toppling Statues? Here's Why Nelson's Column Should Be Next". ''The Guardian'', 22 August 2017 * "The Fantasy of 'Free Speech, ''Prospect'', 16 February 2018 * "The Racism That Killed George Floyd Was Built in Britain". ''The Guardian'', 3 June 2020 * "Afua Hirsch on the Crucial Black History Lessons All Schools Should Be Teaching". ''Vogue''
15 June 2020

References

External links

Afua Hirsch
official website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hirsch, Afua 1981 births Living people 21st-century British journalists Alumni of St Peter's College, Oxford Black British radio presenters Black British television personalities Black British women writers British bloggers British expatriates in Ghana British expatriates in Senegal British women bloggers British women journalists English human rights activists English legal writers English people of Ashanti descent English people of German-Jewish descent English people of Ghanaian descent Norwegian emigrants to the United Kingdom Norwegian people of German-Jewish descent Norwegian people of Ghanaian descent People educated at Wimbledon High School People from Stavanger The Guardian journalists Women human rights activists