Why Are Women Mean to Each Other?
The Upgrade Mike Todd Vol. 2 Issue 37, 7th– 12nd May 2021
The Secret
Story Draw in conjunction with
From the
Credit:TheSistaShaniceShow
Credit: code.likeagirl.io
Editor’s desk
African Candidates for UK Local Elections Share their Vision for Transforming local Politics By the time you read this, the votes will have been counted, but they still need your support – there is always next year. Institutional racism, deportation, police harassment, discrimination and poor quality service delivery across all sectors to the UK’s African / Black community are topics hot on the list of many African households. There is an increasing number of Africans stepping up as independents and political parties to address these issues. At this political event, we hear from some of those candidates who are putting themselves forward to be the change we want to see for an improved society.
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Black History
Library
Fayida’s Black History in 60 Seconds
Sheedi Mela:
Africa, Pakistan & Sacred Crocodiles
$75 Million
Beach Property Returned to Family 100 Years Later
The Battle of
Lewisham
Manhattan Beach in California is famous for its sun-kissed beaches. But it’s marred by an ugly history: a huge chunk of beachfront property was taken from a Black family 1912.
Credit: Inside Edition
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Cover
Story
The Secret
Story Draw
By BM Cooper-Chambers
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BM: Ore, Let’s get the story behind the story. Who are you? OO: I define myself as a family man, I’m a parent, a dad, husband, and that’s kind of what defines me, what I identify as, it’s what gets me up in the morning. BM: You were born in London? OO: Yeah, I was born in London. My parents are from Lagos. Born in London and grew up in Dorset, of all places. East Dorset, in a Minster town called Wimborne. I’m fortunate to have had that upbringing and that childhood. I think that I thrive from that uniqueness. I’ve always felt of myself as being an odd one out, not that that felt like a bad thing. BM: So how did you get into The Secret Story Draw? OO: Well, they got in touch with me about this brand-new initiative to get people from underrepresented communities, from Black and Asian minority ethnic communities, and offer the winners paid partnerships in the children’s media industry. They are looking specifically at illustrators and animators and people who love drawing as their passion, and they have a natural talent for it, a real skill for it. And they love doing it. And I think what they identified is that, for people in our community, the idea of having that as a job, there’s this gap. People just don’t see it as something to aspire to, that they can actually do it for a living. It seems quite fun, and it seems a bit pipe dreamy, but this is a way of going out to that community and going, “Not only can you make your passion your job, but also you can do something that you love.” And the all the old saying that, “You do a job that you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.” BM: How does it work then? Has it started already? OO: Yeah, we’re looking for applications. The application deadline is the 28th of May We’ve
got some A-class people from the children’s media industry. They are writing bespoke first-time stories for applicants, and then the applicants provide their illustrations, provide their drawings or animation. And then, we come together, make some judgments, and then the winners are given paid partnerships within the children’s media industry. You put your work in front of these people, who’s to say that they don’t go, “They didn’t win, but I’ve wanted to find an illustrator who really encapsulates this particular story. Can I get in touch with that person? BM: How long is the internship? OO: Three months. Winners, plural. BM: This is excellent. Is it open just to people in the UK? OO: Yes, it is. It’s for people in the UK, over 18. Other than that, it might feel like it might be one for young people or people coming out of school, but we are not. It’s not age-group specific after 18. Transform your viewing...
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What is the Secret Story Draw
BM: So it’s never too late if you are in your 50s, 60s, 70s and beyond. OO: Exactly. Last Sunday, Disney Pixar film Soul won Best Animated Feature at the Oscars. I was speaking to Graham Norton, one of the leading characters on it. It was a change for Disney because they identified the gaps in this story; it was about this black jazz musician, but they recognised that there weren’t enough black illustrators working on the film. BM: It’s about joining the dots. You said earlier that people might be very good at drawing, and not realising it’s a career that they can earn a living from and enjoy what they’re doing. Who came up with the idea? OO: I’m not sure about that one. I know that as soon as I came in, I was like, “ how are these people? This concept is great to put this thing together and connect all of these amazing people, Keith Chapman, Paw Patrol, Gillian Cross, the writer behind The Demon Headmaster, Adam Redfern, The Adventures of Paddington, Axel Scheffler from The Gruffalo. 6 Transform your viewing...
These guys have been in the game for a long time. And I guess what great, and I can’t speak on their behalf, but they identify something like this as being so important that they want to give their time. And I think that’s a vital thing because if the leaders in the field are identifying, we have a problem, we want to try and be part of the solution, then I think that’s one way to move forward. BM: When will The Draw be made? OO: It’s going to be in the summer. BM: So, what’s next for Ore? OO: Well, getting out of the house, Bev! I’m off, and I’m putting my runners on. I’m going as far as I can go before Boris pulls me back in. So, I’m doing a tour of The Rocky Horror Show, and I’m playing Brad Majors, which starts in July. I’ll be touring that for a few months and then, as I said at the very beginning, trying to get back to what I do to provide for my family. Because as much as I’ve loved it, which is very important, the big takeout from the year was spending quality time with my family. It will never happen again, guaranteed. Part of my identity is being able to do what I do to provide for my family, so I can’t wait to get back out there.
Freedom
Is Mine
By FAYIDA JAILLER
Ireland
cultivated on plantations in the Caribbean by an enslaved work force were exported to Ireland. In 1779 Dublin parliament campaigned for plantation goods to be shipped directly to Ireland, rather than via British ports. This can be seen in the 1780 print of 1780 Hibernia free trade drawing Hibernia (the Latin name for Ireland here personified as a woman) ccording to the 2016 census, the Afroholding a banner bearing the words ‘Free Trade’. At Irish population is almost 65,000 people. her feet kneel three figures offering gifts including Records show that there has been a an enslaved African. small black presence in Ireland since the 1700s, mainly in major cities and towns such as As much as Ireland was a part of the Limerick, Cork and Dublin. Transatlantic Slave Trade, the island was also visited by a number of well-known former One of the earliest accounts of a enslaved people turned abolitionists, black presence on mainland Ireland including Olaudah Equiano, Charles was that of Tony Small, a freed Lenox Remond and Frederick Douglass. enslaved African who had saved the Irish aristocrat Lord Edward FitzGerald Historically in Ireland, countless after the battle of Eutaw Springs in the mixed-race and Afrodescendant children American Revolutionary War. After the have suffered abuse in institutions run battle Tony accompanied Lord FitzGerald by the Catholic church. The majority of to Ireland and in 1786 his portrait was documented cases were of children born painted by artist John Roberts. to white Irish mothers and African and Caribbean fathers in the 50’s and 60’s, It was the British Royal dynasty of the Frederick Douglas who were subsequently put into care where Stuarts who introduced Ireland to the slave they received abhorrent abuse and racist treatment. trade. After year in exile in Europe, the Stuart king One victim of such treatment, Rosemary Adaser, Charles II returned to England in 1660 and founded went on to form the Mixed Raced Irish Association, the Royal Africa Company, which shipped more which today has hundreds of members. The group enslaved Africans to the Americas than any other have spoken openly of the endemic racism they institution during the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Irish faced both within the care system and in wider Irish names can be found on the list of RAC workers, society. including Irishman Willian Ronan, who became the chairman of the committee of merchants at Cape Since 2014 Ireland has officially celebrated a Castle in modern-day Ghana. national Black History Month. Annual The Irish ports of Cork, Limerick celebrations usually and Belfast exported salted and include events across pickled food products to the the country, including West Indies to feed enslaved music concerts and Africans and plantation owners. discussion panels. In return sugar and tobacco
A
Rosemary Adaser by Irish Central
Tony small portrait by Thomas Roberts
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Cinema/Video
W
n o s ’ t a h
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t
e h
r c S
? n ee
Laughing on Purpose Credit:Michael Jr.
It has happened to so many of us that it seems normal Open Letter to the Film and TV Industry
Noel Cancelled Transform your viewing...
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First Match
Hardened by years in foster care, a teenage girl from Brooklyn’s Brownsville neighborhood decides that joining the all-boys’ wrestling team is the only way back to her estranged father. The film stars Elvire Emanuelle, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Colman Domingo, Jharrel Jerome and Jared Kemp. From producers Chanelle Elaine, Veronica Nickel and Bryan Unkeless, First Match is the first feature film for writer/director Olivia Newman. Credit: Netflix 10 Transform your viewing...
FACE MASK Credit: YAWA SKITS
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Why Are Women Mean to Each Other?
Former rivals and sports journalists, Jemele Hill and Cari Champion, come to the Table to discuss why Black women often don’t support each other, and how difficult mother-daughter relationships can lead to toxic female friendships. Plus, Jada shares her own painful story about being betrayed by a former female friend. Credit: Red Table Talk
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Selah and the Spades Credit: Amazon Prime
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Reggie’s Prayer
White stars as Reggie Knox, a pro football player who retires, frustrated because he hasn’t won a championship. Knox begins coaching a Portland, Ore., high school football program, where he befriends a troubled student. Credit: Encourage TV
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Viewer’s Choice
This week from John N. Richmond. UK
Georgia Blues: Blind Willie McTell
This documentary is a biopic of the legendary Georgia blues-man Blind Willie McTell. Credit: Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections
BLUES STORY: A Documentary Credit: Mark F.
If you want to share a special movie/ TV programme with the Butterfly Magazine viewers submit to: editor@butterflymagazine.net
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How Intimacy Coordinators Oversee Romantic Movie, TV Scenes
Movies have long had stunt coordinators to oversee action scenes. But In the era of #MeToo, there’s a new focus on how romantic scenes are filmed for movies and TV. It’s led to the rise of a new figure on set: the intimacy coordinator, who helps actors and directors choreograph and act out sexual encounters safely and effectively. Rita Braver talks with Alicia Rodis, of Intimacy Directors International, about how the HBO series “The Deuce” changed the way actors get up-closeand-personal. Credit: CBS Sunday Morning
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Intimacy on the Set Guidelines
Deuces Credit: Flavor Unit
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Black Credit: Courtesy of the artist
Arts
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reduced to the aesthetic of “blackness” in her art. By Efosa Osaghae
H
er works straddle the coasts of the film, ritual and geology. The eclectic combination of the three unrelated disciplines result in a uniquely formed canvas for Sabur to work from. She hails from St Andrew’s Parish, Jamaica but now based in Miami. As an artist accustomed to coastal life, the idea of planetary literacy plays an integral part in her work. Using Earth as her canvas, she plays around with temporality and the ephemeral nature of human life. Here she guides us through her thought process during an installation in 2018 where she uses the dishwasher as an anchor to discuss the identity of quasipermanent structures in ephemeral disasters. The idea of a dishwasher being a mainstay in the kitchen and remaining so during a hurricane plays around with the structure of the family home. Metaphors are rife in Sabur’s work and the installation serves as another example. Ephemerality not only plays a big part in her artwork itself, it played a big part in her art practise. Pre-2018, Sabur was an artist without a home. Not in the literal sense but she was an artist without a studio. Being forced to make her art either on the go or at home, she was eventually invited to join the Miami Art Center which provided her with a dedicated space. Sabur’s work has graced the world renowned galleries and institutions such as Pérez Art Museum, Miami; the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Detroit Sabur as an artist blurs the lines between reality and fiction through the intricate narrative thread of the fleeting human experience. An experience we deal with in the everyday but at the same time are exposed to via constructed stories through art. Transform your viewing...
Credit: Studio Shorts: Jamilah Sabur
Jamilah Sabur
Jamilah Sabur is another black artist not
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IChurch
The
Upgrade Mike Todd
The Upgrade we were let know that we need to have ALL THREE! If you ever need a reminder that you need the Full Trinity, The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit, this message is for you. Pastor Michael Todd is preparing us for what God wants to give us in our lives. But will you take the next step? Don’t know what we’re talking about?
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Laughter
It’s Hard To Be A Teacher At Times... TEACHER: ‘’Construct a sentence using the word “sugar’’ Pupil: ‘’I drank tea this morning.’’ Teacher: ‘’Where is the word sugar.’’ Pupil: ‘’It is already in the tea..!!’’ TEACHER: Our topic for today is Photosynthesis. TEACHER: What is photosynthesis class? STUDENT: Photosynthesis is our topic today.
Not Easy to be a Teacher !!!!! TEACHER: John is climbing a tree to pick some mangoes. ( Begin the sentence with Mangoes) STUDENT: Mangoes, John is coming to pick you... TEACHER: What do you call mosquitoes in your language? STUDENT: We don’t call them, they come on their own... TEACHER: Name the nation people hate most STUDENT: Exami-nation... TEACHER: How can we keep our school clean? STUDENT: By staying at home... TEACHER: One day our country will be corruption free. What tense is that?? STUDENT: Future impossible tense...
The Struggle Continues
Elephants at Play
Michael Jr.If Laughing in Church was IllegalLaughing on Purpose Clip
What’s the Answer? Transform your viewing...
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Last Word
African
Economics
