Maybe I Don't Belong Here: A Memoir of Race, Identity, Breakdown and Recovery

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Maybe I Don’t Belong Here shines a light on the interplay between race, identity and mental well-being with tremendous moral courage.

It is one thing to aspire to an equal society but another to expose the deep individual pain of not living in an equal society. From June to September 2010, he played Theseus in the premiere of Moira Buffini's play Welcome to Thebes at the National Theatre in London. In October 2013, Harewood voiced an interactive video campaign for the British Lung Foundation aiming to ban smoking in cars with children on board in the United Kingdom. But reading the book, this question kept jumping out at me, and that question is What does being Black mean to you?

A groundbreaking account of the effects of everyday racism on the identity and mental health of Black British men, explored through the lens of Homeland and Supergirl actor David Harewood’s personal experience. There is clear need for education in the public sector institutions to avoid mental health issues in the very people who chose to care. You have to have your failures to have your success, you've got to have your tough times to recognise and appreciate the good times. He is a contributor to the Oxford Companion to Black British History and in 2019 was awarded an OBE for services to history and community integration.

Last month I got to sit down with the wonderful David Harewood to discuss his book Maybe I Don't Belong Here: A Memoir of Race, Identity, Breakdown and Recovery, which is out in paperback form tomorrow (October 13th). From a white perspective David's self-penned story is illuminating in such a sad and distressing way unyet he eventually manages to find his way through societies expectations which are projected onto him. In October 2021, it was revealed that Harewood will make his feature directorial debut with For Whom The Bell Tolls, a boxing film about the rivalry between Chris Eubank and Nigel Benn. In October 2015, he appeared as a core cast member on the CBS television series Supergirl as Hank Henshaw. Racism in the 70/80s, Racism today, English Identity, mental health and what it means to have incredible caring friends.

David Harewood OBE is an actor and presenter best known for starring roles in Homeland , Supergirl , The Night Manager , Blood Diamond , Criminal Justice and Ten Per Cent . The love and care shown by his friends and above all by his mother protect him and nurture his recovery. He turned his nose up at his mother’s West Indian cooking in favour of sausages and chips – an early sign of internalised anti-blackness – and racism seeped into every corner of his life.

Slaves were given surnames derived from those of their owners, hence Harewood's ancestors had to take their name from the Lascelles' title. Its haunting to read the disparity between care and the casual racism and discrimination that goes on in the mental health system and some of the statistics shocked me. Nowadays social services would be involved for far less than being shoved on top of the wardrobe in the dark for the sake of hide and seek (me) or hurling yourself down the stairs (Harewood). You mention in the book that because of your experiences growing up, the sight of the Union Jack still gets your back up a bit, still puts you on edge.He shares insights from his recovery after an experience of psychosis and uncovers devastating family history. Only later when I was also confronted with National Front skinheads carrying the flag did I learn that prejudices against my people existed.

I think having had some success in America, being recognised the way that I have been recognised, and rewarded for the talent that I have, has greatly benefitted me as an individual. And I think that's Increasingly going to be a problem, because when you don't talk about it, that's when people feel even more marginalised. Touched on so many different aspects including race, mental health and the difficulties of trying to operate in the white space as a black British person in Britain. David Harewood's brutally honest account of his experiences in the mental health system should force us all to examine the impact that our past has on our lives. There seems to be a lot of memoirs I have been reading lately that are talking about the fissures in their lives and their mental breakdown as a result.To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average.