Butterfly Magazine - Issue 6

Ghanaiarn s Made Ca

Vol. 1 Issue 6 - 29th May 2020

AFRICA

IS NOT A COUNTRY

FayisidMaine

F reedom

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In collaboration with

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Jojo’s Bangkra ‘Sow your Passion’

At Jojo’s Bangkra we create the most stylish fabric tote bags and accessories for all life’s adventures … so you can ‘Sow your Passion’.

The idea for Jojo’s Bangkra was born out of a desire to see more handcrafted fabric bags in the leisure market that incorporated some of the traditional craft methods used in the past.

We are passionate about our craft and lovers of ‘fabric bags’. We love weaving and mixing different fabric colours, textures, sewing methods, painting techniques and fashioning them into wearable works of art.

Our designs are influenced by the beauty and complexity of the islands as we explore picturesque countryside and comb craggy shorelines cataloging their unique elements to then represent them in our products.

We believe in sustainable practices and support the preservation of traditional craft methods handed down through the ages. We are happy to be able to offer such a product to you our fellow ‘fabric bag’ lovers to express your passion.

Life offers endless possibilities, ‘Sow your Passion’ whatever it may be and soar!

Jojo

The word ‘Bangkra’ in Jamaica refers to a big basket and is synonymous with harvest time, a time of plenty.

Email: Jojosbangkra@gmail.com, Mobile: (246) 827 4847 Follow us on: https://www.facebook.com/JojosBangkra/ https://www.instagram.com/jojosbangkra/

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FILM PRODUCER WANTED URGENTLY Invisible Tv Series - Pilot - 13 Episodes Urban Twins, Trapped In Time, Fight To Correct British History While A Court Battles Rages To Stop Them.

Contact: communications@butterflymaag.com or call 0203 984 9419 for details.

JUSTICE

s m a i l l i W e Archi ILTY

U G T O N T S A FREE AT L 37 years in prison for

his first love es ac br em e hi rc A it d not comm

a crime he di

singing.

Archie meets Steve Harvey

Wrongly-Incarcerated Singer Archie Williams Delivers Unforgettable Song - America’s Got Talent 2020

Do you know many other people are inside who are innocent? Archie Laws are set against people who are convicted ‌ Vanessa Potkin Innocence Project New Orleans.

A Decade Behind Bars: Return to the Farm ( 2007 ) 4

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Pass The Truth to the Next Generation...

Teach Them Early What We Learn Late

About Us

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his is a moment for us to pause and reflect. We have had so many comments, words of encouragement, constructive criticism but the most common word we have heard is WOW. We are delighted because that is exactly what we aim for in every issue. Our biggest WOW is that we are already in over 45 countries.

Many readers have commented that we are not like the usual magazine in format and content. We know. We intend to think out of the box. The words this has never been done before inspires us to do it.

We have no financial backers, we put our money where our mouths are, and stepped out in faith. Our business model is simple, effective, inexpensive, and targeted. Our most important objective is to support and showcase Black television and film globally. To increase knowledge of Africa, the Caribbean and the Black Diaspora, and to provide a platform which encourages hope, drives innovation, and creates opportunity.

Our contributors are not seasoned writers but they all have a desire to write. We believe that

everyone deserves a hand up, in particular, we want to highlight Sports Arrow’s writer, Josh Grant. Josh is 15, doing his exams, See Mr Google’s with a passion to be a story on page 7. sports journalist and analyst. We offered him a section and he took up the challenge.

Continue to support, share and enjoy the magazine, learn as much as you can through Onyx TV Online and our website.

Welcome to The Disruptor, our solutionsorientated ‘newspaper’ on page 20.

We believe that truth equals freedom and less talk and more action.

THE BUTTERFLY MAAG Team Sweet Jamaica SUBSCRIBE HERE: https://www.butterflymaag.com/contact

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THE BUTTERFLY MAAG TEAM Editor-in-Chief Beverley Cooper-Chambers EDITORIAL TEAM Karen Ferrari Simone Scott-Sawyer

Contents COVER - Fayida Jailler Credit: Contributor

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Archie WIlliams Free At Last Not Guilty

Bakita:KK Lyrix Organix Performance

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Mr Google interviews Butterfly Maag live on the Street 919FM

Mi & Mi Kru

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37

An Interview with Dr Carlton Brown

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What’s on the Screen?

19 Reading Between The Lines

20 The Disruptor Ghanaian Cars

24 Africa Is Not A Country

28 Rhea’s Watch 6

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iChurch Do The Right Thing

Children’s tv

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Laughter, Good For The Soul

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Congratulations Omar Beckles!

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imone On S Endometriosis Nicola’s Funky Dance Workout

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Last Laugh Felix Dexter

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Mayor Jacob Frey - Doing the Right Thing

Editorial Researcher Tasina J. Lewis MARKETING DIRECTOR Marvin Osemwegie SOCIAL MEDIA ANALYST Michael Brown ADVISORY BOARD Financial Strategic Advisor Nastassia Hedge-Whyte, MAAT, ACCA,ICAJ Marketing Strategic Advisor Jeremie Alamazani, Principal at Wealth Partners Ltd. Editorial Contributors David Clarke (London) Rhea Delaney (London) Joshua Grant aka Sports Arrow (London) Natalee Grant (Jamaica) Fayida Jailler (UK) Bakita Kasadha (UK & Uganda) Chi-Chi Osemwegie (London) Donna Williams (USA) Manasses Williams (USA) Design Editor Rusdi Saleh Graphics Butterfly logo by Wayne Powell (Jamaica) Thanks to our featured advertisers JoJo’s Bangkra (Barbados) Benzly Hype (Jamaica & Canada) Hypolink ( The Gambia) Erasmus (Uganda)

Submit a story: communications@butterflymaag.com Advertising enquiries: ads@butterflymaag.com Ad copy should be submitted Friday for the following week’s publication.

Butterfly Magazine published weekly on Fridays.

Butterfly magazine is published weekly by BUTTERFLY MAGAZINE LIMITED, 86-90 Paul Street, London, EC2A 4NE, UK. Tel: (44) (0) 203 984 9419 Butterfly ™ 2015 is the registered trademark of THE LION AND THE LAMB MEDIA HOUSE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Reproduction in whole or in part is prohibited without written permission from the publishers BUTTERFLY MAGAZINE LIMITED. Address all correspondence to communications@butterflymaag.com No copyright infringement is intended

Credit: Tarique Eastman

Mr Google interviews

Butterfly Maag live on the Street 919FM in Trinidad and Tobago

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arvin Osemwegie and Beverley Cooper-Chambers, Directors of Butterfly Maag enjoyed a lively 40 minutes as the guests of Mr. Neil Iwer George, The Street 919FM’s CEO and Pastor Kirven, Henry aka Mr. Google host of the Mid Morning Mix. Mr. Google, commented on the synergy between the two as there was an obvious age gap that did not stop them working together so well on a shared vision. Mr. Google challenged his listeners to google www.butterflymaag.com and call in and tell them what they found. A listener, quite excited, called, and confirmed that Butterfly Maag was real. The couple answered questions from the Street 919 FM’s listeners locally and as far away as Toronto, Canada, who were interested to know how they could get involved with plans to launch a television network. This interview was the beginning of a collaborative relationship between the two media entities.

Located in Arima, in the north of Trinidad Island, The Street radio station is available on 91.9 FM and online. It features a mix of contents, including music, talk shows, entertainment, news, and information.

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spotlight

An Interview with

Dr Carlton Brown

PhD,MBA,PGDip

BM: Dr Brown, how did you get started in business?

Delete every this else.

CD: When I first left college, I was doing my A-Levels, I was always fascinated by business but I had a part-time job in retail. I worked in a shop in the West End as a trainee manager. By the time I was roughly 22, I was running a whole retail store branch by myself. I did that for five years and, though it was exciting, I knew there was more to me. When I finished my A-Levels, I should have carried on but I didn’t. Instead, I went into retail, decided to earn some money and have a good time as a young man, enjoying sports and going out socialising.

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After five years I fell into management fairly quickly and I started to take business seriously, business seriously.

After a while, I did not feel fulfilled, so I got a job as a Sales Consultant for a corporate company. For the next 16 years, I worked for an FTSE 100 business; I worked my way through the organisation until I became a South England Regional Director. I learnt so much on that journey, about finance, profits, selling, marketing, and strategy. Working as a Sales Consultant and working my way through the organisation set me up because I was not highly qualified at the time. I was a young Black guy in a corporate world where there were not too many people who looked like me in the organisation. For the first 3 years, I did well; I just worked hard earning a series of promotions which led me to become on of the Regional to one of the Regional Directors for the Health Care Division. I was headhunted by another company to be its United Kingdom National Sales Director.

My success goes back to my grounding. My parents came from a humble beginning in Jamaica. Working hard and getting a good education was the philosophy and my Mum’s mantra was “You’ve got to try and do something for yourself”. She was a bit of an entrepreneur; she is 97 now. Mum was always doing something, baking, cooking or selling, nothing on a big scale, but she always had a little thing going on in the background. We call it a little side hustle and that was our driving force. That’s my backstory, nothing extra magical. One of the reasons I finally left the company was because I did not feel I was getting treated fairly. Although I was getting the promotion, the promotions were slowing down and in terms of the serious echelons of the business; there was nobody that that looked like me, a person of colour, at that level. I didn’t have my degree at that time. So I went back and studied because I believed if I was going to accelerate my progress, I needed to invest in myself.

I went back to university and did a post-grad in leadership and management first, and then I completed my Master in Business Administration, MBA. I thought, “Was I ready or equipped?” I started my consultancy practice and ironically, my first client was my old company. At the same time, my wife wanted to start a bridal business.

We invested in two bridal shops with 16 staff members for 12 years. We sold it after my mother-in-law became ill. I started a washroom hygiene business with a former colleague from a previous job above a shop which my wife and I owned. We had two small offices, one for administration and the other one for storage. We grew the company, to just under a million pounds, and then we sold it six years ago.

Although my consulting business was always there I focused on the business I was doing at the time, which was the washroom and hygiene business. While we were building the washroom and hygiene business, two years before we sold it, we started getting the company ready for sale so we could maximise the shareholder value.

At the same time, I decided to study a PHD in Performance Management: how to maximise sales performance in an organisation. Four and a half years later, I got my doctorate which was extremely tough and since then, I have gone on to publish two books, one on peak performance and the other on corporate social responsibility.

After selling the business, I focused on my consulting business, which offered consulting, training, mentoring and lectures. When you go into an organisation, you have to add value, regardless of your colour. However, as a people, we must show that we are competent leaders able to deliver with consistency.

BM: Tell us about your Premium Authentic Jamaican food business and how the concept came about?

CB: In my life, the matriarchs of the family, my mother, my wife’s mother, my wife, and my sister, have always been strong characters but the one thing that they always resonated with was food. I went to a conference in Jamaica about food business opportunities three and a half years ago, which was enlightening. I met customers, producers, manufacturers and I realised there was a niche opportunityat the premium end of the Jamaican food business.

I spent the next year and a half doing market research and looking at the supply chain, meeting suppliers, and coming up with concepts. I utilised the experience gained from my PhD by doing extensive research. Eventually, I came up with the idea that I would like to pay homage to my mother and mother-in-law and my Jamaican culture. We created a brand of cakes because my mum always enjoyed baking cakes. In conjunction with a UK designer, we developed a concept. It took a while to get the concept and the contractual arrangements right but eventually we did! The cakes, called ‘Mama Brown’, were named after my mum comes in various flavours including pineapple, coconut, key lime, and chocolate. They are beautifully packaged and well presented. They make perfect gifts but they also make scrumptious desserts.

We have a range of sauces called, ‘Jerk House’.

Jerking originated in Jamaica; the concept of BBQing is synonymous with Jamaica, which is why I call it the ‘Jerk House’. The cakes and the sauces are both produced in Jamaica. We also have a range of chocolate rum truffles.

Those come under the brand Marshall and Brown, they are luxury premium hand made chocolates. Marshall is my mother-in-law’s name and Brown is my mums’ name and that is how paying homage to those two matriarchs created the brand. The rum in our rum truffles is original Jamaican rum.

Everything in our brands promotes Jamaican authenticity. We also produce ‘Mama Brown’s Rum Punch’. These are the four products we currently sell.

However, later this year we will have ‘Blue Mountain Coffee’, which is regarded as one of the best coffees in the world, under the Marshall and Brown brand. We will also have ‘Marshall and Brown Teas’, coming on board this year as well. It is a challenging objective because I have a small team and limited resources. We aim to get as much exposure for the brand as possible and to get it into high street stores and independents. We would like to sell in large quantities, of course, but it is more important that we offer what we would like to call the ‘quintessential experience of Jamaica’. It tastes good, it looks great and because of that, customers will be happy to pay a premium.

BM: Do you think there is a way for black businesses to unite and work together, both globally and in the UK? CB: In my book, I wrote a chapter on Diversity and Business. If I would like to work in the corporate world, like Goldman Sachs, there is a perception that as a Black business we are under-equipped and out of our traditional sectors. It is assumed that we can only operate as barbershops, cosmetics, and hairdressers but have no place in the corporate or financial sector. My advice is to have the mindset that we are a business first and foremost with an owner who happens to be Black.

These are the key points to remember: 1. You need to have a good plan 2. You need to have a good strategy 3. You need to understand how to market yourself properly.

4. You need to have good liquidity and a good understanding of finance.

As a business owner, there are lots of things you need to do. You ask, should there be a collective effort for Black businesses to support each other? If there is an opportunity to do business with someone who has similar values and similar beliefs, why should you not do that? I think that if you have a network of people, then you should try and support each other; there is nothing wrong with that. It is about having a good, professional network of people you can trust especially within our community. BM Transform your viewing...

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What’s on the Screen?

The Screeners’

TV Choice

Illustration by Wayne Powell (Jamaica)

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Credit: Warner Bros.

Man

Switch to Credit: Black As Web Series

Credit: Black As Web Series

Juwanna Mann

Credit: Marley archives

All episodes from Season 1 Web Series combined into one feature length Movie! Watch as Joe and the boys borrow their uncle Oppys boat to go fishing... where they encounter disaster and mishap at every turn. The boys pull through and survive against the odds. But Oppy is less then impressed when they return his dinghy. This is full on and dangerous as it gets. You can download it right here... http://store.cdbaby.com/cd/blackassou...

Black As - Season 2 Uncle Bobby asks the boys to get his tractor from a distant outstation. Its missing a wheel but Bobby has one they can take up and put on. They agree on the mission and reluctantly decide to ask Oppy if they can borrow his dinghy but are met with a hostile reception.

Credit: Warner Bros.

Black as‌ Series 1

Peter Tosh

Behind the Music

Louis Antoine – Trini Comedy Transform your viewing...

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woman Credit: Dreamworks/DanceOn

Always a Bridesmaid That awkward moment when people start asking if you’re married. We’ve all been there

Labour Day in Jamaica 2020 Set in Mississippi during the 1960s, Skeeter (Emma Stone) is a southern society girl who returns from college determined to become a writer, but turns her friends’ lives — and a small Mississippi town — upside down when she decides to interview the black women who have spent their lives taking care of prominent southern families. Aibileen (Viola Davis), Skeeter’s best friend’s housekeeper, is the first to open up — to the dismay of her friends in the tight-knit black community.

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Credit: Judy Love

The Help

Dear Teacher

Credit: American Academy of Achievement Credit: Mark Angel TV

Credit: Amazon

Sidney Poitier 2009

Best of Success and Emmanuella

Little Fires Everywhere – Trailer Amazon Exclusive Transform your viewing...

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Credit: Triggerfish Animation Studios

small child

Credit: Triggerfish Animation Studios

Credit: Zambezia Film Pty Ltd

Belly Flop

Zambezia Khumba 14

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Presented in stunning 3D and featuring the voice talents of Liam Neeson, Laurence Fishburne, and Steve Buscemi, this vibrant savannah adventure summons the spirit of The Lion King to tell the tale of a semi-striped zebra on a quest for a legendary watering hole.

young adult

Blood and Water Netflix

Credit: Credit: IMdb

We are excited to welcome the cast and creator of Blood & Water in this special screening of the first episode to celebrate the launch of Netflix’s latest African Original! Join in on the drama, mystery and intrigue as we meet Puleng, Fikile, Chris, Wendy, KB, Wade and the rest of the Parkhurst College crew. Sound off in the chat with what you think and take part of the conversation as we dig into this episode!

Black to Life: Rethinking the Black Presence within British History Director Akinola Davies unearths forgotten Black British histories in this visually compelling series.

Mercy Street Transform your viewing...

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gen z

Mama Got a Cough

Credit: BBC iPlayer

Credit: Apple Tv

Photo credit: Cookout Entertainment

One family’s humorous and heartfelt zoom call is captured in the short film Mama Got A Cough, created by Jordan E. Cooper and produced in part by Danielle Brooks.

The 14-minute film stars Brooks, Amber Chardae Robinson, Brittany Inge, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Juanita Jennings, Dewayne Perkins and Marcel Spears in a story about a group of siblings trying to convince their ailing mother to go to the doctor to check if her cough is actually the coronavirus. Even while the subject matter is serious, no one can get through the call without roasting reach other while spreading family love.

Central Park In a seminal, identity-defining film, film-maker Stewart Kyasimire gathers together prominent black Scots from all generations to ask: what does it mean to be black and Scottish? Stewart grew up in Glasgow in the 1980s, at a time where he felt there just weren’t any obvious black and Scottish role models. Now a father himself, he is determined that his eight-year-old mixed-race daughter Yasmin grows up with a clear sense of black and Scottish identity.

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Credit: Komotion Studios

Black and Scottish…

Dawn of Thunder

Photo Credit: White House - with Barack and Michelle Obama.

grandPA

Credit: U Toons

Former White House butler who served 11 presidents dies after contracting coronavirus

Trelawny Town Maroons‌ Kojo’s Legacy

Them Go Taya Transform your viewing...

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grandma

Credit: Your Tube/TVOne

A Warm December

Unsung – The Story of Minnie Riperton 18

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Credit: Wallpaperflare.com

Reading Between The Lines

by David Clarke

The Greatest Trick

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he 1995 movie ‘The Usual Suspects’ contains a memorable line spoken by a guileful character about the existence or non-existence of the Devil. ‘The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.’ What’s interesting about this statement, originally quoted by the prominent French literary figure, Charles Baudelaire, is that this saying is in fact accentuated in our television viewing as well as our everyday lives. Turn on the TV or go to the cinema and you’ll find a movie or two about magic, hypnotism, astrology, and illusionism, and if I’m going to speak the truth, we love them! I mean, who doesn’t love a good magic trick, right? However, as I’ve mentioned in previous columns, this clever deception is rather a conditioning tool used to subliminally sell the idea that good is evil and evil is good, and to ultimately blind people from God’s truth. The Bible says, ‘The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God’ (2 Corinthians 4:4).

Another scripture tells us, ‘And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light’ (2 Corinthians 11:14 KJV), thus, the influx of spiritism and divination in films using creative themes in forms of art.

Again, Hollywood is at the helm of championing these themes, and the movie world has dazzled the masses with films such as Mary Poppins, The Darkest Minds, and Now You See Me. Even the way magic is shown on TV has been innovated through highprofile illusionists like David Copperfield, Blaine, and Dynamo. Whilst these mysterious and strange feats often entertain and fascinate, we need to be mindful of the misleading practices of the ‘prince of this world’ (John 14:30; Revelations 12:9), and be able to discern the difference between magic and miracles. In short, magic is something performed by men, by the will of men, for man’s purposes, and without any legitimate supernatural component, unless otherwise under the influence of demonic power to mock God by imitating

the miracles of God; as seen in Dynamo walking on water, and many others performing what seem like highly impossible acts. Some even perform magic to carry out crimes, as in the ‘Now You See Me’ franchise.

On the other hand, miracles are a performance of God, by the will of God, and for God’s purposes, purely

by His power. Those who dismiss biblical miracles as “magic” misunderstand both, and are unfortunately deceived, and misled. There were many magicians in ancient times where the bible records a few, namely, Pharaoh’s magicians of Egypt who battled it out with Moses and Aaron, using ‘their enchantment’ (Exodus 7:11, 22; 8:7); The witch of Endor, who King Saul consulted to summon the spirit of the dead prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 28); The troubled spirit of the sleepless Nebuchadnezzar who summoned the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers to tell him what he had dreamed, (Daniel 2); The servant girl who was possessed with an evil spirit of divination and made her masters’ money by practicing the art of prediction (Acts 16:16-19); and Simon the Sorcerer, who had a large following and thought he could enhance his status by ‘buying’ the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:9-25).

Today’s magicians are far less sinister and much more widely accepted, but if you read between the lines, the devil is in the detail, and that this is just another one of his tactics in his efforts to deceive the world by employing fake miracle workers (Revelations 12:9; 16:14). As believers of Lord Jesus Christ, we are warned to keep free from every practice connected with magic and spiritism (Galatians 5:19-21; Revelation 21:8) and ‘to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me’ (Acts 26:18). So, next time you feel like being entertained, just bear in mind that Illusionists and films alike have a complex, soulful nature that sneaks into the deceptive simplicity of its narrative and puts it in a class of its own as one of the greatest tricks the devil ever pulled.

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The Disruptor

DIE IN AMERICA OR MOVE TO AFRICA

Wode Maya

Welcome to the Disruptor.

To be a disruptor in business is to create a product, service, or way of doing things which displaces the existing market leaders and eventually replaces them at the helm of the sector. [`the disruptor]

Less Talk More Action

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BRAND NEW CARS - MADE IN GHANA

Fashion innovator from the DRC

Jamaican young men make a Power Bank Using An Old Laptop

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Jamaica builds emergency ventilators and 3D Face Shields

The Black consumers are some of Amazon’s largest customers. It is disappointing that its marketing and purchasing teams have not seen fit to remove racist material like this book and others, entitled 10 Nigger Boys, or The Little German Nigger Girl.

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Credit: BBC

Amazon is a disgrace

Nigerian Woman Who Makes Bricks

The Eco Is The New Currency For Uemoa

CFA Franc Currencies Region

ent l Macron and Presid President Emmanue oire Iv Ouattara of Côte d’ Alassane Dramane e establishment of th shake hands on the new currency.

What is UEMOA

What is WAMZ

SUBMIT YOUR STORIES ABOUT BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES IN THE UK AND/ OR INVESTMENT, GROWTH, and TRADE IN AFRICA AND THE CARIBBEAN info@onyxtelevisionnetwork.com

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lead story This can sometimes happen when we speak of Africa without specifying the country in question.

In 2014 Nicolas Kayser-Bril launched an app called ‘Africa Is Not a Country’ which used statistical analysis to highlight the tendency of the media to refer to Africa without specifying the country they are speaking about.

The danger is that

By Fayida Jailler we then tend to make sweeping generalisations about an entire continent How many countries that may only be true for a are there in Africa? specific region or group of people.

The answer is 54.

The bottom line is, we There are 54 nations are all citizens of the world and we must do better. As in Africa and each journalist Arit John points out: one is unique.

It’s not that Africa has an image problem, it’s that WE in the West have a perception problem, and it’s up to US to change that.

AFRICA

A

IS NOT A COUNTRY

cross the vast continent of Africa there are up to 2,000 different languages spoken, across more than 3,000 ethnic groups. The total population of Africa is over 1.2 billion people.

So why - when the continent is so ethnically, linguistically and culturally diverse – is there this irritating trend of referring to the continent of Africa as if it were a country?

Let me put it into perspective – when we think of Europe, we understand that there is a massive different between someone from Latvia and someone from Spain. When we think of Asia, we comprehend the difference between someone from China and someone from Pakistan. In the Americas we agree that someone from the United States is different to a person from Brazil. So then do we lump 54 nations together under the one-size-fits-all term ‘Africa’?

The most obvious offenders are those who actually call Africa a ‘country’.

Honourable mentions in that category include politician Sarah Palin and rapper Rick Rovss.

But that’s not all. It’s fine to refer to Africa as a whole if you are genuinely speaking about the continent as a whole. The more insidious problem is when we refer to Africa as if it were a country without using the term ‘country’.

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Then the idea struck me!

How can I share this hidden history with the world? The simple answer; the internet.

I decided to create a YouTube channel celebrating black history, not just in Latin America but all over the world. So far, I have made almost 40 videos, on African diaspora communities in countries across Europe, Latin America, Asia and the Middle East.

The fact of the matter is, black people have contributed to every modern civilisation today.

Black history is WORLD history. It is everyone’s history, and it’s time we recognised it as such. So, I am delighted to be able to share my initiative with you and I hope you learn something new! Each week I’ll be bringing you a video on the African diaspora in a new country.

This week we kick things off with a special triple bill: Turkey, Mexico and Pakistan!

W

About me and my project Who am I and what am I about? My name is Fayida and I host a YouTube channel called ‘Freedom Is Mine’ where I make videos on black communities around the world. In each video we look at the black community in a different country, the history of how the African diaspora came to be there and how their African heritage manifests in their culture today. How and why did I start this project?

It all started a few years ago when I was studying languages at university. I had the opportunity to spend a year in Mexico, and from there I decided to visit Cuba. When I arrived in Cuba, I was stunned to see black, Afrodescendant people who looked like me, speaking Spanish! In my mind most Latinos looked like Jennifer Lopez, Ricky Martin, Shakira and Pitbull! I was amazed and delighted to meet Afro-Cubans, and to be introduced to their amazing culture.

From then on, I spent years travelling on and off around Latin America, and wherever I went I encountered black communities, from Puerto Rico to Peru. I began working with a company called AfroLatino Travel, offering African diaspora tours in different countries to introduce travellers to the vibrant but over-looked Afrodescendant communities across the continent.

Tour Peru

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Photos contributed

Ahmet Ali Çelikten

Turkey There are no official statistics on the size of the Afro-Turkish population, though a credible estimate is 20,000 – 25,000.

The majority live in the region of Izmir on the Aegean coast.

From as early as the 16th century enslaved Africans were trafficked to West Anatolia from Ethiopia, Niger, Libya, Kenya, Egypt and Sudan. From 1860 – 1890 an estimated 250,000 enslaved Africans were brought Esmeray to the Ottoman empire. They largely worked on farms, in cotton fields, and processing tobacco. This explains their modernday presence on the Aegean coast where cotton production is high.

Afro-Turks today have completely assimilated into Turkish society, speaking local dialects and wearing traditional Turkish clothes. In 2006 the African Solidarity and Cooperation Association (ASCA) was founded by the late Mustafa Olpak.

Vahap Özaltay

The organisation has revived a sense of pride among the Afro-Turks, who for a long time had been culturally estranged from the African side of their heritage.

Notable Afro-Turk include Vahap Özaltay who in 1927 became the first black player in Turkey’s national football team and Esmeray who was a popular singer in Turkey during the 1970s. Ahmet Ali Çelikten was one of the first Black pilots to fight in WW1.

Pakistan Pakistan has the largest population of African descent in South Asia, with an estimated minimum of 50,000 AfroPakistanis, known as the Sheedi, living there today.

They are largely concentrated in the provinces of Sindh and Baluchistan in Southern Pakistan, which formerly Tanzeela Qambran housed major slave-trading i ports.

The Sheedis are descended from enslaved East Africans brought to Pakistan by Arab merchants from the seventeenth century onwards. Similar to the Sidi of India, historically the Sheedi of Pakistan were domestic servants, horsekeepers, dockworkers, farm workers, bodyguards and concubines. The most famous Sheedi in

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Pakistan’s history was Mohammed Sheedi, who in 1843 led an army against the British at the battle of Dabbo.

Racial discrimination against the Sheedis has continued to afflict the Sheedi community since Pakistan came into being in 1947. However they have formed advocacy groups, such as the Young Sheedi Welfare Organization (YSWO), to raise awareness and improve the quality of life of their community.

A notable member of the Sheedi community is Tanzeela Qambrani who in 2018 became Pakistan’s first lawmaker of African descent. A computer science graduate with three children, she was elected to the Provincial Assembly of Sindh by the Pakistan People’s Party.

Mexico

Photos contributed

There are almost two million black and Afrodescendant Mexicans today, an estimated 1.7% of the total population. The region with the

Lupita Nyong’o

E

Alejandra Robles

Melvin Brown

highest concentration of Afro-Mexicans is Costa Chica, which includes the southern States of Oaxaca and Guerrero. The second largest black population is in the state of Veracruz.

From 1580 to 1650, the Spanish trafficked roughly 250,000 Africans to Mexico from Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Congo, Angola and Mozambique. Enslaved Africans worked largely in agriculture, silver mines and in sugar plantations. Those who escaped captivity formed communities across Mexico known as ‘Palenques’. The most famous ‘palenque’ in Mexico was established in Veracruz in 1570 by Gaspar Yanga, a former slave from Gabon, who became a Mexican national hero.

Afro-Mexicans played a pivotal role in the Mexican war of independence. To this day, the revolutionary leader General Vicente Guerrero, is Mexico’s only president of African-descent.

Nowadays the Afro-Mexican community has comparatively restricted access to adequate education, living conditions and professional opportunities. However, in 2016, the governmental launched the campaign “#SOYAFRO (I am Afro), designed to raise aware of the Afro-Mexican community and foster a sense of pride. Organisations such as Mexico Negro and Huella Negra, work to champion black social and political rights in Mexico.

Famous Afro-Mexicans include the singer Alejandra Robles and the footballer Melvin Brown. Hollywood actress Lupita Nyong’o was born in Mexico and returned there to study Spanish when she was 16!

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RHEA’S WATCH

Rhea’s Watch

think what it really, is, is that I just don’t like things not done properly. Yeah, it really bugs me when things aren’t aligned, aren’t Highlights achievements of the youth today, done the way they should be done. That restlessness has really showcases people who seek to create a driven me full stop. For as far as I can remember it’s driven me to brighter future for the youth and reveals start businesses, consult with other people on businesses to start brands and to move on. I’ve started all sorts of things that solve hidden gems from the past who helped to problems. Initially it used to annoy me that I was so annoyed at make the world a better place. everything.

Whereas now, I see it as a bit of a super power. I’m never satisfied with something. People think this project is done or this logo is done and I’ll be like “well couldn’t you change this couldn’t you change that?”. That kind of analytical nature, if you like, is something, I guess I’ve been honing. Again, I don’t really think about myself as a high achiever who needs to do amazing things. I never think of that. I just know I have this restlessness which I have to satisfy in some Name: Rhea Dehaney regard. Right now, looking after this mission based Nicknames: Ree, Reere e charity is one of the ways I satisfy how we do Age: 20 missionary work and how we kind of re- imagine Born: Birmingham, UK Fav place: Jamaica (sunse the mission field. t beach ) Fav music artist: Monte ll Fish Fav colour: Red Likes: Singing, graphic design, spending time with Jes us, aesthetic photos, 90’s fashion, 90 s films Dislikes: Pineapples, clic kbait YouTube videos

“One of the most important keys to success is having the discipline to do what you know you should be done, even when you don’t feel like doing it.”

Founder and Director of Our God Given Mission (OGGM), Founder and Director of the Becoming A Man Project andEditor In Chief of The Common Sense Network.

RW: As a writer and a university student I know that balancing my work life and my career can be extremely challenging. I’m aware that you are an excellent public speaker, an organiser, and a founder of a missions based charity. From the outside looking in, it seems like you have always been a high achiever. as a young man was this ever a challenge for you and how do you maintain accomplishing your goals?

MO: That is very kind of you, thank you very much. I’ve been working since I was 13. I

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RW: I like that. You have built so much over the years is there one achievement or a contribution you are most proud of?

MO: Oh no, you asked me one of the hardest questions ever! What am I most proud of? Again, my brain isn’t wired that way. So I never really think about successful moments. I really don’t think about these things. So I don’t even know?

Whatever I pick now will just be something random, but I’ll have a go. (Laughs) In an odd way completing stuff makes me feel better. So when we finished our yearly retreats I am always quite proud. We’ve spent months obsessing over something that’s now completed. So it just feels like, wow! We’re done. I like completing projects, completing events, completing cycles. I just like finishing. That gives me that kind of euphoric feeling. The last time was probably when I finished our last year’s retreat with 450 people in Wales. I just remember driving back to Manchester, where I live, and I just thought good job. Like we did that, that was brilliant, and that was the end of it.

RW: According to the Lambeth Collectives Black Health and Well-being Commission, black men are 17 times more likely to be diagnosed with serious mental health issues. Mental health is very common in the black community but in most cases it is never spoken about. Previously, you opened up on the struggles that you faced with anxiety. Why was this important for you to share this online and how did you overcome anxiety?

MO: I mean I’m not an online guy like that. Yes I am online for business purposes. But I am not like an online socialite of any kind. I always wanted to be a real- model not a role- model.

As much as you can, because of course you can’t just be fully

transparent online. There’s just not enough of a nuance on there for people to understand. But you wanna share as much as you possibly can to help as many people as possible. The stats you just mentioned are very important. I think it’s very key to see black figures online. People who are kind of online beings, so to speak, to just share their full story and not just bits and bobs of it.

So that’s why it was important for me to share it really, because it might help a younger guy out there.That is it. I don’t think I am a hero or trying to be like a thought leader. I just thought I’d share an experience. It may help somebody else out there. In terms of how I overcome it, it’s not really about overcoming for me. I’m someone who likes things done in a certain way and that does cause me anxiety trying to manage and micromanage people’s perceptions trying to micromanage what I am putting out. How it’s being perceived what people are thinking. I mean I’m always thinking about these things. I’m just on a daily basis, quite frankly trying to just tell myself to zone in, be in the moment, relax and take ownership of the output but dont take ownership of the response. Take criticism seriously but not personally and just try to learn how to be a bit more balanced on how I relate to other people’s perceptions. Especially about my work and stuff like that. So it’s definitely an on-going journey of reminding myself.

How to relax, how to chill out and all these kinds of things. The statistics you read out at the start are sad and I wish the black community would speak about these things more. Not just like depression and anxiety but even just general things about expectation and longing and desire.These are all things we feel.

They all have a mental weight so for me mental health is about talking about all those different things. Not just necessarily being like “are you depressed?”. Because that’s what everyone thinks hence why people do not have time for it.

RW: I agree. I think that is a relatable feeling that many people do feel. It is important to speak about it. You tend to encourage young people a lot and you have had the amazing opportunity to speak to over 100 black men about the future and you recently launched The Becoming a Man project. What is the main purpose behind the BAM project and why is it important for you to uplift young men in this generation?

MO: Right amazing question! Well, the whole point of BAM is to go into schools and to help young black boys specifically re-imagine what masculinity is. As I’ve grown up I’ve just learnt quite frankly that all the thoughts I had when I was young were just toxic. I mean, believe it or not, I grew up in a school called Woolwich Poly which is a great school. I mean, I have nothing against the school.

I like building things that solve problems. I think I have trained myself over a number of years to usurp pain and fatigue with discipline. I like getting things done even when I don’t feel like it.

However, the prevailing wisdom there was that young people were to be successful men, vaguely to be a rapper, or a sports person. I was going to be a sportsperson. That was it really. So, for the most part of growing up I thought that was all that was available to me. It was growing up and working with the youth parliament and working with the British Council, working as a UK young ambassador to the European Union. All these other projects that I’d be a part of made me realise that there is a lot available to me. It’s not just those two things I thought when I was young.

Twinned with lots of toxic traits about getting lots of girls, being the strongest, all these things that when you grow up you realise and ask yourself what was I thinking? So, part of my restlessness is helping people order their lives and so we are gonna go back to schools and help these young boys and young lads think about the future. Re - imagine what they think masculinity really is and what it means to be a man. I think masculinity is all about responsibility so we are going to speak about that and the importance of taking responsibility for yourself, but then after that taking responsibility for the world. And trying to change the world in a way you think it ought to be changed.

RW: That’s amazing! I think a lot of young men will benefit from that project.What would you tell your younger self? A young man, growing up with lots of ambition?

MO: I have 100 pieces of advice for my younger self (laughs) 100 things I could do better. I would just encourage myself, young self, young Mike to unplug from the matrix and what I mean is to kind of just unplug from society norms and rules and expectations and stuff like that. You know, clothes and money, girls and power.

Once you detach from all those different forces and you just ask yourself what do I actually want to do? And want to be? I think that’s when you start to see your heart thumping and it becomes very clear on what you ought to with your life. But you have to detach from all those different things. It’s very difficult when you’re young. People’s approval seems like a very sure foundation. As you grow older of course you learn that it doesn’t really matter about people’s approval. That’s what I’d encourage my young self to detach from the matrix and to start to ask some very pressing questions about what really motivates me.

What do I really care about, what do I want to be? What part of the world frustrates me?

What ideas excite me and to follow that trend rather than all the other things.

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Photo: contributed. Bakita Kasadha

Bakita: KK

SPEAK YOUR

TRUTH Meet Bakita: KK

Overcoming self-stigma to achieve your potential

[

Bakita Kasadha is a writer, researcher, health activist and poet better known as BAKITA:KK.

[

“No one can tell our stories like we can� underpins her why.

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Click for video

Lyrix Organix Performance This month I took part in the live stream event Lockdown Your Aerial Lyrix Organix is ‘a flag bearer for imagination, intelligence and innovation in live performance and arts education’. The organisation runs international music events and education art workshops.

Lyrix Organix is ‘a flag bearer for imagination, intelligence and innovation in live performance and arts education’. The organisation runs international music events and education art workshops.

R E T S U B SS STRE

9 1 D I COV

Hemsley Morris aka Benzly Hype is no stranger to the camera. He created and starred in the television drama Mi and Mi Kru, which first aired in Jamaica in 2009. The sitcom is based around his mother, Beatrice Morris who has sadly passed. In the show, Benzly moves out of his mother’s home and into his own house with his mother after a big win on the lottery. What transpires is hilarious.

Benzly recognised that social distancing, quarantine, economic hardships, and the loss of jobs because of COVID-19 is causing anxiety and stress. So he doing his part to ease the situation he has released all of the episodes of Mi and Mi Kru on YouTube free of cost.

New episode of Mi & Mi Kru 32

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Where is she now? Find out next week.

Credit: Hemsley Morris

s ‘ E P Y H BENZLY FOR

faith on tv

iChurch

Hey World It gonna get better

Churches that already had a strong, online presence raised the bar by preaching to empty pews.

On the upside they gained a new ‘homechurched’ congregation.

DO THE RIGHT THING

By Fela Durotype

A lie does Not become the truth, wrong doesn’t become right and evil does not become good, Just because it’s accepted by a majority

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33

Credit:Crowned Ladies

Prayer.

Dear Lord, Thank you for the wisdom you gave our ancestors that enabled them to survive.

They have shown us that even in the darkest situation they had hope.

They planned for a future and they utilised what they had in their hand to create it.

Teach us to apply that wisdom now during our dark days.

In Jesus’s name Amen.

Depends Whose Hand

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DNA of SURVIVORS Near Miss

Advertorial

Hypolink

Village Resort More Than Just A Resort ORIGINAL ART SHOW

convenient self catering ‘home from home’ kitchen spaces.

It offers weekly events like Yoga classes, Vegan cooking classes, Movie nights, Zumba dance and classes, Pool parties and also staged events.

HYPOLINK has a fully equipped stage and outdoor space for performing artists, wedding receptions and workshops.

The resort has a domed restaurant which is a hotspot for fine dining, with a panoramic roof terrace, indoor and outdoor bars, two restaurants, designer swim-up pool bar, live stage, treatment centre for mind, body and spirit. Also Wi-Fi, Yoga, Zumba and Cooking classes, and Movie nights makes HYPOLINK Village – more than just a resort.

Tailor-made Tours are on offer, as are excursions to various tourist attractions - all at affordable costs. The tour guide will be happy to tailor-make activities to fit your holiday requirements.

Special holiday packages are available, which means you can stay at HYPOLINK Village and other locations in Senegal or Guinea with flights, accommodation and transport included, please contact HYPOLINK on the details below.

COMING SOON

The Inside Story

H

ypolink Village Resort, is an exclusive, modern day, African Village which offers you a home-away-fromhome experience in a luxurious, Ecofriendly environment. Its renowned architecture is an exceptionally blessed detail with lots of African flair.

This unique ‘Smiling Coast of Africa’ resort, offers elegant oasis gardens, set in an ideal location, with the beautiful Kololi Beach only a short walk away. HYPOLINK is an exclusive venue for hosting weddings, private events and conferences.

Accommodation at HYPOLINK comprises of 10 fully equipped self catering apartments, with

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Hypolink Village Resort, is an exclusive, modern day, African Village which offers you a homeaway-from- home experience in a luxurious, Ecofriendly environment. Its renowned architecture is an exceptionally blessed detail with lots of African flair. This unique ‘Smiling Coast of Africa’ resort, offers elegant oasis gardens, set in an ideal location, with the beautiful Kololi Beach only a short walk away. HYPOLINK is an exclusive venue for hosting weddings, private events and conferences. Accommodation at HYPOLINK comprises of 10 fully equipped self catering apartments, with convenient self catering ‘home from home’ kitchen spaces. It offers weekly events like Yoga classes, Vegan cooking classes, Movie nights, Zumba dance and classes, Pool parties and also staged events. HYPOLINK has a fully equipped stage and outdoor space for performing artists, wedding receptions and workshops.

Matthew Hypolite the owner, was born on the cusp of Virgo and Libra, in the Spice Island of Grenada during its worst ever hurricane, hence his nickname Stormy. He came to England in his early years and grew up in SW6 Fulham. He is very creative, with a “just do it” can-do attitude.

His studies and working life have revolved around the arts, music, property and community development. He discovered Gambia in 2005 and purchased what is now HYPOLINK Village, during his first two weeks on holiday.

The resort was fully developed, designed and built by Matthew, alongside local workers, and a learning experience was had by everyone. They all acquired new skills and working techniques, using new materials and building in an environmentally friendly and sustainable way 36

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Contact Information HYPOLINK Village Resort, Palma Rima Junction, Bertil Harding Highway, Kololi, The Gambia UK: +44 (0)7444 337 980 Gambia: +220 788 9883 WhatsApp: +447752151551 hypolinkvillage@gmail.com www.hypolinkvillageresort.com Facebook: hypolink village

Credit: Apple TV

Children’s tv

Credit: Cartoon Cabin

Snoopy in Space

Credit: KidPositive

Dr. Seuss - Cat In The Hat Nick’s Cricket

Tan a Yuh Yaad

Jamaican Puppets respond to the Carona Virus in song ‘Tan a Yuh Yaad’. Enjoy this catchy song in response to Carona Virus for our children.

Send us a video of your children singing along to the video and stay safe during this time. #NuffRespect #TanaYuhYaad #StaySafe

Benjamin Banneker For Kids Animated Kids Movie Educational Cartoon - Black Scientists and Inventors Transform your viewing...

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Relax

LAUGHTER

GOOD FOR THE SOUL

Quarantine Accapella

re Travel in the futu

Social Media has opened the door for people’s creativity to be shared in a way that decades ago was not possible.

Oops

Helping Hands No Mask Section

Goat in charge 38

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Social Distancing

Empty House

Oops

Health over W e

alth

It’s in hear somewhere

Preparing for my first trip to the restaurant

Alicia Keys My House on the Late Show with Stephen Colber

Benny Hill Wishing Well

Green is nice

First Child

Eyeball

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39

Sports Arrow

OMAR BECKLES!

By Josh Grant

Recently, Grenadian Shrewsbury footballer and his wife Dahlia Beckles just had a baby girl! Love and congrats goes out to the family. It’s some good news despite the current circumstances.

T

he 28-year-old centre-back is considered a late bloomer after only really playing football around 14. However, this ’late bloomer’ quickly raised his game and quickly became a professional.

At the age of 17, he joined Millwall academy where he stayed until 2010 when he moved to the Spanish club Jerez Industrial. After playing at the club for a year, he moved back to England and floated around nonleague clubs (AFC Hornchurch and Boreham wood to name a few).

Slowly, but gradually, he built his reputation in the football industry joining National League club Aldershot Town in 2015. While there he earned 45 caps. The following season he would go a class above as he joined Accrington Stanley (league two team at the time) for a season where he would get 43 caps and 3 goals. Surprisingly, he would then leave Accrington the next season and join League One club Shrewsbury Town, where he has settled and still plays, at the time of writing.

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Despite a jumpy career, he recently picked up an interest/passion as an ambassador and student mentor for WSEC Academy.

WSEC Academy is an education program in partnership Ebbsfleet United Academy to provide a level 3 BTEC, traineeships and a full football education for 16-19-year-olds who want to get involved with football. Omar Beckles is one of three of the student mentors, with Emile SmithRowe (Arsenal FC) and Aiden O’Brien (Millwall). It’s a great movement for young people to be involved in.

Love goes out again to Omar Beckles’ family for their newborn daughter. Until next time, watch this space.

Credit for RPReply video LeDulan Productions

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IT’S YOUR TIME TO WRITE YOUR OWN PAYCHECK WE DON’T PAY A BASIC YOU GET 30% COMMISSION ON SALES AND BONUSES ON TARGETS WE ARE WEEKLY SO YOU START EARNING IMMEDIATELY AND WE ARE GROWING FAST IF YOU ARE A CONFIDENT, PROFESSIONAL, SOLUTION-ORIENTATED PERSON WITH INTEGRITY AND SIMPLICITY AND YOU ENJOY SELLING TO A GLOBAL MARKET IN MAGAZINES, NEWSPAPERS AND TELEVISION Send your CV with a short covering letter to COMMUNICATIONS@BUTTERFLYMAAG.COM

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Health & Exercise

SIMONE on ENDOMETRIOSIS

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NICOLA’S FUNKY DANCE WORKOUT

Last Laugh

Felix Dexter

British Comedian and Actor born in St Kitts, West Indies 1961 - 2013 Transform your viewing...

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GEORGE FLOYD AND ALL THE OTHERS For George and all who have drowned in the absence of justice We do not need masks for our pleas to be stifled you so arresting our own breaths withheld from our breathing we became known of drowning on land long before the panic of virus we became known of drowning by rope we became known of oceans in lungs we became known of ruptured organs we became known of too much of such and such white lies can’t mask the past no black lives became known of until we ourselves were gone we have not breathed since Thy Kingdom Come Freedom has its own perfume Justice its own colour the retribution will not be ours but we will all become known of its scent so pure it pervades the darkest heart.

Vengeance is Mine, and recompense; Their foot shall slip in due time; For the day of their calamity is at hand, And the things to come hasten upon them.’

Deut. 32:35

(c) A-dZiko Simba Gegele May 2020

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Doing The Right Thing....

Onyx News, Issue 5

Minneapolis Mayor Frey To County Attorney: Charge Arresting Officer In George Floyd’s Death