J’Ouvert: A play taking on the politics of Notting Hill Carnival

J’ouvert is an honest, fun, warm and witty story and the perfect warm-up for Carnival!

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Why you should read Akala’s Natives

The ability for collective, selective amnesia in the service of easing a nation’s cognitive dissonance is nowhere better exemplified than in the manner that much of Britain has chosen to remember transatlantic slavery…and the British Empire I have a lot of respect for Akala. He is a hip hop artist who has won at the…

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2 Tone: The quirky love child of Ska, Reggae & Punk Rock

Two-Tone: adj. Coloured in two colours or two shades of one colour. OR noun. a genre of British music that fuses traditional ska with musical elements of punk rock. OR Noun. 2 Tone Records was an English record label that mostly released ska- and reggae-influenced music with a punk rock and pop music overtone. THE…

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Neil Kenlock: Opening a window into the Black British experience

Born: Port Antonio, Jamaica – 1950 Claim to fame: Photographer, media professional Highlights:Ā  Photographer for the British Black Panther Party Co-founder of Choice FM Work exhibited at Tate Britain, National Portrait Gallery, Black Cultural Archives and the Victoria and Albert Museum Taking an image, freezing a moment, reveals how rich reality truly isĀ – Ā Anon Neil…

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Fanny Eaton: A muse

A muse is someone, often a woman, who inspires an artist, writer or musician. Anyone can technically be a muse. However, through the ages, certain muses have become iconic in their own right. Linda McCartney was a muse to her husband Paul. Kate Moss has been a muse to the artist Banksy. When we think…

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The winds are changing: The 70th anniversary of the Windrush

ā€œBritain’s history is everyone’s history and it’s all the stronger for itā€ True words, but not my own. They are David Olusoga’s. He wrote Black and British: A Forgotten History which I have finally finished. I’ve never felt like I had achieved something when finishing a book until I read this one. It’s a long…

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A first look at ‘Black and British: A Forgotten History’

Kindle books are deceptive. You can’t see them in the flesh. So, if you’re not paying attention, you can end up spending Ā£10 on a 100- page novella or pick up a ā€˜quick holiday read’ that is actually 700 pages long. This is what happened when I bought Black and British: A Forgotten History (its…

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The mother of Notting Hill Carnival

The gist:Ā Feminist. Communist. Journalist. Public Speaker. Activist. Born: 15 February 1915- 24 December 1964 (Aged 49) Country of Origin: Trinidad, then New York City Who was Claudia? I’d heard of Claudia Jones before. Not much. It was usually a vague mention of her at the bottom of bog-standard articles about Notting Hill Carnival every August…

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5 reasons why you should read ā€˜Hold Tight’ by Jeffrey Boakye

ā€œYou can absolutely enjoy Grime 2016 without any appreciation of Grime 2004 but there is a level of appreciation that you miss if you don’t have the knowledge.ā€ Hold Tight: Black Masculinity, Millennials and the Meaning of Grime, published in summer 2016 is a non-fiction exploration of the rise of Grime music. Whether you are…

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Heaux Noire – London & Birmingham’s coolest poetry night for black and brown women

Heaux Noire -ā€˜all puns intended’ as the host Anita explains-is a monthly poetry event for Black and Brown women writers. The event alternates between London and Birmingham with a line-up that mixes an impressive selection of open mic poets, as well as established performers. The poets are enviable; friendly, intelligent and effortlessly talented, many coming…

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