34 years ago Grenadian scholar Bernard Coard caused a social and political storm by telling it how it was in his seminal study
How the West Indian Child is Made Educationally Subnormal in the British School System .The title alone speaks volumes, but Coard's
booklet did so much more. Not only did it expose the plight of Black children in the education system, it also kickstarted the
Supplementary Schools System and many of the anti-racist and multicultural policies of the 1970s and 80s. Three decades on our
schools are still failing Black children. Tell It Like It Is reprints Coard šs classic text alongside a series of essays, articles
and reflections from other scholars and activists that bring the debate about race and education firmly into the 21st century.
In America, during the Civil Rights Movement, Malcolm X talked about 'liberating our minds by any means necessary'. Black people need to
collectively decide how strategically we can use what are our 'means' to achieve the rights for our children.
