As more awareness has been garnered from the rising rates of health inequalities among marginalized populations, a need for change on a systemic level is certainly required. However, on an individual basis, a personalized journey to understanding the shoes we walk in is also necessary, in order to understand the shoes that others walk their own convoluted lives with. The Cultural Safety Book Club is a means to enable this journey, by sharing perspectives, provoking thought and reflecting upon the intersections of healthcare with wider social and political nuances. 

The book club consists of discussing one chapter, or part of a chapter each week during term time through a theme. This enables more extrapolation from the text while allowing for flexibility; it is not necessary to attend each session, nor is it necessary to read the chapter, though it adds greatly to the experience. Themes already discussed include Community, Masculinity, Grief, Instinct, and Honour. 

The current book chosen is “The Fortune Men” by Nadia Mohamed, which is a fictionalized account of real and heavily researched events surrounding the false conviction and execution in 1952 of the last man in Wales to be hanged. His name was Mahmoud Mattan and was a black Somali Muslim man. The book has been shortlisted for the Booker prize while winning numerous others and has been consequential in the South Wales Police apology for the hanging that occurred 70 years prior.

The book club is open to all whether in healthcare or not and is run every Wednesday during term time at 10am over Zoom. Please contact Fatimah.mohamied@nhs.net to join the mailing list for the zoom link.