J’ouvert is an honest, fun, warm and witty story and the perfect warm-up for Carnival!
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All articles filed in #FatmattaSesay
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: 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 is – 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
“Britain’s history is everyone’s history and it’s all the stronger for it” 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 £10 on a 100- page novella or pick up a ‘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: 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 ‘Hold Tight’ by Jeffrey Boakye
“You 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.” 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 -‘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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