'When you’re born into immediate poverty and immediate lack of potential through no fault of your own, you’re a sufferer,’ says Alex Wheatle. ‘Or as reggae heads would say, yuh ah sufferah.’

Wheatle’s remarkable life is one of triumph over adversity, a struggle against systemic racism, abuse and repression. In his latest book, Sufferah: Memoir Of A Brixton Reggae Head, he takes readers on an autobiographical journey from his early years in the care system, through a term in prison, to an MBE and beyond.

‘When you have hardly anything to cling on to, to give you hope or meaning, you scratch around,’ he says. ‘When I discovered reggae, I found my tribe; the lyrics spoke to me and my struggle. Reggae became the gateway to my Jamaican identity.’

Wheatle’s life story featured in the fourth episode of Steve McQueen’s 2020 Small Axe series, an anthology of stories about London’s West Indian community. Wheatle was recruited for the writers’ room, unaware his own story would inspire the Oscar-winning director.

‘Steve came in one morning and he said he was looking for a narrative that tells the story of a young Black man who had experienced institutions. One of the other writers pointed at me. I was shocked when he ran with it.’

Wheatle is the author of more than a dozen young adult novels, with two of his series, Brixton Rock and Crongton, earning him the title of Brixton Bard and trailblazer for the Black British community. He admitted the Small Axe episode validated the significance of his story, compelling him to turn the pen on himself. ‘There was so much in my personal story that couldn’t be told in one hour of TV. I just wanted to capture that in a wider canvas.’ 

Born in south London in 1963, his childhood was punctuated by the trauma of being sent into care at the age of three to the notorious Shirley Oaks children’s home in Croydon. ‘When I was growing up, it was all about survival; I wasn’t worried about passing arithmetic, I was trying to avoid getting my head kicked in.’

As a young adult he participated in the 1981 Brixton uprising and served four months in prison for his involvement, a transformational incident that drew him into the world of fiction. ‘The best thing I ever did was to learn how to use my talent for writing to get what I needed in life. There were lessons in those reggae lyrics: “you have to get up, stand up, stand up for your rights”.’

Sufferah: Memoir Of A Brixton Reggae Head is published by Arcadia Books and is out now.