Happy New Year to all our readers
JANUARY 2023
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ISSUE NO. 1938 £2.50
WHO IS GOING TO MAKE IT BIG IN 2023? OUR PREDICTIONS PAGE › 36-37
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KEEPING MONEY IN THE COMMUNITY
BLACK CHURCH TAKES ON THE LARGE BANKS BLACK-MAJORITY churches are giving High Street banks a run for their money as they help the community start new businesses. The move comes as High Street banks - who have long been reluctant to give black entrepreneurs loans - further clamped down on lending amid an international financial squeeze. The Voice is also playing its part with plans to publish two more Black Business Guides in 2023. FULL STORY › Page 6
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CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY POPULATION DECLINES
THE CARIBBEAN population has dipped, census data reveals, with experts pointing to low birth rates, rising death rates and mixed relationships. Caribbeans were the only group to fall, with the white population remaining stable, and the African community recording a big rise. PAGE › 4-5
Inside THIS MONTH
Return Ethiopian Prince Poet Lemn Sessay campaigns for justice p12 What have Labour done for us lately? Fears over backtrack on pledges p20-21
ROUNDUP
News, views, stories & videos THE 10 MOST POPULAR STORIES ON VOICE-ONLINE.CO.UK
1. Hands off Ngozi
Supporters of Sistah Space charity boss hit out at racist backlash
2. Lady Hussey wants to explain her side
Royal row latest, as woman at the centre of the scandal speaks
Light at the end of the tunnel
3. Chunkz and Yung Filly to host MOBOs
News from UK’s top black music awards show
4. Sistah Space fighting for a safe space
Solidarity with Ngozi Terence Channer breaks down race hate p26
Black domestic violence charity breaking through barriers
5. Pressure on BBC over black shows
Beeb presenter on threat to African and Caribbean programmes
6. Freddie McGregor suffers stroke
Silver screen, gold notes Film music composer James Perry p38
Thankfully the reggae legend is making a recovery
7. Palace aide resigns over comments
Race row at Buckingham Palace
Prettii Prettii chung chung Seani B tips singer for a super 2023 p40 Afro hair in new dimensions The hair stylist turning heads p44
8. Shunned teacher wins payout
Black woman overtaken by less qualified white candidate
9. I saved 200 lives says Brixton gig man
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IS THERE light at the end of the tunnel? That is sure to be a common question on our lips as we enter 2023. It’s a question that has been asked countless times before by previous generations. Take the Windrush generation. This year is the 75th anniversary of the SS Empire Windrush landing at Tilbury. That generation must have wondered where the light was, as they faced racist attacks and signs on the window reading ‘No Blacks, No Irish, No Dogs’. But they did see light eventually. Through resolve, inner strength, and banding together as a community, they paved the way for future generations. So, as bleak as things may look now, in the midst of a cost of living crisis and systemic racism, hope shines bright, especially where we can make our own luck. Our frontpage highlights the example of the black church using their financial heft to provide loans when banks refuse. Last month, we focussed on heroes setting up foodbanks with cultural food items to help families in these hard times. There are many more examples of people giving us hope. While hope is crucial, movements are essential. The Black Lives Matter movement, and the civil rights movements of the past, have forced a change in the national conversation. Keeping the momentum going must be a key aim for campaigners in the year ahead. Organised anti-racism has always been about the collective, not the individual. As a collective, we can create anything we set our mind to. There are four million black people in Britain, the latest population census told us. That is a lot of collective power. We just have to harness it. It’s worth remembering that organised labour is a source of hope too. Strong unions bring about not just better pay, but a more equal society. As the graph (below) shows us, the top one per cent has got richer in direct proportion to union membership declining. The action of coming together as a community to help each other out, and workers uniting to demand better, are two sides of the same coin. Both give us hope that things can be better in 2023. Together we can use our light to find that light at the end of the tunnel. Happy New Year!
Concert-goer tells The Voice of his heroic act
10. Jeremy Clarkson condemnation grows
Outrage over former Top Gear presenter’s racist comments
This issue is 48 pages EDITOR Lester Holloway E. lester.holloway@thevoice mediagroup.co.uk
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JANUARY 2023 THE VOICE
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Year in review
What a year 2022 was!
The Voice celebrated its 40th anniversary, and the September edition was guest-edited by the then Prince Charles JANUARY
THE VOICE began 2022 with the message ‘Knives off our streets’. Campaigner Faron Alex Paul, pictured, who made it his personal mission to rid the streets of deadly blades after being stabbed nine times, criticised the lack of regulation on social media where many young people were buying weapons. In other news: > Britain’s top black trade union leader, Dr Patrick Roach of the NASUWT, appealed for the black community to “use our leverage” for change by joining a union. > Two-year-old Isaiah Gyamfi can read and write in Japanese, Spanish and French. Proud mum Jazelle videoed the evidence.
FEBRUARY
VICTIMS of historic sex abuse at a south London home visited by notorious paedophile Jimmy Savile spoke of their long campaign to get appropriate compensation from Lambeth Council. In other news: > We spotlighted the heroes running soup kitchens and foodbanks in the cost of living crisis. > What is adultification? After the Child Q strip-search scandal, we looked at the historical roots of this abuse. > ‘Cloud Gardener’ Jason Williams, pictured, explained how he turned his high rise balcony into a green oasis.
SEPTEMBER
IN ONE of his last acts as Prince Forty years of Wales, HRH Charles guestof Black British edited our September edition. Lives We entered this collaboration • SPECIAL ISSUE: Guest Editor -Prince of Wales because there was a parallel SHARED VISION between The Voice’s 40 years FOR CHANGE of campaigning, and the work of the Prince’s Trust, Highlights P included: > Double-page editorial from Friendly Games lights up Prince Charles praised the achievements of Britain’s black community. > Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley said the time for reparations was now. > Idris Elba on how the Prince’s Trust turned his life around. > Playwright Kwame Kwei-Armah reflected on his journey. SEPTEMBER, 2022 • ISSUE NO. 1934 | £2.50
OUT NEXT MONTH
“The Black Community is a source of inspiration to me”
Read Prince Charles’ article on page 2 & 3 ›
FORGOTTEN: Clockwise, from top left, Abel Kidane, Andrew Gill, Aisha Kabah, Christime Aguda, Fabian Ilo, Kristopher Foster, Daniel Wayzel, Sami Tafere, Lorraine Ridout, Raymond Kubwimana, Steven Durand, Thomas Ogunmuyiwa, Konjo Tesema and Haitham Abaker. At the time of going to press, these were just some of the black people who were classed as ‘missing’
Black people are almost five times as likely to be reported missing. A new report says police are failing to take cases seriously, sometimes with deadly consequences. Leah Mahon investigates
LACK PEOPLE have person reports were not acceptbeen found to make ed by the police, where conup a staggering 14 per cerns weren’t taken seriously, cent of missing people or missing people weren’t prireports across England and oritised. Families felt that their Wales while accounting for loved ones were criminalised, only three per cent of the pop- or that assumptions were made ulation, research has revealed. due to their race.” Missing People, a UK charity The damning report comes that supports missing people months after the high-profile and their families left behind, missing cases of black people, have unearthed the figures in a including Richard Okorogheye, landmark report on how racial and sisters Nicole Smallman discrimination affects families and Bibaa Henry made head- and Ms Henry, whose bodies were found in undergrowth in and when reporting a loved one lines. as missing. Both families involved ac- Fryent Country Park, northThe shocking findings, which cused the police of racism over west London after being bruincluded heart-wrenching sto- their mishandling of their ini- tally murdered in June 2020, claimed that racist attitudes ries of black families’ interac- tial missing person reports. tions with police, have now Mr Okorogheye’s mother, fuelled the response to her prompted calls for police and Evidence Joel, has previously daughters being reported as other agencies to be trained in alleged that when her son’s dis- missing despite the IOPC inveshow to better deal with cases of appearance was first reported, tigation concluding that racmissing black people in an ef- police “did nothing” and failed ism did not play a part in their fort to curb the racial inequality to take her concerns seriously treatment. However, it was found that that they experience. before he was found dead in In poignant testimonies, Epping Forest in Essex two there were multiple failings in many families shared that weeks later last year. filing their missing persons rethey felt their loved one going The Independent Office for port and that a call-handler on missing wasn’t treated as a Police Complains (IOPC) served duty made assumptions about priority, while others felt their four officers with misconduct the two sisters being on a picconcerns were not listened to notices, including the failure to nic a few hours early and the and did not receive the same add to Richard’s missing per- address of where one of them media coverage. son’s file that he was deemed a lived. Jo Youle, chief executive of high risk case because he had Many drew comparisons with Missing People, said: “We heard sickle cell disease. the media coverage and outabout situations where missing The mother of Ms Smallman pouring of grief for the two sis-
We heard about situations where missing person reports weren’t taken seriously or prioritised
@thevoicenewspaper
ters with that of Sarah Everard, a white 33-year-old marketing executive who went missing in March last year and was later discovered to have been murdered by a serving Metropolitan police officer. Josie Allan, senior policy & campaigns manager at Missing People, told The Voice that more research is needed to tackle the inequalities that black and other ethnic minorities face when interacting with the police.
DISCREPANCIES
“We think the more that’s known about the discrepancies in the responses and discrimination, the more police forces will be having to look internally about what’s happening in their area and what families in their area are experiencing,” she said. One police officer, whose ethnicity was not disclosed, admitted to the Missing People charity that white officers would only do criminal checks when dealing with ethnic minority reports of missing people. They said: “As one of very few minority police officers, I usually ended up dealing with black and minority ethnic
@thevoicenews
(BAME) missing persons and/or their families. Supervising officers would mark up and falsify records to show enquiries were being made. Children missing from secure homes were not given the priority. Vulnerable people were not given the priority. When it came to a white family, senior officers and the press would get involved. There was a stark difference.” Dominic Norton, the founder of Missing Black People, told The Voice that although black communities need to work with institutions like the police to combat the issue, he hopes organisations like his bridges the gap for vulnerable families across the UK. “It is an insidious culture [in the police]. I’m beyond the point of explaining racism to white people. I’m beyond the point of trying to justify and say this is racist and this is not racist. I care about talking to my people and I care about galvanising and educating my people,” he says. “It’s cultural for them [white people] and they can’t even see you. And especially when it comes to institutions like the police.” Speaking on the report’s
voicenews
findings, Catherine Hankinson, assistant chief constable and lead for Missing People, at the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), said: “Police forces deal with a large number of missing person cases each year and take the safeguarding of vulnerable people very seriously. “We recognise that some black families have felt that their concerns over a missing family member were taken less seriously. We are working proactively, in partnership with the National Crime Agency, leading academics, and the national charity Missing People to understand any potential issues of disproportionality and discrimination. “We take the findings from Missing People incredibly seriously and will work closely with them and our partner agencies to consider how best to collectively address concerns around bias and investigator training.”
To access support when dealing with missing
people reports, please visit missingblackpeople.com/
contact or call Missing People on 116 000.
www.voice-online.co.uk
MARCH
WE INVESTIGATED Brazilian butt lifts, described as the world’s most dangerous surgery, which are becoming increasingly popular. Black women, who travelled to Turkey for the operations, tell of their horrific experiences. In other news: > Shopping while black: campaigners call for the law to be strengthened to stop racial disparities in black consumers being accused of theft. > Outspoken author Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu slammed the ‘racial gatekeepers’ in Westminster who were gaslighting black communities by denying institutional racism.
TEN-YEAR-OLD Myles Harrison is following in the path of Sir Lewis Hamilton. The young riding sensation, pictured, said he had his sights set on Formula One. In other news: > Why black Brits are relocating to Africa and the Caribbean, as part of the ‘Blaxit’ movement. > Medical student Korrine Sky told of her terror at fleeing Ukraine when conflict broke out, and how she’s helping other Africans escape the warzone.
OUR special Windrush supplement celebrated the contribution of those pioneers, and the launch of a national Windrush monument at Waterloo staton. In other news: > An in-depth feature looked at the experiences of black Jews with both communities. > Commonwealth SecretaryGeneral Baroness Patricia Scotland gave a fiery interview where she hit back at her critics.
JULY
WE FOCUSED on the Commonwealth Games with a special supplement profiling the athletes and the involvement of the black community in Birmingham. In other news: > Several features on mental health explored a black-centred approach, and what reforms are needed to the system. > Record numbers of people are shedding slave names by deed poll. We spoke to those who had adopted new African names.
AUGUST
A SPECIAL 40th anniversary edition was dedicated to four decades of campaigning, celebrating and reflecting the black community. Former journalists told of their memories; celebs and public figures offered congratulations. Our features looked at how we covered stories like oppressive policing, business and enterprise, entertainment and sport.
Baroness Doreen Lawrence - Page 21
Pages 4 & 5
Erica Owaske - Page 48
Supplement inside - Pages 27-38
News feature
JUNE
PAGE 24
Idris Elba - Page 6
RINCE CHARLES, is guesteditor of this special issue to mark our 40th anniversary. The future king, in his editor’s letter, writes of his vision to tackle racial injustice and unfairness. He wrote: “You have welcomed me into your communities with wonderful enthusiasm and I am grateful that you have always been candid with me about the issues you continually face and how I might help.” We interview top figures about what it is like working with The Prince of Wales, often behind the scenes, on community initiatives.
4 | THE VOICE FEBRUARY 2022
The invisible minority BLACK people are five times more likely to be reported missing, and the authorities are failing to take cases seriously. We investigated the B stories behind the shock findings. In other news: > TV Countdown’s AnneMarie Imafidon spoke about overcoming cyber bullies. > Celebrated poet Benjamin Zephaniah said Britain was turning into a dictatorship. > And Liverpudlian Malik Al Nasir reveals how legendary singer Gil Scott Heron saved his life.
APRIL
MAY
OCTOBER
THE man who started Black History Month in the UK, Akyaaba Addai-Sebo, pictured reveals he picked October to coincide with the African equinox. In other news: > 1,000 years of black British history: Professor Hakim Adi and historian Robin Walker both give in-depth interviews. > Our trade union supplement looked at black trade unionism today.
NOVEMBER
ARE reggae stars being rippedoff? Singer Etana, pictured told us ‘yes’. We investigated. In other news: > Is Labour taking the black vote for granted? Pressure is growing on Sir Keir Starmer to tackle anti-black racism. > Afro-punk making a comeback. > Climber Deon Barrett is mountain high.
DECEMBER
THE BBC faced a backlash after corporation bosses began consulting on a plan to axe black local radio programmes. In other news: > Christmas in care, how one man is giving looked-after kids a festive time to remember. > Why don’t Christmas decorations look like me? The entrepreneurs making black angels.
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News Feature
Will the Caribbean community survive population decline?
T
HE CARIBBEAN community in Britain has faced a sharp decline in numbers, while African communities have surged, prompting fears that Caribbeans could eventually ‘vanish’. The Caribbean community were the only ethnic group to show a decline in the recent population census, with experts suggesting this could be because of low birth rates, more mixed relationships, and the older generation returning to the islands. To understand the rise and fall in Britain’s Caribbean population, a good place to start is history. Centuries before the Empire Windrush landed, black people had already formed a presence in Britain during the Roman conquest period, but most notably between the 16th18th century. The Tudor and Stuart eras saw a significant presence of Africans in London, many of them freed slaves and some revolutionary abolitionists. But several generations later this community had apparently disappeared, as mixed relationships quickly eradicated melanin and culture. After Windrush, the UK’s major cities became strongholds for its blossoming Caribbean communities, from Brixton and Notting Hill, to Handsworth, Chapeltown and St Pauls. Their vibrant culture changed the fabric of British society, influencing popular culture, sport, entertainment and public servic-
Low birth rates, more mixed relationships, and the elderly joining their ancestors are all contributing to fall in census numbers. By Leah Mahon es. Britain saw a steep rise in migration from West Africa to the capital in the 1980s, settling in areas like Peckam and Dalston. The 2021 census, recently released, shows the overall black population makes up 2.4 million (4 per cent) people living in England and Wales, a steep rise from the 1.9 million (3.3 per cent) recorded a decade earlier. However, while the African population has grown to nearly 3 per cent of the population, the Caribbean population has dwindled to just 1 per cent. Jason Arday, pictured below, a writer and Professor of Sociology of Education at Glasgow University, said the reasons are not certain, but the “globali-
sation of Africans” has been huge, first from Nigeria and Ghana and then from war-torn Somalia. He told The Voice: “Over the last 10 to 15 years, primarily led by educational opportunities, there’s been a huge increase in the number of Africans coming to the UK, particularly with asylum seekers and refugees. By and large people are also seeking out better opportunities and becoming more socially mobile.” Prof Arday noted that Africans might be more likely to identify as African — and reject ‘Britishness’ — rather than tick black British on the form. “A lot of people identify themselves as black African, even though they may be British in the literal sense of the word,” he explains. “That has also meant the number in terms of Africans could be skewed purely because people are reclaiming some of their identity, and rejecting this notion of Britishness, instead of saying, ‘black or black British,’ they are determining themselves as Africans.” An increasing ‘Blaxit’ trend of black people moving to live
and work in the Caribbean, and Africa, could also be contributing to the census findings. Blaxit can also be seen in the trend to Africanise names, shedding the ‘slave name’ link, which has accelerated since the xenophobic Brexit campaign. “People are either leaving these shores as a mode of protection or they are reclaiming some sense of identity in rejecting imperialistic and empirical views around what it means to be British, and the fact that that narrative is only ever constructed by white British people,” Prof Arday adds. “And as a black or ethnic minority person, if you’re not compliant or submissive to that characterisation of what a British person is, then I guess what you’re told is if you don’t like it, you can leave. So a lot of people
get to take it upon themselves, if they have the economic means and the social capital, to take themselves out of what’s becoming an increasingly violent situation for black people.” The hostile environment, with frequent deportations to Jamaica, and the Windrush scandal could also be the cause for the decline, he suggests.
STEREOTYPING
Louise Owusu-Kwarteng, a Professor in Applied Sociology at the University of Greenwich, says the “good immigrant” rhetoric could be adversely impacting Caribbean communities more. “Nowadays there are very specific ideas about what they see [the government] as a good immigrant and what they see is a bad immigrant,” she told
The Voice. “I wonder whether the long-term stereotyping of African-Caribbean people has played into that and contributes to the general restrictions of people. Caribbean people have lived here for longer and so it’s taken a while to build up those stereotypes.” An increasingly elderly cohort within the Caribbean population could also be part of the decline. The Windrush generation, and some of their children, are joining the ancestors. Office of National Statistics data shows that from 2007 to 2019, the live birth rate for Caribbeans fell by 26 per cent, a stunning drop. By contrast, African births fell by just three per cent. On top of birth rates dropping, elders passing away, and Blaxit relocations, there is the matter of mixed relation-
JANUARY 2023 THE VOICE
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News Feature
FEARS FOR THE FUTURE: Could the community that gave us the Notting Hill carnival, left, eventually fade away? Above, Nigerian singer Fireboy DLM is part of the Afrobeats movement of which Africans are fiercely proud (photos: Getty Images); right, Professor Louise Owusu-Kwarteng says the “good immigrant” rhetoric could be adversely impacting Caribbean communities more
ships producing more black mixed heritage children, some of which will go on to be in relationships with white people. A person with two black parents could have grandchildren who might ‘pass for white’, and if they have relationships with a white partner, the great grandchildren will very probably not be a visible minority. As some can end up grandparents by their 40s, you can see how quickly this transformation can take place. Census figures in 2011 show that the mixed heritage population has rocketed, and the most likely group to be in an inter-ethnic relationship overall were white and black Caribbean people (88 per cent), who were closely followed by 79 per cent of white and black African people. Mixed or multiple ethnic
There’s a generation that don’t necessarily identify as Caribbean or African groups have grown by three per cent (1.7 million) from the 2.2 per cent (1.2 million) first recorded ten years ago with mixed white and black Caribbean people still being the most popular mixed-race identity in 2021. Nigel de Noronha, a Research Associate at the University of Manchester, told The Voice: “It’s much more normal for people to be in mixed relations now. Overall, there’s around two and a half million mixed heritage people in the country. Although mixed [black] Caribbean and white isn’t a massive component
of that, it’s significant in the way that change has happened.” Prof Arday believes the mixed-race population has been on track to become the largest ethnic group in the UK for the last 50 years. But he says one of the underlying reasons so many black men are with white women is the way society portrays black women. “There’s a demonisation of black women that has happened historically. There’s misogynoir, there’s often really discriminatory, disgusting, sexist narratives around black women that feed
into a lot of colonial hangovers around black women. Whiteness is seen to demonstrate success. Having spoken to black men in my research, this is what they say. That inter-fusion of society is going to be more and more of a thing. I don’t think that’s a bad thing, but I think that it’s important that people are doing it for reasons of love and not reasons of status or capital. “I actually know people personally that say ‘I’m going to make this choice, because I want to be more socially mobile. So, I’m going to marry a white middle class woman, because I’m from a working class background. And in doing that, I’m basically securing my own future and potentially generations that come after me.’” The question now is whether the decline in the Caribbean
population will continue to decline, or stabilise and increase in the future. All the indications point to a further decrease, but it may be more difficult to measure in the future because the UK government has now discontinued the once-a-decade census.
CULTURE
Given how quickly ethnic groups can disappear over four short generations, some commentators believe the future of the Caribbean community needs to be discussed. Could the community that gave us the Notting Hill carnival, and whose Caribbean culture has embedded itself into the British way of life eventually fade away? Today Africans, who in past decades often adopted Caribbean culture, are more proudly African. The Afrobeats move-
ment is proof of that. However, Prof Arday argues that the contribution of Caribbean people to Britain “has stood the test of time”, and believes the Caribbean and African communities can come closer together. “The most important thing is what community means, and how we work collectively as a people to really address and penetrate really violent legislations that undermine our egalitarian ideals as black people. “There’s a generation of people coming through that don’t identify necessarily as West Indian or African; they identify as black. They interfuse the idea as Caribbeans and Africans all being kind of the same thing. That redefining of black means that this generation is working collectively together, that cohesion is slightly different.”
6 | THE VOICE JANUARY 2023
Finance
Church on the money Black churches are keeping cash in the community and helping businesses thrive. By Vic Motune
C
HURCHES HAVE long played an important role in black communities. Despite the hardships that the Windrush generation encountered as they adjusted to life in Britain, many found a sense of community and comfort in the church. But the role of the black church in helping create economic mobility and generational wealth has largely been overlooked. Church members would pool their resources to form ‘pardner’ schemes or credit unions — a cooperative that acts like a banking service. The success of these organisations meant that congregants bypassed the discrimination of mainstream banks while buying property, being able to afford to send for their children in the Caribbean, or launch a business. The global protests that followed the death of George Floyd in May 2020 sparked an intense national debate about the links between economic and racial inequality. Mirroring what was happening in the US, individuals and community groups in the UK backed up their words with action by moving their money away from banks and into organisations such as the Pentecostal Credit Union (PCU) — the UK’s largest black-led credit union — as part of a powerful display of economic solidarity. “We certainly experienced a spike of new customers in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder” says PCU’s CEO Shane Bowes. “This has coincided with recent reports over the past year or so that loan applications from small black businesses are more likely to be turned down by mainstream banks than businesses run by people of other ethnicities. “These negative outcomes, in addition to the issues that came out of the George Floyd protests, have increased the number of people taking their money out of banks or
coming to us as their first port of call.” The trend also reflected a growing debate about how best the black community could achieve generational wealth. According to a December 2020 report by think tank Resolution Foundation, people of African Caribbean heritage typically hold the lowest wealth (a median figure of £24,000 family wealth per adult), which amounts to less than one eighth of the typical wealth held by a person of white British ethnicity (£197,000 family wealth per adult). The goal of improving the bleak outlook painted by these statistics recently led the PCU to launch a new drive aimed at millennials. GiftBox! is a suite of financial services aimed at helping young people make long-term choices about their personal finances that will ultimately help them achieve goals such as getting out of debt, creating wealth, or becoming entrepreneurs As well as offering competitive loans and high-interest savings accounts to members, who do not have to be Pentecostal churchgoers, GiftBox! will run Money Masterclasses aimed at improving members’ financial literacy and entrepreneurial skills. Although the PCU’s story is unique, it will sound familiar to many black Britons.
CONTROVERSIAL: Black churches in the United States have been criticised for embracing ‘prosperity gospel’
It was founded in 1980 by Rev Carmel Jones, a minister in the Church of God in Christ. He wanted to help black people, in particular members of the Windrush generation, to bypass discrimination they faced from mainstream financial institutions when trying to obtain funding for projects such as launching businesses or building new churches.
ASSETS
The fact the credit union had members who knew each other and felt morally obliged to repay loans because of this helped the organisation to grow quickly. The credit union model also allowed members to save and lend money in a way that kept it circulating within the community, rather than enriching a few wealthy shareholders at the expense of others.
Today the PCU has assets of £13 million and is part of a growing sector. According to Bank of England’s data released early last year, 1.93 million people in the UK are now members of a credit union, an increase of more than 22,000 compared to the same period in 2021. Bowes says supporting aspiring business owners is vital to the long-term economic welfare of the community. “Anywhere you go in the world you’ll see a community like a Little China or a Little India for example,” he says. “And within those communities you’ll see a bedrock of entrepreneurship. You’ll see shops, you’ll see businesses, you’ll see a hotbed of activity. That community is being driven and financed by its entrepreneurial spirit. “So we believe that in order to drive forward the economic
empowerment of our community, entrepreneurship is really important.” Mark McIver, owner of barbershop business Slider Cuts, says the backing he received from PCU was crucial to helping his business get off the ground. “When I started my business I was struggling to find funding and get loans from places because they felt I had maxed out on my credit,” he recalls. “PCU looked at me, looked at my situation. They had a conversation with me instead of what the mainstream banks did when I approached them, which was to rely on a computer to make a decision and then ultimately say no.” Recent years have seen criticisms levelled at black churches both here and in the US over a growing embrace of what has been called ‘prosperity gospel’. SUPPORT: Mark McIver and Jemma Regis have both received backing from the Pentecostal Credit Union; inset above, PCU’s CEO Shane Bowes
Unlike the focus on social justice and tackling discrimination that marked black church leadership in the 1950s and 60s, prosperity gospel followers believe God wills those who are “born again” to be materially wealthy and free of disease. Its popularity over the past two decades has seen the emergence of celebrity ministers who create wealthy megachurches and preach theology critics say supports a vision of capitalism that has been devastating to black communities.
FOCUSED
The view that organisations like PCU — and black churches in the UK — reflect this theology is one that author and entrepreneur Jemma Regis rejects. Regis is the founder of Jemz Cake Box as well as two other businesses and, like McIver, worked with the credit union to successfully launch her companies. “When my mum died in 1987, they were instrumental in my dad just holding on to the property our family had,” she recalls. “When he couldn’t get support from anywhere else, they were there. “They’re not driving around in massive jeeps or living in sixbedroom houses. They are very much community focused. “They want to support the community and they have the heart to help people who really can’t get that support from elsewhere.”
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News
Every death a tragedy We remember those who were taken too soon. By Sinai Fleary
F
ORTY-TWO BLACK people were murdered in London over the past 12 months. While this figure is a 21 per cent decrease on the previous period – or 11 less homicide victims – it is still a tragedy for the black community. Black victims of shootings accounted for a staggering 67 per cent of gun homicides this year. This equates to a 45 per cent reduction in fatal shootings compared to 2021. Knife homicides decreased by nine per cent over the same period. According to the Metropolitan Police, there were a total of
28 recorded homicide victims between the ages of 10-24, and 16 of these young victims were black. Within this age group, black fatalities went down by a third. Last year, there were a total of 30 teenage killings in London, making it the deadliest year in more than a decade. Despite the decrease in homicides in 2022, too many people within the black community have sadly lost their lives as a result of knife and gun crime and unrelenting violence. Here are the names and faces of some of those that were taken from us.
JANUARY
LESMA JACKSON, 84, was found suffering from multiple injuries at a residential address in Stainton Road, Enfield, at 2.15am on Sunday, January 30. She was pronounced dead a short time later.
FEBRUARY
DONOVAN ALLEN, 18, was found with stab wounds at a property in Ayley Croft, Enfield, north London, on Monday February 7. Officers and paramedics from the London Ambulance Service attended the scene but despite their best efforts, Donovan died at the scene.
NAOMI HUNTE, 41, was fatally knifed inside her own home in Woolwich, south-east London, on Valentine’s Day. Police and paramedics rushed to the property in Plumstead, but Ms Hunte was pronounced dead at the scene. JAMEL BOYCE, 22, was stabbed in the heart and leg in 2016, when he was just 17. He died in a care home in February this year, prompting a murder investigation. MUHAMOUD MOHAMED MAHDI, 28, was fatally stabbed in Burnt Oak, northwest London, on February 18. A post-mortem examination found cause of death to be multiple stab wounds to the chest.
MARCH
TYLER HURLEY, 16, was stabbed on the number 173 bus at High Road, Chadwell Heath, near the junction with Woodlands Avenue, at 3.55pm on Monday March 14. He was taken to hospital but died in the early hours the following day.
APRIL
ROMMEL McKOY, 16, was stabbed in Hicken Road, Brixton, on Monday April 4. He died from his injuries in hospital 16 days later. TEON CAMPBELL-PITTER, 16, was found with stab wounds on Wednesday April 13, near to the Double Jab boxing club at the Moonshot Centre, Fordham Park — where he was a member. He was pronounced dead at the scene. ELLIOT FRANCIQUE, 20, died after being fatally stabbed by an attacker who forced his way into Mr Fancique’s home in Plaistow, east London. He died at the scene. Three generations of one family were brutally attacked at their home in Bermondsey, south London, Monday, 25 April. DOLET HILL, 64; her husband, DENTON BURKE, 58; pictured, their daughter TANYSHA OFORIAKUFFO, 45; and granddaughter SAMANTHA DRUMMONDS, 27, were all found with numerous stab injuries. All four members of the family were pronounced dead at the scene.
TYREECE DALEY, 22, from Tulse Hill, south London, died three weeks after he was attacked outside Beckenham Junction railway station on April 2.
MAY
IBRAHIM BAH, 34, was stabbed to death near the entrance of a bar in Greenwich, in the early hours of Sunday May 1. Officers from British Transport Police and the Met were called to the scene at 2.15am, and Mr Bah was declared dead at the scene.
JUNE
JEREMIAH SEWELL, 19, was attacked as he sat in a parked car at Beckenham Place Park in Lewisham, south London, just after 4.30am on Saturday July 16. Jeremiah took himself to hospital but later died from his injuries.
JULY
WAYNE PHILLIPS, 58, from West Hampstead, was stabbed to death at a birthday party in Ealing, west London, on Saturday July 23. Emergency services were called to the Star and Scorpion pub on Uxbridge Road just before midnight, and Mr Phillips was found in a critical condition. Despite their best efforts, he died at the scene. ERROL McKAY, 49, was found with 22 stab wounds in his home in Trinity Crescent, Balham, south London, at around 1.15am on Wednesday July 27. Despite the best efforts of paramedics
he was pronounced dead less than half an hour after medical professionals arrived on the scene. DANECHE TISON, 26, was shot outside a block of flats on Bruckner Street, Queen’s Park, west London, in the early hours of Tuesday July 19. Police were called to the location shortly before 2am, but found that Mr Tison had already taken himself to hospital. He received treatment but died a short time later. A post-mortem examination confirmed he died from a gunshot wound to the heart and had also suffered a gunshot wound to the back.
AUGUST
DESHAUN TUITT, 15, was stabbed in Highbury Fields, Islington, shortly before 9pm on August 4. He was treated by medics before being taken to hospital where he died a short time later. KACEY BOOTHE, 25, was found with gunshot injuries in Forest Rise, Walthamstow, and was taken to hospital in a private vehicle on Saturday August 13. Officers attended the scene and were told Mr Boothe had been taken to hospital. Despite the best efforts of medical staff, Mr Boothe died in hospital. TAKAYO NEMBHARD, 21, from Bristol, was stabbed at Notting Hill Carnival at around 8pm on Monday August 29. Officers became aware of a stabbing in Ladbroke Grove, under the Westway flyover and proContinued on page 10
Study at the world’s leading university dedicated to the social sciences lse.ac.uk
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News
Remembering victims of knife and gun crime
Continued from page 8
vided emergency first aid to Mr Nembhard until the arrival of paramedics. He was taken to a west London hospital, where despite the best efforts of medical staff, he was pronounced dead. Mr Nembhard was a rapper called TkorStretch.
SEPTEMBER
SHEA GORDON, 17, from Enfield, north London, suffered fatal stab wounds during a disturbance in Mile End, east London, just after midnight on September 4. Paramedics treated Shea and another 17-year-old at the scene, and they were taken to an east London hospital. Sadly, Shae was pronounced dead under two hours later. The second teenager’s condition was not life-threatening. MAXIMILLIAN KUSI-OWUSU, 29, died in hospital after being found with a gunshot wound in Kensington High Street, west London, in the early hours of Sunday September 4. Mr Kusi-Owusu was rushed to a central London hospital where he died shortly after 5.30am. He was a rapper and performed under the name M Lo. DAMI OLORUNTOLA, 23, died after suffering fatal stab injuries on Wednesday September 28, in Brookhill Road, Woolwich. KANE ONTRE ZASHEEM MOSES,19, below left, was found with stab injuries following a fight in Tottenham High Road, Tottenham, at around 5.30pm on Friday September 30. Despite the efforts of emergency services, he died a short time later. Scotland Yard said there was evidence of a firearm being discharged.
OCTOBER
SAYDI ABU SHEIKH, 23, right, died from gunshot wounds in a house in Henley Road, Ilford, on Tuesday October 25. ZAKARIYA JEILANI MOHAMED, 32, also died at the scene from gunshot wounds along with Mr Sheikh. Mr Sheikh and Mr Mohamed were rappers and were part of a group called Drillford.
TRAGIC: Maximillian KusiOwusu died in hospital after being found with a gunshot wound in Kensington High Street in the early hours of September 4 (photo: PA Images)
ADRIAN KEISE, 32, was stabbed during an altercation involving two groups of men in Lower Marsh Street in the early hours of Saturday October 29. Mr Keise was found near a block of flats in Frazier Street, in Lambeth. He was treated at the scene, before being taken to hospital. He died a short time later. GIVANI ESPUET, 21, was stabbed to death in the early hours of Sunday October 20, in front of party-goers outside a restaurant on Harrow Road, Sudbury, shortly before 2am. LAMAR SCOTT, 27, was shot after a car chase in Brixton, south London, on Sunday October 30. Mr Scott was better known as rapper Perm, and was the son of boxing promoter Dean Whyte. Deliveroo driver. GUILHERME MESSIAS DA SILVA, 21, who was knocked off his moped as he was making his last delivery of the day, also died during the car chase.
NOVEMBER
KEARNE SOLANKE, 16, was found fatally wounded in Sewell Road, Abbey Wood, south-east London, on Saturday November 26.
CHARLIE BARTOLO, 16, was found with fatal stab wounds in Titmuss Avenue, Thamesmead, on the same day. The capital’s Air Ambulance attended, but despite best efforts both boys died. It was later confirmed their deaths were linked.
DECEMBER
ABRAHAM KALLON, 24, was found with stab wounds at about 4.44am on Saturday December 10, outside King’s College Hospital, by police officers dealing with a separate matter at the hospital. Officers administered first aid and arranged for Mr Kallon to be treated by medics, but he sadly died at the hospital a short time later.
AROUND THE UK
In other parts of the UK, several fatal stabbings and shooting incidents also claimed the lives of people in horrific circumstances.
BIRMINGHAM
CLIFTON WAITE, 56, was fatally stabbed in Small Heath, Birmingham, on November 7. His brother, Lenville Waite was later arrested in connection with the death.
WEST MIDLANDS
ROMMELL HOLDING, 32, was discovered with stab wounds at a property in Newbury Lane,
Oldbury, West Midlands, at around 2am on September 11. Mr Holding was taken to hospital and put in an induced coma but died on September 25. CYNTHIA TURNER, 55, was found with serious stab injuries at an address in Hilton Road, Oldbury, West Midlands, on December 8. The 55-year-old mother-of-two died at the scene.
MANCHESTER
PAULO DA SILVA, 48, was found with serious stab wounds to his neck and chest on Saturday May 28 in Union Street, Oldham. Mr Da Silva was rushed to hospital by paramedics, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
NOTTINGHAM
RICARDO COTTERAL, 33, was attacked in Nottingham city centre on Sunday April 24. The father-of-two died after collapsing in nearby Lower Parliament Street.
LUTON
SAUL MURRAY, 33, was found at an address in New town, Luton, shortly after 5am on Sunday, February. A post mortem examination revealed that Mr Murray died from blood loss from a knife wound.
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| THE VOICE JANUARY 2023
Repatriation
Poet urges UK to return Ethiopia’s ‘stolen’ prince SAD: Prince Alemayehu was deeply unhappy in Britain (photo: Julia Margaret Cameron)
Award-winning poet Lemn Sissay calls for the remains of Prince Alemayehu, who died at the age of 18, to go back to his homeland. By Sinai Fleary
T
HERE ARE growing calls for the United Kingdom to return the remains of ‘stolen’ Ethiopian prince Prince Alemayehu. The young prince was deeply unhappy in Britain and died of lung inflammation, aged 18, after being captured as a sevenyear-old in 1868. He is buried in St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, but the chapel told The Voice it was impractical to retrieve the boy’s remains because it would disturb the remains of others. The Ethiopian government has previously called for the prince to be returned to his homeland. Prince Alemayehu was the only legitimate son of Emperor Tewodros II, who reigned as Emperor between 1818 and 1868 in Abyssinia — now Ethiopia. In April 1868, British troops invaded northern Abyssinia, during the Battle of Maqdala, also known as the Napier expedition. Following his defeat, the Emperor committed suicide rather than surrender. The young prince was taken back to Britain by Captain Tristam Speedy along with the looted treasures including sacred manuscripts. A lot of items were auctioned off before even reaching Britain and, as a result, may never be recovered. Award-winning poet and author Lemn Sissay, above, who is of Ethiopian heritage and has been campaigning for the return of the prince’s remains, said the prince’s story resonates with his own story, as he was also “stolen” from his birth mother. He told The Voice: “In any of the pictures of Alemayehu, he is never happy. “You are bringing a prince to England and all of his family has been killed, he is relative to no-
body. Everybody was staring at him because he was not the same colour as them — he was an object of curiosity. “They did the same to me! Touching your hair and licking their fingers and touching your skin to see if your colour would come off.” He added: “Ethiopia was never colonised, so the Ethiopian mentally is not one of someone who has been victimised, so this Battle of Maqdala is like a scar on the body of Ethiopia. “The Emperor, Haile Selassie I, had a very strong relationship with the Queen, Britain and the monarchy — he was loved here. “To the Ethiopian community returning the prince would symbolise everything which is good about the relationship between Britain and Ethiopia.” A formal request for the return of the prince’s remains was sent to Queen Elizabeth in 2007, by the then Ethiopian president Girma Wolde-Giorgis. However, the monarch sparked a diplomatic row in 2019 after refusing the request. Sissay said that one of the last things British-Ethiopian scholar Richard Pankhurst said to him before he passed away was to “get the manuscripts” — referring to stolen ancient Ethiopian manuscripts being held in British museums and libraries. His son, Alula Pankhurst, a social anthropologist and member of the Ethiopian National Heritage Committee, said the idea that exhuming the body might disturb the foundations of the chapel was “an excuse not to address the issue”. He revealed that several highprofile Ethiopians have demanded the remains be returned but their requests went unanswered. Pankhurst told The Voice: “He
would have wanted to go home and one has to consider what his wish was.” “There have been calls for him to come back and the response has been that the bones had been mixed up with other bones. “I don’t think that would be a significant argument because I am sure that they wouldn’t have completely mixed up the bones.
RESTING PLACE: St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, where Prince Alemayehu is buried (photo: Getty Images)
“I don’t think it would be difficult to identify the bones. I’m sure his remains would be kept in a casket separate from others because they know he was royalty.” Ethiopian Amhara activist Yodith Gideon, from Stop Amhara Genocide, said the prince’s remains should be repatriated back to Ethiopia. “What belongs
to Ethiopia should be returned to Ethiopia.” St George’s Chapel dismissed claims the Prince’s remains are mixed in with nine other people, stating: “That is not the case.” The chapel said the area where Prince Alemayehu is buried is the site of 47 people. According to the St George’s Chapel website, the prince is buried in the catacombs (a subterranean recess for tombs). The chapel said returning the remains would not be possible. A spokesperson said: “The Dean and Canons of Windsor are very sensitive to the need to honour the memory of Prince Alemayehu. However, they have been advised that it is very unlikely that it would be possible to exhume the remains without disturbing the resting place of a substantial number of others in the vicinity. “Conscious of the responsibility to preserve the dignity of the departed it is therefore, with regret, not something we can agree to at this time, but in recent years we have accommodated requests from Ethiopian delegations to
visit St George’s and will continue to do so.” In 2007, Ethiopia demanded the return of Maqdala-era artefacts from the Victoria and Albert Museum. The British Museum confirmed they had nine sacred Tabots from the Maqdala but are not on public display, in line with the strict rules of Ethiopian Orthodox Churches. A Tabot can only be viewed by priests in the Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Church. They also had several other objects that previously belonged to Prince Alemayehu, including the necklace pictured in the photo (above). A Museum spokesperson said: “Discussions with Ethiopian partners concerning the Maqdala collections are continuing and the museum is actively invested in these. The museum is also committed to thorough and open investigation of Maqdala collection histories, and engagement with wider contemporary dialogues within which these collections are positioned.”
AUGUST 2022
THE VOICE| 33
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| THE VOICE JANUARY 2023
News
ISLANDERS KICKED OUT BY BRITAIN FEAR CULTURE WILL DISAPPEAR
James Cleverly denies Chagos natives return to homeland
pletely ends.” In an open letter, HRW’s UK director Yasmine Ahmed accused the British government of having “no intention of conducting meaningful consultation with Chagossian people.” The campaign group Chagossian Voices said the people “must be at the centre of sovereignty negotiations concerning their islands.”
D
ISPLACED ISLANDERS in 2021 that the UK did not have from a British colony of sovereignty over the islands, leading Chagos Archipelago, off the Prime Minister of Mauritius to the African coast, react- urge Britain to end its “unlawful oced in outrage after the Foreign Sec- cupation” of the Archipelago. Despite this, Cleverly told the retary, James Cleverly, denied them a House of Commons last month he return to their homeland. had no intenThousands tion of handof Chagossians ing the islands were uprooted over after after British colthe Maurionists rented the tius governisland of Diego ment suddenly Garcia to the changed their United States to tune to supbuild a military port continued base. Islanders HANDS UP: Foreign Secretary occupation were brutally James Cleverly of the islands expelled from in the Indian their homes in Ocean. the 1960s and 70s. Campaigners say bilateral talks between Britain and Mauritius have no legal authority after a High Court Over half a century later, a United ruling in 2000 that it is Chagossians Nation’s special maritime court ruled who must decide the future of their
SOVEREIGNTY ADVERTORIAL
INVASIONS
UPROOTED: Chagossians demonstrate against the UK government in London islands. This announcement by Cleverly sparked condemnation from Human Rights Watch (HRW) who accused the Foreign Secretary of backtracking on a promise he
made, just weeks earlier, to “secure an agreement” for inhabitants to return back to their homeland. Exiled Chagossian David Victoire said: “Our culture and history must not be erased at the hands of
bureaucrats like so many before! Give us an internationally recognised referendum for our people.” He added: “My biggest fear is that one day Chagossian culture disappears and our existence com-
Commentators dismissed as nonsense media reports suggesting if Britain gave up the islands, China would take over. Tony Blair previously gave the green light in 2000 for Chagossians to return, but changed his mind shortly afterwards when the Iraq war began. America is keen to keep its unofficial network of AFRICOM army bases in Africa. Diego Garcia served as a launch pad for the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. The US military base on the island holds 4,000 troops, the biggest in the world. The Pentagon calls it an “indispensable platform” for policing the world.
Why you should apply for the FT’s Paul McClean Graduate Trainee Programme Martha Muir, Financial Times Reporter
H
AVING NEVER considered myself as a monarchist, I was bemused to find myself leaving my house at 5am and pressing through crowds on the day of the Queen’s funeral. Before the coffin passed through Constitution Hill, I interviewed soldiers and foreign journalists, as well as mourners draped in union jacks and dressed in bowler hats. Although much of the training period at the start of the Paul McClean graduate programme is spent in a classroom, trainees are expected to be reporters - with an eye actively looking out for stories - from the very start. We spent a week with the data team, discovering how to source and handle data, and bring stories like the US midterm elections to life visually. We learnt to read and spot red flags in the balance sheets of companies in the news and practised interviewing each other, taking turns to role play a corrupt CEO. During our first week, our writing instructor - a veteran reporter and crime author - sent us to St Paul’s churchyard to soak in the hustle and bustle of central London. Back in the training room, we used the sights and sounds of our trip to write stories about the return of city life after the pandemic. In between sessions, we had whistlestop meetings with editors and senior jour-
nalists, where we learnt about their career paths and asked for their advice on navigating the FT. On my first six-month rotation, on the markets desk, I have interviewed do-ityourself cryptocurrency miners and daredevil investors eyeing post-conflict Ukraine, as well as experts from some of the biggest names on Wall
“We learnt to read and spot red flags in the balance sheets of companies in the news” Street. Being an FT journalist gives you unparalleled access, and the collegiality of the newsroom means that colleagues are always willing to hear a half-baked story idea and give guidance on how to get it off the ground. However, my FT journey started with disappointment - and an opportunity. I had always been keen to be a foreign correspondent, so after I had graduated from the university the chance to join the FT’s network of 200 journalists based outside the UK was a pull. Because of this, I first applied to the graduate programme in 2021 and after several nail-biting rounds of interviews and tests, discovered that I had not been successful. Nonetheless, I was given extensive feedback and the op-
portunity to do a three-month internship on the technology desk, which I gladly accepted. The opportunity to try out business reporting for the first time and learn from the best of the FT’s staff was invaluable and set me up fantastically for a successful application the year after. Many of my colleagues started as interns or in administrative roles - which speaks to the FT’s commitment to spotting talent and training up would-be journalists. After markets, I’m excited to join three other teams at the FT, one of which will be in Paris, Brussels, New York or San Francisco. Although I’m still keen to be an FT foreign correspondent (hopefully in Jerusalem!), journalists are encouraged to try a range of different beats throughout their careers, so you don’t have to worry about being pigeon-holed into a specific niche. Many people think that the FT is not for them, due to its focus on business and finance. But I’ve discovered interests in topics like crypto that I didn’t know I had and the FT reports on everything from stocks to sport. If you’re keen on a fast-paced, varied and intellectually stimulating career, an application to the FT could be the right path for you.
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AUGUST 2022
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| THE VOICE
JANUARY 2023
Dotun Adebayo
Join the debate online voice-online.co.uk/opinion
Rate him or hate him - you can’t ignore him!
Time to take stock again Will 2023 be the time of step up and make it or reflect on what you’ve already achieved in life?
S
O HERE we are, 2023, the YEAR OF NO TIME TO WASTE. Especially when you get to my age, which is your age, which is our age — the age we live in. Personally, this is my YEAR OF WILL YOU STILL NEED ME, WILL YOU STILL LOVE ME WHEN I’M SIXTY-FOUR! But that’s not until the end of August. You see, at my age, life is an inventory of what you’ve done with your years, and New Year is a stock-taking. In the age we live in, you ain’t got time to waste. This year more than ever. With the cost of living and trying to make ends meet, the government has been telling us on a regular basis that this is not the year of prevarication. You can’t p*ss around. Particularly when you’ve got bills to pay. You’ve got to be at the top of your game. Of course, every year is the YEAR OF NO TIME TO WASTE… or at least should be. Not just for you and I, the everyday people in all of this, but also for the great and the good of our community for whom 2023 is also a year of seize the time. Diane Abbott will be 70 this year. Britain’s first black female MP will be SEVENTY. Unbelievable. Even though this political giant of the Labour Party seems to have been part of our lives forever, 1987 feels like just yesterday. Half her lifetime ago I was living in the North-East London constituency of Stoke Newington. And here I am writing about her at seventy. Incredible. 2023 is Diane Abbott’s YEAR OF I DID IT MY WAY. No doubt she will be furious at me for suggesting that 70 is a good age to become Baroness Abbott of Hackney/Stokey. But then what do I know? I’m the political pundit who
predicted that Kwasi Kwarteng would be the first black prime minister of the Conservative Party. James Cleverly, the foreign secretary — big year for him too. It’s decision year. A YEAR OF RAINBOW COALITION. He’ll be 54 in September. This is the year he has to prepare for the possibility of a vacancy at the top of the Tories before or just after the elections next year. He might be the British Sierra Leonean most likely to, but if he’s ever to get the keys to Downing Street, he’ll have to start sleeping with a coalition of strange bedfellows from all sides of the Party. But how much has his wobble ahead of the World Cup when he told LGBTQ people who might be travelling to Qatar to be respectful of the nation’s culture, been a faux pas too far? N a o m i Campbell is still Britain’s greatest global superstar. Who else? And she’s been rocking that position for a generation during which every year has been a pivotal year. But this is the YEAR OF MOTHERHOOD for the supermodel. She’ll be 53 in May and the early indications of what she’s chosen to share with the world of her relationship with her baby daughter, one can only conclude that motherhood changes us all. It’s like a mother and child reunion. Beautiful to see. I can’t wait to see the ‘new Naomi’ that emerges from being a single mum. Stormzy put down his marker early in his twenties. That’s the game he’s in. But in July this year he’ll be 30 and he’s been preparing us for the inevitable transformation into a more mature artist/poet/rhymer (whatever it is that he’s got going on).
Life is an inventory of what you’ve done with your years
LANDMARK BIRTHDAY: Diane Abbott, Britain’s first black female MP, will turn 70 this year (photo: PA Images)
This is his YEAR OF THE PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN. It happens to every artist. Every true artist. At
30, Bob Marley had to move on from Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh (no disrespect to these two legends) and transform
YEAR OF MOTHERHOOD: Naomi Campbell with her baby daughter (photo: Instagram); right, will Idris Elba get a licence to kill?
himself and his band from The Wailers to Bob Marley and the Wailers. It’s standard. As the decades of our lives put down their markers on our evolution. Massive year for you, big man. Dina Asher-Smith, fastest British woman on record and yet, somehow, in the big competitions, where the greats of her sport are judged, she seems to struggle beyond a bronze, the constant theme of her medal inventory. Surely, surely, surely, this year is her year (injury notwithstanding) to go one better at the World Championships in Budapest this August (by which
time she’ll be going on 28) and then who knows for the Olympics next year. 2023 is Dina Asher-Smith’s YEAR OF ‘GO DINA GO’ Idris Elba had his significant birthday last September but this is the year of ultimate significance for him. His YEAR OF I’M THE BEST JAMES BOND YOU’LL EVER SEE. Because at 50, if he doesn’t get the nod to play 007 this year he never will. If he does get a licence to kill, and goodness knows he deserves it, it will take him to another level in the film industry. Not just money. But also power. As the likes of Will Smith and Kevin Costner have found, this is the YEAR HOLLYWOOD’S ALL ABOUT THE POWER, BABY. Whatever this year is to you, make sure it counts. That’s all that counts. WAKANDA FOREVER!
DOTUN ADEBAYO, BRITAIN’S MOST CELEBRATED BLACK BROADCASTER, IS KNOWN AS THE KING OF THE NIGHTTIME AIRWAVES. ALL VIEWS HERE ARE HIS OWN. LISTEN TO HIM OVERNIGHT ON BBC 5 LIVE FROM 1-5AM SATURDAY MORNINGS - MONDAY MORNINGS & 1AM - 4AM ON BBC RADIO LONDON (WEDNESDAY TO FRIDAY MORNINGS). FOLLOW HIM ON TWITTER: @dotunadebayo
JANUARY 2023
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ADVERTORIAL
GETTING YOUR WINTER VACCINES IN PREGNANCY IS JUST AS IMPORTANT AS EVER Pregnant women are eligible for both a free flu and Covid-19 booster vaccine this winter unborn baby – even fatal. I’ve seen pregnant women with Covid end up in intensive care for months. They deeply regret not getting the vaccine and missing out on bonding time with their new-borns,” says Dr Savage. “There are new variants of Covid all the time and the flu virus can change Mum each year, so you need to stay ahead Shola Ilesanmi of viruses this autumn by making sure you have a booster for Covid-19 and a flu vaccine.” REGNANCY can be an exciting, yet Covid and flu can be unpredictable and can vulnerable time for any woman, cause serious harm to mother and baby, Dr but Covid-19 fears and isolation Savage says, “This is no time to be compladuring the height of the pandemic cent.” Falling ill presents additional risks while added an extra strain. It feels like it is all pregnant. Vaccines are our best line of debehind us now, but viruses like Covid-19 fence, which are freely available on the NHS and flu can spread more easily in winter and easy to get.” when we all mix more indoors, so healthDr Savage says, “Children are prone to care experts are advising expectant mums catching and spreading viruses like the flu, as to make sure they get their vaccines. they interact with so many kids. Many people Over a million babies were born in the UK think flu is harmless, but I see children fall seduring the height of the pandemic. We talked riously ill with it in my line of work throughout to three mums about their decisions on vac- the winter.” That’s why she has also ensured cination and experiences of having a baby in her two-and-a-half-year-old son, got the nasal the pandemic. spray flu vaccine.
P
SHOLA
Shola Ilesanmi, mum of four, who had a healthy baby after receiving two Covid-19 vaccines and the flu jab, says, “I was double vaccinated against Covid and got the flu jab while pregnant. There was a lot of misinformation going round, so I took the time and did my own research, looking at reputable sources like the NHS website. Both flu and Covid immunisations are safe at any stage of pregnancy, and millions of pregnant women have safely had them worldwide.” “You don’t want to be saddled with the guilt of getting sick while pregnant with something so preventable. Someone in my family refused the vaccine and caught Covid just after giving birth. She had to isolate away from her new baby, it’s not how you want to start out.”
DR SAVAGE
NHS doctor and mum of two, Dr Olamide Savage, had her son in January 2020, just before the pandemic. Her husband was on the NHS frontline, so she was worried for his safety and therefore decided to isolate two months before lockdown started with her children “Complications from Covid and flu while pregnant can be very serious for mother and
COLETTE
Recruitment manager Colette refused the vaccine over fears it might harm her unborn baby. Unfortunately, she became ill with Covid and experienced complications. “I got Covid just before Christmas 2021 while I was eight months pregnant,” says Colette. “My oxygen levels dropped suddenly, and I was rushed to intensive care for 24 hours. Right up to the birth, I couldn’t breathe properly and would have painful coughing fits. Breathing was even harder during delivery. My baby had to go straight to neonatal intensive care, and I wasn’t allowed to see her due to the Covid restrictions.” “Conspiracy theories were circulating in the Black community, and I was being double cautious because it was my first baby. I saw posts on Instagram linking the vaccine to infertility and baby deaths. They really affected me as I was feeling vulnerable. I now know these claims are untrue. I wish I’d spoken to a medical professional.” A UK study found that pregnant women admitted to hospital with Covid infections having received 2 or 3 vaccine doses, were less likely to have more severe disease or require intensive care admission than women who
had not been vaccinated. However, uptake of vaccines is lowest in Black communities compared to other ethnic groups. Last winter almost 50% of Black African and Caribbean women who gave birth hadn’t had the Covid-19 vaccine. Studies show that protection provided by Covid-19 vaccines decreases over time, even if you’ve had previous doses. So, it’s important you ‘top up’ your immunity this autumn. Pregnancy alters how the body handles infections such as flu, which is why you are advised to get the flu vaccine too. It’s safe to get both vaccines together. They do not contain live viruses and cannot infect the baby. Last season less than 30% of all Black pregnant women were vaccinated against flu (and in particular less than 15% of Black Caribbean pregnant women).
Dr Olamide Savage
n Find out how to book your vaccine appointments now at your GP surgery, local pharmacy or check with your maternity service. Visit: nhs.uk/wintervaccinations
18 | THE VOICE JANUARY 2023
News Feature
Poll shows racial split in attitudes to reparations New survey finds black and white Britons are poles apart on slavery and colonialism. Exclusive by Leah Mahon
S
UPPORT FOR reparations has grown in the black community and shrunk among white people, new figures have revealed. In data shared exclusively with The Voice, the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) interviewed over 2,000 Britons from diverse ethnic backgrounds about the UK’s role in race, colonialism and education. The IPSO figures have found that there has been a jump in support from people from black and mixed black backgrounds, while white people are still less likely to support the movement for reparations. Just 24 per cent of white people said that they supported the UK government paying reparations to black people living in Britain who are the descendants of former slaves, but 61 per cent of black people backed the move. Black people also agreed that businesses and institutions which directly profited from slavery — many of them being high-street banks — should be made to pay compensation to people whose ancestors were slaves by 66 per cent. However, only 24 per cent of white people showed support for the cause. Jendayi Serwah, co-chair of the Afrikan Emancipation Day Reparations March Committee, told The Voice: “This country is really yet to face up to its past and really face up to what they
FACING UP TO THE PAST: Jendayi Serwah says reparatory justice is just not about apologising
call Great Britain and the sacrifice of other people and their lands, and their dignity and their humanity in order to make Britain great.” She added: “Reparatory justice is about repairing and stopping the current harm and repairing the damage. It is not just about apologising and no amount of money can really rebuild our world. “People need to go beyond this understanding that reparations equals compensation — it does not.” Black people supported the quest for an apology by 61 per cent compared to 33 per cent of white people. A further 18 per cent of white people disagreed that descendants of enslaved Africans should be paid reparations, while 51 per cent of black people supported the idea. The findings come after Richard Drax, the MP for South Dorset, was reported to have flown to Barbados for a meeting with the Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley to discuss paying compensation after his slave-owning family’s dealings in the slave trade have racked up the £150m fortune. The Tory MP will reportedly face legal action if he fails to fork out the money. The demands set out by the Bajan government are understood to be a historical first for an individual and for a British MP. Dr Adam Elliot-Cooper,
PROTEST: Back in 2002, hundreds of demonstrators held a rally for slave reparations in Washington, DC (photo: Getty Images) a lecturer in Public and Social Policy at Queen Mary, the University of London, also echoed how the lack of understanding in Britain about reparations and its roots in colonialism came as no surprise. He told The Voice that he believes education is one of the reasons why ignorance around the movement prevails. “Black people feel they learnt more in school about slavery and colonialism, perhaps partly because it was more meaningful to them. I think those kinds of classroom experiences, maybe [were more impactful] than it was for their white counterparts. “I don’t think that is going to repair the damage of slavery and colonialism. I think to reduce the damage of slavery and colonialism to a figure, to a numerical amount of money, I think misunderstands the profound impact of slavery and colonialism.” The IPSO data showed that 62 per cent of Britons reported having not been taught not very much or nothing at all about Britain’s colonial past in school, compared to 30 per cent who say they were taught a great deal or fair amount.
Do you support/oppose businesses and institutions who directly profited from slavery paying compensation to people whose ancestors were slaves?
Black 66% White 44% White 24% Black 12%
Support Similarly, the research revealed a racial divide with just eight per cent of white pupils reporting that they had been taught a great deal about Britain’s role in colonisation compared to 17 per cent of black pupils. Sixty-two per cent of respondents support teaching children in British secondary schools about Britain’s colonial activities and involvement in the slave trade and their impact on the world today, with just nine per cent
Oppose opposing teaching about Britain’s hand in the slave trade and eight per cent opposing teaching about Britain’s colonial dealings. However, the cause drew less support for these subjects being taught in primary school altogether with 14 per cent opposing the move. The figures stand in stark contrast to comments made by the former Education Secretary, Nadhim Zahawi, who branded the teaching of race theories in British schools as “worrying”
and left schoolchildren at risk of being “brainwashed”. He went on to say that teachers should focus on “education not indoctrination”. Trinh Tu, managing director of Public Affairs at IPSO UK, said: “There is clear support among Britons for more education about Britain’s involvement in colonial activities and the slave trade, and the impact of those activities on the world today. This education has been lacking — particularly among white respondents compared to those from black/mixed black ethnic groups. “We also see differences in views when looking at attitudes towards history; while white ethnic groups are more likely to be proud of Britain’s involvement in creating the Commonwealth of Nations, black/mixed black ethnic groups are more likely to be ashamed of Britain’s involvement in colonising other nations. “This suggests that education can play an important role in unifying how we reflect on Britain’s past and its role in the future.”
AUGUST 2022
THE VOICE| 19
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20 | THE VOICE JANUARY 2023
Politics
What are Labour offering the black community? Black MPs fear Sir Keir Starmer is about to backtrack on Corbyn-era pledges to tackle systemic racism. By Richard Sudan
B
LACK LABOUR MPs are urging the party to raise their game on policies to tackle systemic racism, amid fears that Sir Keir Starmer does not want to offer much for fear of scaring the ‘Red Wall.’ MPs and party insiders told The Voice they fear key Corbynera pledges made at the 2019 election, including the promise to “eradicate structural racism in employment”, may soon be ditched. Labour’s offer to black communities is central to the question of whether the party’s most loyal voter-base is genuinely valued by Sir Keir Starmer, or whether he is taking black votes for granted. Labour’s mini Race and Faith manifesto in 2019 made a number of promises to end racial disparities in healthcare and carry out an audit of Britain’s colonial legacies, seen as the first step towards reparations. Dawn Butler MP, who authored that manifesto, is adamant that the aims of the plan must be implemented. “This manifesto must not only be upheld, but should form the foundation and building block for our party’s offer at the next election. “This will send a clear message that Labour will not take black, Asian and minority ethnic voters for granted, and will fight for every vote. “As already agreed, we must implement in full the recommendations from the Forde Report, as well as ensure that we centre the voices of our black, Asian and minority ethnic members, councillors and MPs in everything we do. We must not use one group to attack another.” Butler, one of Parliament’s few black women MPs, is also deeply troubled by Labour’s obsession with Red Wall “hero voters”. “While I have heard one-time Labour supporters who backed Brexit being described as ‘hero voters’, I can categorically say all my voters in Brent are also hero voters. We must respect all votes equally,” she said. Starmer has referred to La-
bour’s plans to introduce a ‘Race Equality Act’, but there is a lack of information about what it might contain. MPs say the acid-test for this will be whether individual policies are robust enough to tackle systemic racism. The only two policy ideas that have been floated are both described as ‘low-hanging fruit’ — ethnicity pay monitoring, which is also supported by the CBI and Theresa May; and enabling allBAME shortlists. Neither require ‘primary legislation’ to be implemented, just
Black people have always been one of Labour’s most loyal voter blocks simple amendments to the existing Equality Act 2010. Responding to The Voice, a Labour spokesperson said the party “will make tackling structural racial inequality a key mission in government”. They added that the remaining recommendations of the Lammy review into criminal justice would be implemented. However, while David Lammy’s report, commissioned by David Cameron, mentioned racial disparities in sentencing, there were no recommendations dealing with racial disparities in sentencing. The spokesperson also promised to “act” to improve health outcomes for BAME communities. The 2019 race manifesto pledged to “end racial disparities” in health. While the further details of the Act remain unclear, there is also a question mark over the extent to which
ARE WE VALUED?: Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and deputy leader Angela Rayner taking the knee in 2020; below, David Lammy launching the Race and Faith manifesto in 2019, while Dawn Butler MP says the manifesto must be upheld (photo: Getty Images) black members were consulted in its drafting. According to Labour councillor Maurice Mcleod, recently blocked from the chance to become Peckham’s MP, the Labour Party “needs to co-produce any new Act with communities who actually have lived experience of the racism they are try-
ing to fight”. I am concerned that Labour’s obsession with sidelining voices they consider to be on the left will mean that they don’t listen to many of the people who have been battling racism their whole lives,” he added. “Introducing a new Race Equality Act is a once in a gen-
eration opportunity and must not be squandered with shortsighted factionalism.” Diane Abbott MP, also speaking to The Voice, expressed weary reservations about Labour’s stance on race equality. “It is very sad the Labour Party is offering so little substantive on race issues; and this when
recent reports show extensive institutional racism in organisations like the police and the fire brigade. “Black people have always been one of the most loyal voting blocs for Labour. They deserve better than this.” Another black MP, who didn’t want to be named, told The Voice that while supporting progressive legislation is crucial, unless the Labour leadership “tackles racism at the root” by countering racist rhetoric emanating from the top, a new Race Act would be like “creating a foundation built on sand”. The MP added that many of his colleagues feel Starmer is closer to emulating the rhetoric of the Tories, than countering it. A well-placed source within the national party governance structure said that BAME communities cannot be brushed aside with vague promises, and expected to turn out in droves at the ballot for Labour. The party would have to offer something substantive being offered in return for their vote.
JANUARY 2023 THE VOICE |
Politics
What they could be offering the black community Race equalities policies mooted by Labour are ‘low hanging fruit’. Here are some more ambitious ideas to make a real difference. By Lester Holloway
A
S THE feature opposite suggests, there has been precious little policy development to tackle systemic racism since Sir Keir Starmer took control of the Labour Party. So we would like to suggest a few ideas to begin with. The policies below are the absolute minimum Labour could offer black communities at the next general election if they want the black vote, as opposed to taking it for granted. The Voice will be consulting our readers, race equality organisations and experts over the year ahead to refine and build upon these suggestions. We are doing this because the road to a black manifesto should not be behind closed doors. There is too much at stake, and so much to change; so we, the people, have to drive the agenda and not leave progress to chance. With rumours circulating of Labour plans to ditch pledges in the 2019 Race and Faith minimanifesto, frankly we don’t trust the party to move forward without external pressure. The expertise and lived experience of the black community, inside and outside the party, should be tapped so that Labour end up with a radical and coherent policy offer to commensurate with the scale of the challenge in tackling systemic racism. Why do we need this? Because, as Frederick Douglass famously said: “Power concedes nothing without demands.” It could be argued that African-Americans placed too much trust in Barack Obama and did not get him to commit to policies, only to be disappointed at the end of his spell in the White House. We should demand more. This is the start of the process. Please join us. Email: lester.holloway@thevoicemediagroup.co.uk
EMPLOYMENT
The job you do, how much you get paid, and how your career progresses impacts on pretty much everything in life — from quality of hous-
ing; to the environment; health and life expectancy; education; wealth accumulation, assets and pensions. African and Caribbean Brits are twice as likely to be in poverty, according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, and also twice as likely to be in a low-paid, precarious job, the TUC has found. The 2017 Race at Work (McGregor Smith) report, commissioned by the government, found that £24 billion — or 1.3 per cent of Gross Domestic Product — is lost from the economy as a result of racism in the jobs market. Here are some ideas to deal with this: Auditing and fines The equalities watchdog — the Equality and Human Rights Commission — must be properly resourced to provide companies with the tools and advice they need to improve outcomes. But it absolutely can’t end there. There needs to be an auditing regime, perhaps by a beefed-up Audit Commission, with stiff penalties for repeated failures to act. Every company with more than 20 employees should face some form of regular audit, much like schools face from Ofsted. 360 degree monitoring Ethnicity pay monitoring without action plans is a paper exercise, and pay disparities are unlikely to prove an embarrassment if other workplaces are just as bad. Action plans need a framework so that bosses are not setting unambitious targets for themselves. This must go beyond pay, because employees need to be monitoring recruitment, retention, promotions and disciplining by ethnicity — and listening to black staff — to get a true picture of what’s happening. This holistic approach should be written into bargaining agreements between employers and unions, with both parties taking responsibility for it.
21
DEAL OR NO DEAL: Black communities didn’t ask much and didn’t get a lot from Barack Obama (photo: Getty Images)
Public / private contracts National and local governments spend £300 billion annually on contracts, awarded through a system called procurement. Race equality needs to be hardwired into the contracts, for employment and sub-contracting to give fairer opportunities to smaller black-led firms. Black workers in outsourced companies, like cleaning, catering and other ancillary services, have seen their wages and rights slashed. These should be in-sourced back to democratic control. Structural inequality Abolishing zero hours contracts, and other forms of insecure working will benefit black workers more. But we also need to tackle underemployment.
GOVERNMENT AND JUSTICE
Race Equality Act This Act needs to enshrine in law the goal of eliminating racial disparities across society, and of open reporting of Equality Impact Assessments. The law should set the framework across Whitehall and all public institutions for real action on racism and move the dial on what counts as ‘positive action’ to provide clarity for employers to try bold new initiatives, as well as enable employers to financially reward, and penalise, bosses for success or failure at reducing racial disparities. Tackling racial disparities should never be an option. It is essential that the ‘public duties’ to prevent discrimination from happening in the first place always focus on race. Institutions should ‘explain or change’ racial disparities, and anything outside of that becomes illegal; and the duties under the Equality Act should also apply to the private sector. It is a scandal that successive Chancellors add layer upon layer of discriminatory announcements with each passing budget, without publishing its’ impact on ‘protected characteristics.’ The law should
also level the playing field in proving racism at Employment Tribunals, with increased awards. Reparations We also need a Reparations Act, to establish a commission to calculate exactly what was gained and lost by enslavement and colonialism, and start a process to deliver this restitution and repair. Disproportionate sentencing Labour intends to implement the last remaining bits of the Lammy Review, but they should go further and tackle the judiciary and Crown Prosecution Service over racial disparities in sentencing for the same crimes. Policing The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act should be repealed, especially the part allowing stop and search to be carried out without reasonable suspicion. A major funding shift towards dealing with the causes of crime and disorder, and connecting mental health, housing and the police is essential to stop criminalising and start helping those in crisis.
EDUCATION
School exclusions Exclusions often put black children on the road to prison. Official and unofficial permanent exclusions are a failure of the school to help the child in the vast majority of cases. Instead of PRU’s we should have extra teaching resources so the pupil can be reintegrated into class. Exclusions should count against schools in Ofsted rankings. Further and Higher Education New systems are needed to tackle the negative bias in awarding Firsts to black students, and barriers getting into Russell Group universities. Institutions need to work with the government and employers to tackle race barriers to black graduates getting good apprenticeships.
22 | THE VOICE JANUARY 2023
Ambassador Campaign
Inspirational leaders
To celebrate the 40-year anniversaries of the Black Cultural Archives and The Voice, we will spotlight 40 people who are making waves
T
HIS MONTH we continue to celebrate 40 years of the Black Cultural Archives, and The Voice, by spotlighting 40 inspirational leaders from across the country, one for every year of the BCA’s existence. These leaders were honoured by a portrait exhibition showcased at the BCA during black history month, photographed
by Lewis Patrick and curated by Sherece Rainford of Gallery OCA. The initiative also featured a nationwide billboard campaign with the ambassadors pledging their continual support to the BCA agenda throughout the country. Find out more about BCA on www. https://blackculturalarchives.org/
Anthony Olaseinde I SEE myself as an entre“preneur with a flair that has allowed me to set up a specialist security company, co-own an innovative young people’s organisation and establish “Always an Alternative”, a non-profit created to challenge the mindset of young people around problems that they may face. Hailing from Sheffield, my passion is to make a positive difference, by helping others to see and become the amazing human beings that they are. Additionally, to make change by challenging things I don’t think are right. I’ve had many achievements: a degree (1st), Masters (distinction), both regional and national awards. Despite being dyslexic, I wrote a book called
Born in Bolton, I’m the founder of PhenomGames and Essentialise Workplace Wellbeing. I have worked in various industries, from corporate finance to elite sports, while building successful businesses. I’m passionate about health inequalities and inclusive leadership. With Essentialise, I support organisations to build and deliver inclusive wellbeing strategies, and their clients range from FTSE 100 firms to innovative social enterprises. For my work, I received the
I cultivate spaces as a creative healer, researcher, mystic and storyteller. I’ve collaborated globally as an actor, director, poet, artist, curator, organiser and public speaker for more than a decade. While graduating from drama school, I authored my debut book Little You (Burning Eye, 2019). I’m known as Amarachi and I’m a lived experience expert who use my journey to build safer, more sustainable healing arts spaces. I advocate for peace, play and liberation as founder and creative director of Black Mind, a grassroots art-as-activism organisation centring the collective mental health, wellbeing, justice and joy of black people in Britain. My previous awards include: the 2020 inaugural Black British Theatre Award for Disability Champion and the Stage Debut award for Best Performer in a play. I am also a qualified mental health first aider and love indigenous healing, disability justice, the soul, nature and deconstructing misogynoir.
”
One Knife Many Lives, which looks at the devastation that knife crime causes. I’ve also prevented over 500 weapons from reaching the streets of South Yorkshire by providing free weapons collections in communities and raising funds to install eight portable weapon amnesty bins.
Lee Chambers A business psychologist “andI’Mentrepreneur.
Amarachi Rachel I’M Igbo-Londoner, Ezenwanyi Amarachi “& queerly Rachel Nwokoro, a neurodivergent, disabled feminine free spirit.
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Great British Entrepreneur Award for Service Industries in 2021 and won the Professional Services Startup of the Year at the National Startup Awards in 2022. Outside of work, I regularly coach a disability football team and are a mentor for black STEM graduates.
”
Paislie Reid
AS A campaigner, diversity activist and “staunch example in the art and creative
world, my resilience led me to be a multidisciplinary artist who started my career as an actress in two seasons of CITV series The New Worst Witch as a main character in 2005. Since this early television debut, I have continued to have a lucrative acting career that has included working with: The Royal Shakespeare Company, Frantic Assembly, Open Clasp, Liverpool Everyman, Playhouse, 20 Stories High, Story house, Contact, a theatre for film project called SUGAR, which aired on BBC iPlayer last year, Tin Star, and more. My recent work includes appearing on an episode of Brassic season four (Sky TV), which was aired this year. I describe myself as “a black mixed, neurodiverse artist”. I campaign to make the arts more accessible, especially from a diversity perspective. When I’m not busy working as an actor, I facilitate creative singing, dancing, drama, and personal development workshops in my local community. My mission is to empower, inspire and create more opportunities for marginalised young people.
”
JANUARY 2023 THE VOICE |
23
Politics
Babarinde is making waves beside the sea Josh Babarinde looks set to be the Lib Dems’ first black MP. But who is he? By Lester Holloway
T
HE NEXT general election might be this year. It might be as far away as January 2025. Either way, there’s a high chance that the Liberal Democrats will gain their first black MP. Josh Babarinde, at just 29 years old, is making waves as parliamentary candidate in the coastal town of Eastbourne, with some tipping him for a stellar Commons career. Being touted as a future leader so early in their journey has proven a millstone to other politicians, such as Labour’s David Lammy when he won Tottenham in 2000, but Babarinde is certainly one to watch. The Eastbourne-born social entrepreneur, raised on a working class housing estate, is running an effective and high-profile campaign in his hometown on issues like the cost of living crisis and effluent discharges into the sea.
ENTERPRISE
Babarinde, who has a Nigerian father, took an unconventional route into politics. As a volunteer youth worker in east London, he sought to turn around the lives of gang members by offering them a business opportunity fixing mobile phones. He explains: “I would go on to estates at stupid-O’clock at night. I would go wear a big black coat, and inside it there’s all this phone repair paraphernalia. So I was going into stairwells where lads were smoking weed at night, and would say ‘you can make cash from fixing phones, I can show you how, I can give you a demonstration right now’. “And some of them thought I was an undercover police officer, or thought ‘who is this dude, just rocking up on my estate?’ But there’d be some who would give me the time of day, so I got some of them signed up.” His social enterprise, Cracked It, won contracts from several local authorities, and he won the prestigious Forbes 30 Under 30, recognising the leading entrepreneurs in Britain. Such accolades were a far cry from life in Hampden Park, on
the outskirts of the town, an area he now represents as a councillor. Babarinde won his first election earlier than most, named as ‘Eastbourne’s cutest baby’ in the local newspaper, he reveals with a wry smile. His dad still has the clipping on his wall. His parents separated when he was young and lived with his mother, although he saw a lot of his father too. He studied hard at school after being inspired by teacher Mrs Lynch. He ran for election for Head Boy. “After I won, I thought, ‘Oh, okay, I gotta do something now.’ A lot of students wanted a nonuniform day, we hadn’t had one for five years, and I knew that I had the relationships with the teachers to possibly be able to secure it. I did a bit of lobbying, and they ended up saying yes. “I wrote a letter to the pupils in the school saying, ‘This is going to be a non-uniform day, bring in a quid for charity. And I remember being really moved the day when it came. There were lots of kids in their own clothes, just having a great time in the school playground, and just really being themselves. “And it was at that point, I thought, ‘Oh, wow, that’s what you can do if you’ve got something that you believe needs to happen and people want it to happen, you can help to make it happen’. That was a bit of a political awakening for me.” Babarinde went on to graduate from the LSE in government studies, and was awarded an OBE aged 26, for his work across several social enterprises. Media-friendly and engaging, he is already turning into a familiar figure for East Sussex residents on regional TV news. Having attended most schools in Eastbourne due to him and his mum having to move home regularly, he knows many people in the town personally. Eastbourne has been a Tory vs Liberal/SDP/LibDem marginal seat since 1906, and has seesawed between the two parties in each of the last six elections. Currently held by Tory MP Caroline Ansell, the smart money is on Babarinde winning the
RISING STAR: Josh Babarinde is being tipped to win the Eastbourne seat for the Lib Dems at the next general election
next contest with the political wind blowing in the Lib Dems favour in ‘blue wall’ seats. Babarinde joined the Lib Dems at university because he really fancied their beer mat at a freshers fair but could only get one by signing up. He faced some “real challenges” with his party during the Coalition, such as tuition fees, while recognising there were good things that were achieved, and spent this period concentrating on his social enterprises. He cut his teeth on the campaign trail in the Labour stronghold of Bethnal Green and Bow, where he raised the Lib Dems vote in 2019. A former vice-chair of his party’s Racial Diversity Campaign, he is determined the Lib
If you’ve got something that you believe needs to happen and people want it to happen, you can help to make it happen Dems raise their game on representation and policy to appeal to black communities. Astonishingly, the Lib Dems — and all their previous iterations such as the Liberals and SDP — have never had anyone of African, Caribbean or black mixed heritage background elected to public office above the level of local councillor. That includes MPs, MEPs (Europe), MSPs (Scotland), AMs (London, Wales), executive and
metro Mayors, and Police and Crime Commissioners. An embarrassing record for a party which elected the first MPs of colour, David Sombre in 1841 and Dadabhai Naoroji in 1892, both of Indian subcontinent descent. In recent years, the Lib Dems have publicly-lauded a number of black activists — one at a time — who were tipped by some to be MPs before fading from view, including Karen Hamilton, Paul-
ine Pearce, and Lauren Pemberton-Nelson. Chris Lucas came within a hair’s-breadth of winning the nomination in the Lib Dem-held seat of Bath, missing out twice amid suggestions of racism. Finally, there is real hope of a breakthrough in black representation with Babarinde, an exceptional candidate who happened to be rooted in a town that just happened to be a Lib Dem stronghold. While Babarinde is tipped to go far, the question remains whether black representation in the Lib Dems depends on the rare chance of several stars aligning, or whether barriers can be removed so other black talent can join where Babarinde seems destined to go.
24 | THE VOICE JANUARY 2023
ADVERTORIAL
Produced in association with the NHS
Make 2023 your year o If you’re looking to make a New Year’s Resolution, here are four easy steps to take for a happier and healthier 2023.
Dr Bola Owolabi
1: Get active
“Don’t commit to activities that feel like a chore,” says Dr Sam Botchey, a specialist in sport and exercise medicine. “The secret is to find something you enjoy and can maintain. “For adults aged 19 to 64 just 150 minutes of weekly physical activity, or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity, can lower your risk of longterm conditions and illness, including heart disease and stroke, Type 2 diabetes, and dementia. This keeps us mobile and reduces fatigue and stress, whilst supporting our mental health.”
2: Be diabetes aware
When compared with white ethnic groups, Black and south Asian people are up to 4 times more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes. “It’s good to know the symptoms, and to check your risk as you might be able to avoid or delay developing Type 2 Diabetes. Check your risk via Diabetes UK’s Know Your Risk tool ” advises Dr Joan St John, a semi-retired GP and the NHS Clinical Lead for Diabetes in a borough in North-West London. “If you have symptoms or are at risk, your GP practice can help. For example, they might support you to make positive lifestyle changes to reduce your risk, through the Healthier You NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme.” If you live with obesity and either diabetes, high blood pressure, or both, ask your GP practice or pharmacist about online NHS Digital Weight Management. This 12-week plan will support your journey to a healthier lifestyle.
3: Get help early
“Please, talk to your doctor as soon as possible if something just doesn’t feel right. Es-
pecially if you think it might be cancer,” said Professor Frank Chinegwundoh, MBE, a Consultant Urological Surgeon and chair of the charity, Cancer Black Care. “For example, a cough lasting over three weeks, blood in your urine or poo, a frequent or urgent need to urinate, a lump or changes in your breast tissue or a change in a mole or a persistent sore. “For most people these won’t be cancer, but seeing your doctor is the first positive step you can take to find out. And if you do have cancer, treatment can start sooner.” It’s not just physical health where getting help early can be hugely beneficial. “Looking after our mental health helps us to cope better with what life throws at us,” says Dr Omofuma, a GP in Manchester, and the mental health lead for the Caribbean and African Health Network (CAHN). “There’s no shame in getting help if you need it. If you’re struggling to cope, it’s important to speak to someone about it, a family member, friend, charity, church leader or a GP. “You can use the NHS website to find self-
care advice and digital tools, including for children and young people. Your GP may suggest NHS talking therapies and you can also refer yourself via www.nhs.uk/talk.” Whatever your healthcare worries, you can speak with your GP practice or a pharmacist. You can also talk to a Black healthcare professional, via the CAHN helpline on 0771 002 2382 or by emailing help@cahn.org.uk.
4: Take action to protect your health
“The pandemic showed the importance of diagnosing any underlying conditions early, when treatment is often easier and outcomes better,” says Dr Bola Owolabi, a GP and NHS
Dr SamBotchey England’s national director for healthcare inequalities improvement. “ Here are a few ways to help us do this.”
CHECK YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE
Adults over 40 are advised to have their blood pressure checked at least every 5 years. If you are diagnosed with high blood pres-
JANUARY 2023
THE VOICE | 25
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of Health and Wellness sure, it’s important to test it more often, at least once a year. And it might just save your life. High blood pressure does not usually have any symptoms but can significantly increase the risk of heart attack or stroke. Around one third of adults in the UK have high blood pressure, which disproportionately affects people from black and ethnic minority backgrounds. Free checks are available in some pharmacies, at your GP practice and as part of the NHS health check for the over-40s.
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The NHS vaccination programme has protected us against serious diseases for decades, training our immune system to recognise and fight the causes of disease like bacteria and viruses. But you might have missed an important vaccination during the pandemic. Dr Owolabi says: “Your child’s child health record, the Red Book, will show which vaccinations your child has had. If they have missed any vaccinations such as the MMR, or polio vaccine, speak to the school nurse or your GP practice to organise these.” At 65 years of age, you are offered the PPV or pneumonia vaccine to protect against serious pneumococcal infections, and a yearly flu vaccination. At 70 you can be vaccinated against shingles.
■ All adults and most children have also been offered vaccination against COVID-19 with over-50s, frontline health and care staff and others at greater risk eligible for a booster dose this winter. Many of the same people, and some children are also eligible for a flu vaccine every year. If you’ve not had yours, it’s not too late. Find out which vaccinations are recommended at nhs.uk/wintervaccinations, book using the QR code or visit a vaccination walk-in centre.
Dr Joan St John
26 | THE VOICE JANUARY 2023
Terence Channer
Join the debate online: voice-online. co.uk/opinion
Haters want to rob Ngozi of her African heritage
SAYING SORRY: Ngozi Fulani meets Lady Susan Hussey in Buckingham Palace, when the Queen’s former ladyin-waiting apologised for her comments
Relentless interrogation smacks of colonialism and racism
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HEY SAY that context is everything. I’m going to try to give the whole Lady Hussey/Ngozi Fulani saga some context. First of all, let’s deal with the ridiculous accusation against Ms Fulani of cultural appropriation. Comments like: “This black Caribbean woman, real name Marlene Headley, dressed like she’s on the set of Black Panther is culturally appropriating African culture.” Yes, this is what has been said. The British — probably Lady Hussey’s not-too-distant ancestors — enslaved and colonised Africans like Ngozi Fulani’s nottoo-distant ancestors. Yes, I went there. The African global diaspora is largely a consequence of slavery. Let’s take her name. Headley is the habitational name from Hedley (Durham), Hedley on the Hill (Northumberland), Headley (Yorkshire, Hampshire, Surrey, Worcestershire) or Headley Hall in Bramham (Yorkshire). The place names derive from Old English hæth ‘heath heather’ + leah ‘woodland clearing.” Nowhere in Africa will you find the origins of the European name Marlene Headley. In fact, Headley is likely a slaver’s or
slave master’s name, and so an enduring mark of the atrocities of the profoundly dehumanising changes and effects of slavery. I imagine back then a young slave girl from the Fulani ethnic group by the name of Ngozi, after being beaten and sexually assaulted by the respectable Mr Headley, her Master, being told “Your name is not Ngozi… it’s Marlene”. Some of us retain, claim and embrace our ‘slave names’ as it is possible to both acknowledge the horrors of slavery and colonialism, and be proud of our enforced European names. (My name, Terence, is derived from the Roman name Terentius). Sadly, there are clear strategic advantages of retaining a slave name. Research has shown that job applicants with African-sounding names are at a distinct disadvantage to those with Europeanised names like Marlene Headley. The Law Society Gazette recently reported that African and Asian job candidates had taken to adopting European names for this reason. Given this clear disadvantage to ‘reverting’ to an African sounding name, Ngozi Fulani has knowingly put herself at a
distinct disadvantage in the UK and the West in general. I strongly suspect that Ngozi feels that this is a small price to pay to achieve greater liberty and self-empowerment, by removing the weighty name shackle from around her neck. I also suspect that she is doffing her traditional cap to her ancestors, particularly those millions of enslaved African women and girls, shackled in leg and neck irons, tied to slave names that they initially could not pronounce. And, yes, this name and fashion reversal is cultural affirmation; so let me make this abundantly clear to those who
have bought into the absurdity that this AFRICAN Caribbean woman’s name change, and Africanised fashion, is cultural appropriation. They want to completely rob her of her African heritage. Add to this context the racist call for us to “go back to where you come from!” — after being forced to leave Africa, then being invited to help rebuild postwar Britain. Then being interrogated in this manner on where we come from is always going to rankle. Hence even Prime Minister Rishi Sunak gets it. Interesting to hear Sunak say he has experienced racism and that even though the UK
has made “incredible progress in tackling racism”, the “job is never done”. No prime minister in the history of the UK has ever said anything remotely like this, by way of lived experience. He has a real potential to show ‘lived-experience empathy’. And for the record, it is not being asked where we come from — as I have no issue with being asked this question. In fact, I enjoy being asked “what is your ethnic origin or heritage?” It’s the persistent and interrogatory fashion, seen in this case, that has the effect of chipping away at our self-esteem, and our sense of belonging. The vast majority of people
of African descent are extremely proud of their African ancestry, as am I. Hence, I made a big song and dance about my DNA results confirming my Nigerian ancestry. Therefore, I have no problem with someone appropriately asking me about my ancestry, But this judgemental, relentless interrogation deeply smacks of colonialism and racism. Furthermore, there is a time and a place. This was an opportunity for women to band together as part of the sisterhood and speak about the challenges facing women and certainly not an occasion for her tongue to be used as a weapon of division.
Sistah Space? More like ‘Sistah know your place!’
GOOD TO TALK: Ngozi, right, and a friend at Hackney’s Sistah Space shop
THE Charity Commission is now considering several allegations concerning the running of Sistah Space, the black women’s charity run by Ngozi Fulani. The Commission issued a statement saying it was “assessing material” posted online that questioned the charity’s administration and finances. Fulani was the victim of a relentless racist interrogation of her heritage and chose to call it out. This is one of the perils of proudly walking
into a white space as your authentic self, but leaving utterly humiliated, cowed, resentful and shell-shocked at the clear message that you don’t belong. Ngozi Fulani and Sistah Space has now morphed into ‘Sistah know your place’ as the resulting postjustice trauma unfolds to chilling and devastating effect. Sad to say, but there will be a lot of satisfied people out there. When seeking justice for wrongs committed, the cost-benefit consider-
ation is simply this “is it worth it?”. In Ngozi Fulani’s case, only time will tell. I’ve recently posted and written about the trauma of seeking justice from a legal and non-legal perspective. It wasn’t just that as a black woman she dared express the affront she felt, but that the affront was at the hands of Lady Susan Hussey who served as a Woman of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth II and as a Lady of the Household – in other words, extremely well established and well-connected to
white power. She was vilified and forced to close the charity temporarily due to safety concerns following online threats. Now the ignominy; Sistah Space will feel the full force of the regulatory, investigative and accountability powers of the Charity Commission, the non-ministerial department of His Majesty’s Government that regulates registered charities. I’m convinced that there will be those at the Commission that will be rubbing their hands with glee.
Terence Channer is a consultant solicitor at Scott-Moncrieff & Associates LLP who specialises in police misconduct, injury and healthcare law. He is a passionate anti-racism advocate.
JANUARY 2023 THE VOICE |
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News
Powerful words can turn racists into anti-racists Study finds messages to move the ‘mainstream middle’ to supporting change can be achieved. By Lester Holloway
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HE MAJORITY of people can be persuaded to accept that structural racism exists, and of the need to take action, according to a new report. The study, based on 20,000 participants, found there was a large ‘movable middle’ in society who were open to persuasion if the story connected with them. The Testing Times report by the Reframing Race charity, also found that jargon-filled narratives can be counterproductive, while soft ‘status quo’ messages which emphasised words like ‘inclusive’ also tended to fall flat. Instead, researchers discovered that strong messages which “have more powerful and precise things to say about ‘race’ and racism” were better received by people of all backgrounds. The example of job discrimination was a ‘blockbuster’ in helping people agree that all ethnic groups were as capable as each other, because most people have the experience of sending off a CV and being rejected. CV discrimination “catches racism red-handed” and “gives the message the feel of a compelling story — with a plot, characters and a powerful
TAKING THE LEAD: Nina Kelly, co-author of the Testing Times report
ending”, the report says. When researchers linked this with disproportionate black maternity deaths, the combination of two examples pushed people towards recognising that structural racism was real, with one statistic ‘opening the door’ for the other to be accepted. While four in 10 people think certain races work harder than others, nine in 10 people agree on our shared humanity and treating others with dignity. That suggests up to threequarters of people could be persuaded of the need for solutions to end racism. Nina Kelly, co-author and Director of Content and Communications at Reframing Race, told The Voice: “What people understand is very different depending on where they begin. So I understand that black men in London being stopped at 10 times the rate of their white counterparts is proof of structural racism, but to other people they see that statistic as an indication of criminality. “We wanted to know how people are receiving certain information, and know what makes a difference, because you can describe the same thing and have completely different reactions from people. “I really wanted to understand whether what we were
FOCUSING ON THE ISSUES: The new study should help teach us lessons on how to create a more equal society and become a more racially-tolerant nation. Inset: race equality campaigner Lord Simon Woolley (photo: Getty Images) saying in the race equality sector was landing with people, whether it was persuading them, bringing them powerfully to our cause. And if it wasn’t, which I suspected, in some instances, it wasn’t, what could we say? “With structural racism, if something has been constructed by people, then people can redesign it, and create it in a more equitable fashion.” Savanta ComRes polled 20,000 people across all backgrounds in England and Wales between March and July after screening out those with deeply-held racist views and truebelievers in racial justice, to focus on ‘persuadables’. Researchers also used 40 race equality campaigners, who they call ‘reframers’, to see if messages can be designed in such a way to “feel comfortable in the mouths of the people that are going to say them as well.” The study found there was a higher level of support for reparations for slavery when the word ‘compensation’ was used
instead, allowing the message to touch feelings and values of fairness and justice. There was also popular support for diversifying the school curriculum. However, terms like ‘race inequality’ had a negative impact because participants associated this with a ‘race equality in-
metaphors proved better at growing support for anti-racist policies by telling a story that moved people away from believing that racism only happens between individuals, and towards seeing racism as systemic and political. Lifelong race equality cam-
CV discrimination ‘catches racism red-handed’ and is able to ‘give the message the feel of a compelling story’ dustry’, which created a barrier in peoples’ minds to thinking about the issues. Bad news statistics can also create “fatalism” which dampened support for anti-racist ideas. ‘Status quo’ narratives like “we all deserve to be given a fair chance to succeed” also backfired because it lacked boldness and precision. Researchers said the use of
paigner and co-founder of Operation Black Vote, Lord Simon Woolley, welcomed the research but added that people should “never be afraid to talk about uncomfortable truths.” He added: “After the largest and longest race equality protest [Black Lives Matter] we saw the Sewell Report which sought to deny the existence of institutional racism. “Our history teaches us we’ve
got to use a multitude of strategies to deal with systemic racism, and confront those challenges with a clarity of purpose, otherwise absolutely nothing changes.” Dr Wanda Wyporska, former executive director of the Equality Trust, commented: “We need stats and evidence, but we also need to make the economic case for change in a way that engages people, not as something abstract.” The study, written by Kelly and Dr Sanjiv Lingayah, is the first of its kind on race, and was supported by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation. It follows previous reframing narrative studies on promoting anti-poverty, the economy and equal marriage. Researchers plan to launch a toolkit and resources in the spring so that campaigners can put the results into action. For more information visit: www.reframingrace.org
28 | THE VOICE JANUARY 2023
Lyndon Mukasa Eye on the Diaspora
Join the debate online voice-online.co.uk/opinion
What will Africa and the Caribbean look like in 2123? I gaze into the crystal ball to see what the future holds for the black global south
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S WE enter a new year, what does the future hold for Africa and the Caribbean over the next few years and decades… or even the next century? A lot can happen in 100 years. One hundred years ago most African and Caribbean countries were still in the direct colonial possession of imperial powers. Yet, just within the last 60 years this dissolved almost quicker than it came. In the 1970s, African countries were
THE CURRENT population of the Caribbean stands at just over 44 million people. Throughout the 20th century, the population of the region managed to increase despite significant migration to Europe and North America. Something that will perhaps become an increasing subject of concern is that many countries in the region are currently peaking in their populations and are set for a steady decline over the course of the 21st century. This has been attributed to the success of family planning programmes that have been operating in the region since the 1950s and 1960s. This has coincided with a decline in infant mortality and an increase in life expectancy. However, migration rates remain high in the region and this is creating a situation whereby the middle of the 21st century, the Caribbean will have a birth rate similar to that of many East Asian coun-
experiencing economic decline, but by the 2000s to the present most were experiencing some degree of growth. With the climate crisis, independence movements, population growth – and population decline – what will Africa and the Caribbean look like by 2123? Here I attempt to provide a list of bold predictions based on current trends in both regions. Which of these predictions do you think is likely to occur?
THE CARIBBEAN ACHIEVES ENERGY INDEPENDENCE AND AT LEAST ONE COUNTRY IN THE REGION WILL BECOME CARBON NEGATIVE THE CARIBBEAN has one of the highest green energy potential in the world. Whether it is solar, tidal, wind or geothermal, most countries in the region have some untapped energy potential. Add to this, the fact that most countries in the region have set some of the most ambitious climate targets in the world. The only thing that the region lacks is the money and labour to completely overhaul their oil
POPULATION DECLINE IN THE CARIBBEAN
and gas systems. This could all change as the climate crisis causes disruptions in energy, putting pressure on governments and policymakers to change. In addition, the costs of producing and installing energy generators from solar has fallen significantly and is continuing to fall. Hopefully this will be the opportunity that the region needs to control its energy security. Likelihood: Likely
NIGERIA BREAKS UP AFRICA’S MOST populous country is not a stranger to political or economic strife. In last month’s Voice, I documented the ongoing security challenges that the country faces. However, there are increasing pressures on Nigeria that will make holding the country together much more difficult compared to previous decades. A rapidly increasing population combined with the increasing effects of the climate crisis will challenge the viability of the Nigerian state in ways that no secessionist movement could ever do.
Internal migration is already driving conflict between different groups, the unequal distribution of wealth is fuelling resentment, and politicians who are viewed as corrupt are perceived as being preoccupied with their own wealth and personal interests. This all has the makings of fermenting a conflict that the Nigerian government will not be able to prevent without substantial reforms. As such, by the end of the century, I think that there is a 50/50 chance that Nigeria as we know it today will not exist. Likelihood: Possible
tries such as Japan and South Korea. For countries that are still largely developing, this has significant consequences for the economies of most countries in the region. The Caribbean has the highest age dependency ratio between retirees and the working age population. As the population of pension age people increases, and the working population decreases due to both migration and declining birth rates, by the 2050s this may force the region to invest in technology that could increase productivity and make up for labour shortages (very unlikely due to lack of money). Or it could encourage immigration from neighbouring regions in Central and South America which could bring about the next major change in the demographics of the region in the 22nd century. Likelihood: Likely
JANUARY 2023 THE VOICE |
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Eye on the Diaspora AFRICAN LIONS AND AFRICAN TORTOISES MUCH HAS been said about the potential of Africa’s economic growth and development. Some journalists have gone as far as to optimistically label the modest rise of some African countries as the emergence of the African “lion” economies to emulate the success of the Asian “tiger economies” of Singapore, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea that industrialised rapidly in the 1960s and 1970s. While the economic situation of much of Africa is very different from the 1970s, it is not as rapid or explosive as their East Asian counterparts. Reporters often forget that Africa is a continent with 54 very diverse countries. While the Asian “tigers” are often cited, it is often forgotten that we are talking about 4 to 5 countries out of 49 countries on the continent of Asia. They are the exceptions and not the rule. Similarly, Africa will probably have a few “lion” economies emerge in the second half of the 21st century. Likely candidates include
Ethiopia, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Angola and possibly Ghana. However, there will also be African “tortoise” economies that are likely to struggle due to many challenges related to external exploitation, increasing insecurity as well as the climate crisis. Many African countries face a lot of challenges that make development uncertain. The climate crisis is likely to hit the continent the hardest due to the lack of infrastructure to deal with multiple climatic catastrophes. What is likely is that by the end of the century, Africa will not simply be seen as the poorest continent (although it may still have significant poverty). Instead, there will be more developmentally diverse countries spread out. In this sense, I can see Africa looking more like Latin America than East Asia economically. Likelihood: Likely
REPARATIONS WILL BE GRANTED TO CARIBBEAN COUNTRIES
AFRICA’S RELATIONSHIP WITH THE WEST BECOMES INCREASINGLY TENSE OVER CHINA INFLUENCE
AS CHINESE investment continues to grow in Africa, and the Chinese Belt and Road infrastructure project reaches completion in the 2060s, this process will likely end Western domination on the continent. This will likely not be a smooth transition as this will threaten the viability of Western Europe in particular. While it is unlikely that any European country would attempt to directly recolonise any country in Africa, sanctions, trade disputes and meddling in elections will become more common. This would inevitably push African countries closer to China and will lead to growth of more security based relationships going forward that could set the stage for a more militarily strong Africa in the 22nd century. Likelihood: Possible
PAN AFRICANISM/BLACK POWER/ NATIONALIST MOVEMENTS RESURGENCE WITH THE climate crisis, the global pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement, the conditions are in place for a resurgence of Black Power movements across the world. While the 1960s focused on the civil rights movement and decolonisation, it is possible that the 21st century will see varied and diverse forms of black power that will seek to aggressively interrogate the structures in the world that dispropor-
THE ISSUE of reparations for slavery and colonialism is a sensitive topic in the West and something that is avoided at all costs by governments and policymakers. It is unlikely that reparations will ever be willingly granted by any imperial power. However, is there a scenario whereby reparations become possible? Perhaps the pressure for reparative justice will be appropriated by capitalist interest groups as the climate crisis intensifies migration from the global south by the 2060s. If reparations are
ever granted, it would be due to some kind of force or consequence that the West cannot ignore. At the same time however, I don’t believe that if reparations were granted that it would come in a form that would genuinely uplift former colonies. Western countries would offer a type of conditional reparations that the countries of origin would accept on grounds colluding to restrict migration. It will be a far cry from the process conceived by liberation movements. Likelihood: Unlikely
REGIONAL INTEGRATION IN THE CARIBBEAN DEEPENS
tionately harm black communities. This will be fuelled by the climate crisis and the West’s unwillingness to commit to a structural overhaul of capitalism as we know it. The demographics of Africa will undoubtedly force the world to take the black voice more seriously as Africans on the continent will constitute 49 per cent of the world’s population by the end of the century. Likelihood: Very likely
IN ORDER for the Caribbean to be able to meet the challenges of the climate crisis, economic development and the demographic transition, it is likely that the regional body CARICOM will have to develop further to meet the collective challenges that member states face. This has been a goal of CARICOM since its inception in the 1980s and will likely accelerate in the middle of the 21st century and onwards. Likelihood: Very likely
Lyndon Mukasa is a writer and researcher. He studied International Development at the London School of Economics.
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| THE VOICE JANUARY 2023
Midlands News
By Veron Graham
Opera stars shine at inspiring competition Rachel Duckett and Thando Mjandana take the plaudits at The Voice of Black Opera VOBOs in Birmingham
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HE STELLAR field of a dozen international artists that contested The Voice of Black Opera (VOBO) competition was whittled down to one when Rachel Duckett was crowned the winner at the enthralling Grand Final concert, which took place at Birmingham Town Hall. The Paris-based Briton clinched The Sir Willard White Trophy, as well as a £10,000 grand prize of repertoire coaching with music staff of Welsh National Opera (WNO), and a forthcoming concert appearance with the WNO Orchestra. Runner-up South African Thando Mjandana was awarded £5,000 in prize money and three performances of a specifically commissioned new work by Daniel Kidane for voice and ensemble with Birmingham Contemporary Music Group. He also clinched The Samuel Coleridge Taylor Award for giving the best performance of a contemporary song on the night.
SHOWCASE
The VOBOs was organised by the Black British Classical Foundation (BBCF), in collaboration with WNO, ‘to showcase the finest black and South Asian singers as they launch international operatic careers.’ BBCF exists to address classical music’s under-representation of people from ethnic minority backgrounds. Its founder and artistic director, Vincent Osborne, said afterwards: “The award-winning interpretations we saw from Rachel Duckett and Thando Mjandana were truly riveting. Through their passionate and committed performances at the Voice of Black Opera Final and throughout the whole competition process, all of our finalists and semi-finalists have eloquently espoused the cause of greater diversity and inclusion on our stages. I have no doubt that each of them will continue to inspire us for many years to come.”
Tom Randle, chair of the judges, said: “It was a spectacular evening and a very hard decision, like choosing between oranges and apples. “Every one of the singers was a worthy and deserving winner. In the end it came down to those special, indefinable qualities, listening out for something new, something different — the voice that astonishes and surprises.” The final brought a conclusion to a hive of activity which began in the classical music world once BBCF announced the competition earlier this year: 12 vocalists were chosen via video auditions that were open to black and South Asian singers that hail from countries within the Commonwealth. The dozen were invited to Birmingham to take part in the semi-finals last November and participate in two weeks of intensive professional development workshops, rehearsals and a masterclass, which led to the selection of the top five finalists to compete for the top spots. Speaking to The Voice postceremony, Duckett said: “I’m over the moon! It feels great. It’s the culmination of singing and working with such amazing people and having these amazing masterclasses. “When they announced me as winner, I was stunned but in a good way! We all competed hoping to win but it still takes you unaware somehow. There was such a high standard of singers — I was getting goosebumps listening to my fellow participants so I didn’t envy the judges!” Now eight years into her operatic career, Duckett grew up listening to her mother singing jazz, graduating to her secondary school’s gospel choir and after years of sing-
TALENT: VOBO winner Rachel Duckett with the Welsh National Opera; below, Rachel receives her award; runner-up Thando Mjandano
ing to herself, overcame stage fright by switching to a new genre — opera. Hers is a welcome addition to the operatic
world which is buoyant at present. BBCF’s Osborne continued: “There is an embarrassment of riches and talent within our communities of colour, just waiting for opportunities and the right platform to be heard and seen. Voice Of Black Opera is the vehicle to drive the winners to become household names and indemand at concert halls and opera houses throughout the world.” The VOBO triumph rounded off a banner year for Ducker, which saw her s i n g at the world premiere
of Babel at Opera Nice, and scoop further honours including becoming the first recipient of the “Amis des Voix des Outres-Mer Christiane Eda-Pierre” prize.
CAUTION
Having relocated to Paris to improve her French and retain crucial post-Brexit access to the wider European market, Duckett expressed a note of caution about her new continental homeland: “France has an incredible history of providing opportunity for black artists and intellectuals like Josephine Baker and James Baldwin but to put things into perspective, it is accepting of people from all over the world and Paris being so cosmopolitan, but a politician’s outburst in parliament recently was shocking.” In November, Gregoire de Fournas, a far-right member of the Assemblee Nationale par-
liament, was temporarily suspended after shouting ‘Go back to Africa’ while a black fellow member, Carlos Martens Bilongo, was speaking about the migrant issue. The house speaker halted proceedings and launched an investigation which resulted in the suspension plus the heaviest sanction available — a fine equalling Fournas’ monthly MP salary. “Life in Europe is feeling a bit weird, becoming nationalistic and very right wing, which is very concerning. This is something we’re still fighting against. It’s amazing to feel like something of a trailblazer — not just me but all of us in the competition — while at the same time it’s sad and disappointing that we still have to do that. “That said, I’m so thrilled with the win, to be continuing my journey and with excitement for the future and the upcoming dates with the Welsh National Opera.”
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Midlands News Tackling black homelessness
STRATEGIC ROLE: Since starting in 2018, Cornerstone has helped the homeless and those in desperate need of accommodation (photo: Getty Images)
A STAFFORDSHIRE social enterprise is to benefit from a £9 million investment to help the rising numbers of black and other homeless people in the county. The windfall comes on the heels of a new report claiming that black people in England are over three times more likely to experience homelessness than white, UK-born people. Cornerstone, based in Tamworth, will look to almost double the number of properties it owns and uses to help families and others in desperate need of accommodation as the cost-of-living crisis bites and temperatures tumble. Cornerstone currently operates 224 properties and since starting in 2018 it has housed more than 500 families and individuals. It works closely with the region’s councils to provide a more stable, cost-effective alternative for those who would otherwise be placed in emergency accommodation in nearby hotels. This is not only helping councils to provide a roof over
the heads of some of the region’s most vulnerable, but also to reduce pressure on their housing waiting lists by providing a wider choice of emergency or temporary accommodation. Cornerstone was set up by Dean Starr and Gavin Mullaley who both had a strong desire to build a socially responsible business. It now plays a key strategic role in supporting the region through partnerships with Birmingham City Council, Coventry Council, Nuneaton & Bedworth Council, North Warwickshire Council and other councils alongside housing charities St Basils, Valley House, Spring Housing Association and others. Dean said: “We know first-hand the challenges that lie ahead for many families in the region, but by directly partnering with local councils we’re delighted, as a homegrown West Midlands business, to be able to play our part in deploying investment into local properties and supporting families.”
Digital bootcamps are upskilling the Midlands
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BIRMINGHAMBASED Anguillan is being hailed as a stand-out success story from a regional drive to leverage ‘digital and retrofit bootcamps’ to upskill the workforce and develop the county’s growing IT and housing sectors and increase the diversity of its skilled workforce. Sixty per cent of the 3,500 who have applied to join the six-month courses organised by West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) are from ethnic minority backgrounds, and almost three quarters of the graduates from the scheme secured sector-related jobs within six months. The bootcamps are tailored to meet the needs of local employ-
ers and those who have completed bootcamps have been taken on by a wide range of businesses including BT, Gymshark, HSBC, NatWest, the NHS, Jaguar Land Rover and various housing providers. The initiative’s success stories include Solagne Lake, who joined to grow her knowledge in coding and last November landed a role as a software engineer at professional services giant KPMG in Birmingham. Lake, 31, said: “I joined the Black Codher Bootcamp funded by the WMCA because I always wanted to learn to code but the opportunity never presented itself with proper timing until I discovered this bootcamp. It has literally changed the trajectory of my life and I’m grate-
SUCCESS STORY: Solagne Lake landed a role as a software engineer at KPMG
ful beyond measure to the team and their partners.” The role brought an end to several years of temporary and ad hoc roles across several sectors she’d embarked on since
her most recent long-term role in law came to an end just before the pandemic took hold. “This is the most stable I have been in a long time, having a permanent role that I really
enjoy. I work remotely in the main and independently across multiple projects but with support from colleagues should I need it.” Bootcamps are a key part of the delivery of the WMCA’s Digital Roadmap which set out steps towards becoming the UK’s best digitally connected region, further growing the sector and improving access to digital opportunities for all. Over the past two years the WMCA has invested more than £25 million in over 100 different bootcamps, which included remote study courses during the Covid 19 pandemic, with a target of getting 73 per cent of participants into jobs on completion. Cllr George Duggins, WMCA portfolio lead for skills and pro-
ductivity and leader of Coventry City Council, said: “There’s a huge skills gap in the West Midlands and this digital training is crucial if we are to close that gap, meet the needs of our employers and grow our regional economy. And with courses on offer for free, these opportunities are open to people of all backgrounds who want to get on in work or try a new career.” Asked whether she would advise others to follow in her bootcamp footsteps, Lake replied: “Opportunities like these are what you make them, so it will be very dependent on the among of work you want to put in. KPMG is a very diverse company — in tech there are few black women — but the company is trying to address this.”
If you have a story for the East or West Midlands, call/text Veron Graham on 07954 572 988, email veronpgraham@gmail.com, or find him on Facebook or LinkedIn
32 | THE VOICE JANUARY 2023
Michelle Codrington
Rogers
Union Life
Join the debate online voice-online.co.uk/opinion
Fight for our rights
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HE FIRST black workers were seen as cheap labour, employed to undercut wages, rights and working conditions. During the 1940s and 50s, at the start of the Windrush generation, black workers were not recruited into the trade union movement with open arms. Instead, our grandparents were treated with mistrust. By the mid 1960s, this same generation of black workers were seen as potential members and vocal advocates for the trade union movement. Black workers saw the power of ‘the union’ and encouraged brothers and sisters to join. Unfortunately, when many turned to their union for support and help with acts of discrimination — often from colleagues or line managers, their unions were left wanting. In some cases, black workers experienced rac-
Black trade unionists have fought hard to be an equal part of the movement ism from the very same people supposed to protect their rights — their union colleagues. The Union Movement has had a difficult history with identifying and challenging racism. The lack of knowledge, understanding and experience has left many black workers fighting battles against racism in both their workplace and in their own trade union. But our grandparents didn’t stop there. Where there was a lack of support from their unions, they collectivised and gained strength from their communities by turning up and showing out in ways that harnessed community action with union demands.
Racism exists in many forms, organisations and infrastructures and as a trade union movement after 80 years, we still need to be inward looking and outward acting. As black trade unionists, we should welcome the fact that the movement stepped up, in the wake of Black Lives Matter, when public assassinations of black people by police, shared widely across social media; but additionally during a global pandemic that made obvious the reasons that black workers were disproportionally being affected by a virus that didn’t ‘see’ colour. The last time the union movement was so positively and ac-
PIONEER: Bill Morris became General Secretary of the TGWU (now Unite) in 1992
tively self-aware was after the murder of Stephen Lawrence. At that time, many members of the black community and trade unions rallied — standing beside and in front of members of the family as they fought for justice. Fast forward to 2022, a task force led by Dr Patrick Roach, the first black General Secretary of a teachers union — the NASUWT, encouraged unions to talk to white people about race and to recognise our contributions as black workers to Britain’s economic strength. I am proud that this trade union movement has now got the tools to take this work forward. NASUWT has set up a black staff forum which has regular meetings with the general secretary. We are reviewing our pipeline for job progression and identifying and challenging the barriers to the wealth of talent within our staff colleagues. We
are committed to creating ‘safe space’, especially where our staff and lay structures intersect. Fighting racism is more than a black square, wearing a t-shirt, and proclamations of being ‘anti-racist’ without the action. Black workers are more than a funding stream. Talented black workers deserve to be front and
centre in their trade unions. Real anti-racist work is about having uncomfortable conversations, creating space for voices that are often drowned out. It is about using the tools we already have (i.e. legal teams) to dismantle the master’s house and rebuild with equality and inclusivity at its heart.
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VOICE panel of past few months for race activists and en- equality Their conclusion “the seed has trepreneurs was echbeen oed by has planted” Britain’s most to deliver change predicted 2022 senior go- trade union will ing forward. be a better year leader, Dr Patrick than the last Roach who Black Britain was one. seeing a message, said, in a New Year new generation Looking into their that black workers of activism crystal ball and had the power the panel said entrepreneurship. to force change that although One and tackle panellist said: “The we had survived structural racism. tide is cera turbulent tainly changing.”
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34 | THE VOICE JANUARY 2023
Muyiwa Olarewaju
Nothing But Truth and Light
Join the debate online voice-online.co.uk/opinion
Why we should all enter new year with a grateful heart Despite the woes around the world there is hope for us all — and the key is gratitude
T
HERE ARE massive protests in countries that deal mercilessly with people who dare to raise their voices. Superpowers refuse to dialogue while the wars they are fighting affect you and I. Social media owners fight to control our speech and the narrative around us. Billion dollar companies are suing others for leaking our data. Earthquakes are striking in different parts of the world. Natural disasters are overtaking people even as they sit in the churches… our bills are costing a lot more. On the face of it, there is every reason to despair as we look back over the year. However, I have come to remind you that expressing gratitude is not just good for a spiritual state but it improves our mental and physical health. Put simply, gratitude practised daily is like a magic pill that you have been searching for on Amazon. It’s better than the shot of coffee the barrister shoved into your hand this morning. Gratitude releases oxytocin, a hormone that helps us con-
nect with other people. Some call it the love hormone — that’s what gratitude brings into our lives. Listen to these words from the Bible: Philippians 4:6-7: “Do not be anxious about anything but in every situation by prayer and petition with Thanksgiving present your request to God and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your heart and your minds in Christ, Jesus.” Now you could say to me, “Muyiwa, I hear you, but you don’t understand. In January, Covid took out friends and family of mine. In February, a brother lost his cousin when Russia invaded Ukraine. “In March, the finance that I needed for my business was rejected. In April, the doctor told me I had a condition that was going to change my life. “In May, I hit a bout of depression when they announced there is a new thing called monkeypox. I was afraid whether this will take away more people that I loved. In June, earthquakes reported in Afghanistan and Pakistan
DIFFICULT TIMES: Newspapers have been full of death and destruction (photo: Getty Images)
killed so many people. In July, Shinzo Abe was assassinated in Japan while giving a speech. Is anyone safe these days? “In August, it looked like things were going to kick off with China and that they might have gone to war and marched into Taiwan. “In September, Her Majesty the Queen died. My parents, uncles and aunties were heartbroken. They loved her Majesty. “In October, the problems with Russia continue to affect us and now there are rumbles of more upheaval on my social media timeline about Elon Musk buying Twitter. “In November, the world’s
Not all the boxes have been ticked but there is every reason to be thankful population reached an all-time high yet we can’t solve simple problems of poverty.” There are so many reasons to despair but can I challenge you to have a look at each month and find one thing to be grateful for. Go back through your diary
and see what good there is in the month. Remember gratitude leads to joy. Psalm 126:1-3 says “when the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed. Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.” Reflecting over what God has done and how you have made it through would remind you that you are not just a survivor. You are an Overcomer… that’s why you are here. There is everything to be grateful for even though not all that we need has been done. Not all the boxes have been
ticked but there is every reason to be thankful. Psalm 105:1 says “Give thanks to the LORD and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done.” When you have reflected and remembered what good things have happened to you over the year, tell somebody about it, get on your social media timeline, and shout it out loud! Not everything I want has happened but I am grateful for what God has done so far. Let’s enter the new year loud and proud with a grateful heart. Remember our lives are full of reasons to be thankful. We just need to stop long enough to acknowledge them.
Muyiwa Olarewaju OBE is Station Director at Premier Gospel Radio, a TV & Radio Broadcaster, and Principal of gospel group Muyiwa & Riversongz
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Lifestyle 23 TO WATCH IN 2023
Pages 36-37
36 | THE VOICE JANUARY 2023
Lifestyle
Stars of the future
23 to watch in 2023 As is tradition, Lifestyle editor Joel Campbell brings his ‘ones to watch’ this year APRIL KOYEJO-AUDIGER
IN MY OPINION PODCAST
APRIL KOYEJOAUDIGER’S performance in the Olivier Award-winning production of Jenufa saw her win the 2022 Black British Theatre Award for Best Opera Production or Performance. The BritishNigerian soprano is a graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Royal College of Music and a breath of fresh air. Described by The Stage as ‘a mellifluous Lady-in-Waiting’, there are indeed few sounds that are more pleasing to listen to. If your appreciation and or knowledge of opera is limited, start your education with this young lady. She has come a long way but Lifestyle gets the impression she’s just getting started.
JEREMIAH AZU
THIS 21-year-old Welsh sprinter caused quite a stir at the outdoor national championships last year. His winning time in the 100m of 9.90 seconds might have been wind-assisted but take nothing away from the diminutive sprinter as he beat a very capable field. His 2022 success was further compounded by a European Championships 100m bronze medal which came weeks after landing a 4x100m gold at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. This year will be telling as he looks to cement his status as ‘One To Watch’ ahead of the next Olympic Games in 2024.
JOSH BABARINDE OBE
THE Liberal Democrats – and all the party’s previous iterations such as the SDP and Liberals – have never had an African or Caribbean elected to any public office higher than local councillor, ever. But all that looks about to change. Josh Barbarinde, 28, stands a good chance of winning in his home town of Eastbourne, a seat that has swung to-and-from the Lib Dems and Tories for the past three decades. We pick him out because he is so impressive, and tip him to make a big impact in Parliament. He could even end up as party leader before too long. A local councillor, former parliamentary candidate in east London, and entrepreneur, he was named in the Forbes ‘30 Under 30’ list of young business leaders, and awarded an OBE
WATCHING DTM, Mulinde IV and Uzoma on their celebratory episode of In My Opinion Podcast during Black History Month last year was a great example of how diverse and entertaining the show is. At that point they had amassed a following on TikTok of 20,000, not bad for a couple of guys that started out simply wanting to tell their uncut raw thoughts and opinions on a variety of topics. At the time of writing their followers are just shy of 100,000, it’s fair to say 2022 was a great year. The appeal is the realness of the topics covered. Some of the experiences the team have shared have been sincereness personified. No doubt there are more than a handful of listeners and viewers that have been positively impacted. for services to criminal justice and the economy. He has also pushed the cause of equality within the Lib Dems as vice chair of the party’s Racial Diversity campaign. Whether the general election comes in 2023 or not, we will certainly be seeing a lot more of Josh in the years ahead.
RACHEL CHINOURIRI
THE English singersongwriter put in the work last year. Her acclaimed EP Better Off Without was a polished and unapologetic piece of art, ‘a story of heartbreak, but also of acceptance’. It can be tricky maintaining who you are in the music business. Staying true to the music you want to do isn’t always an option but when Rachel does indie pop, we’re getting 100 per cent of cher authentic self. Lifestyle understands that there is a debut album coming this year, definitely One To Watch.
CRISTALE
WE THINK that Cristale is in store for a stellar 2023 and we’re not alone. The South London artist’s growth throughout 2022 was a sight to behold. A gritty, authentic talent, I believe she has all the tools to be the best in the business. Check out her track 13 Going On 30 on YouTube. Honest, insightful lyrics compliment her flow and allow for her artistry to come to the fore. Nominated by the MOBO Awards as Best Newcomer last year.
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NICOLE RAQUEL DENNIS
NICOLE plays Effie White in the new UK Tour of Dreamgirls until March 2023 so, if you’re in the UK, you’ve got no excuse not to see her in action. The London School of Musical Theatre graduate is best known for her role as Alana Beck in the West End production of the award-winning show Dear Evan Hansen, as well as her performances on ITV1’s The Voice UK 2019, where she reached the semi-finals as part of Jennifer Hudson’s team. The 2022 LGBTQIA+ Champion Award winner at the Black British Theatre Awards, Lifestyle has a feeling there will be more accolades to come.
MAYA EGBO
THIS young lady’s passion for music and entertainment and her great understanding of what’s popular seeps through everything she touches. In a vibrant scene awash with faces anew, Maya made steady headway in establishing herself as a player in the mix last year. Loyal Voice readers would have seen Maya conducting the Mobo Awards red carpet interviews for our YouTube channel (check those out if you haven’t already) where the east Londoner did a sterling job at the ceremony’s 25th year anniversary. Adept in both the world of sports and entertainment, her self determination thus far suggests big things are coming.
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MIATTA FAHNBULLEH
BARRING a political earthquake, Fahnbulleh will succeed Harriet Harman as Labour MP for Camberwell and Peckham in south London, the seat with the highest number of African and Caribbean voters in the country. A child refugee from the Liberian civil war, Fahnbulleh, 43, rose to be Britain’s most prominent black economist as chief executive of the left-leaning think tank the New Economics Foundation. Media savvy after extensive road-testing on TV politics shows, her ability to deliver an argument persuasively and articulately will surely see her rapidly rise up the ranks. While left-wing, she isn’t a Corbynite so could prosper in a Starmer-led government, and even more so in a Rayner or Burnham-led one.
LORNETTE HARLEY
LIFESTYLE wants to shine a light on this young PR consultant because we know of her work behind the scenes. A consummate professional, what many don’t see or hear of is the consistent way Lornette promotes others, even if she isn’t working with them as a client. A genuine lover of grass roots talent, Lornette represents the unheralded glue that ensures the right people are recognised for their star quality. She made the annual list on the PRWeek 30 under 30 in 2021 and hasn’t looked back since. As she says in her Instagram bio: “Watch closely and you’ll see me change the world.”
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JANUARY 2023
Lifestyle
Stars of the future DANIEL HENRY
MAYOWA QUADRI
YOU MIGHT have seen this ITV news reporter and documentary maker’s face popping up a lot in the latter part of last year – get used to it because he’ll be on your screens even more often this year. Tenacious and empathetic, he’s cut his teeth in the world of journalism and multimedia for over a decade and Lifestyle predicts that this year will see Henry, who is also the co-author of reporting guidelines on coverage of race and mental health, dig his teeth in to even more significant stories that need to be told. The mainstream institutions may know it already but just to confirm, this young man is widely respected among his community and peers.
THERE’S a growing army of fans who simply love what Mayowa Quadri does. Hard to pin him in one box, by his own admission he creates content, works on a podcast, directs, writes (including scriptwriting), forecasts and hosts. His football show, Stoppage Time TV, is dubbed as the ‘realest football podcast since 2019’ and has been on a steady upward trajectory over the past three years. Mayowa’s work is a credit to him and his team.
SAMARA TELESFORD
SARAH IKUMU
ALL GROWN up now after shooting to fame in 2017, the world already knows Sarah Ikumu’s name following her stint on Britain’s Got Talent. But Lifestyle has a feeling 2023 could provide another burst of impetus to the career of the Milton Keynes singer. Check out her Firebabe Stormzy cover on YouTube which she dropped just before Christmas. For those who may have forgotten, her vocals are simply amazing. As she posted her Spotify Wrap numbers on Instagram in December, the artist wrote: “The growth has been real this year!”
TERIQUE JARRETT
LONDON-BORN Terique landed his first role in Motown the Musical in 2017, big gig, lots of pressure but he handled it. His most recent work of note saw him in Almeida Theatre’s Daddy, a role which landed him a nomination for Best Male Actor at the Black British Theatre Awards. As well as being an actor, Terique is a visual/ digital artist, a singer and a dancer. As an ‘experiment’ he entered into the non-fungible tokens (NFTs) business with Digital Water Prints. Whatever medium you consume his artistry via, his mission to portray “black people as complex beings with individual personalities and identities”, comes to the fore.
K-TRAP
A LOT of people reading this will be wondering how this man can top the past 12 months. Crowned Best Drill Act of the year at the MOBO Awards, K-Trap’s Warm has fast become the classic track which will, ironically, always get the dance hot. You can be sure this won’t be the only Ones To Watch list for this year that this artist will be on. Since his track David Blaine did its thing in 2017, K-Trap has secured the ultimate nod of approval from not just fans but his musical peers.
THE VOICE | 37
SHAKAI PENNANT
HAVING watched this young independent photographer’s work over the past few years, it’s safe to say the future is bright. Her eye for a shot is as sharp as we’ve seen, but it’s her tenacity to get in the mix at events or wherever she can to improve her portfolio and boost her reputation which stands out. It’s getting harder and harder for dedicated snappers to connect with big corporate machines that will give them access to the events and brand name celebs which in turn enable photographers to earn a living. But check out @Chinks_s__ on Instagram to see more of Shakai’s work, we’ve got a feeling she’s in it for the long haul.
BEN LINDSAY
ETHAN NWANERI
IN 2022, Ben Lindsay took home the Charity Times Rising Leader of the Year award for his work with the charity Power the Fight, which empowers communities to end youth violence. The founders charity aims to be the conduit between communities and policy makers, creating co-produced/co-designed long-term strategies for sustainable structural change. The author of We Need To Talk About Race: Understanding the Black Experience in White Majority Churches, Lindsay is also a PhD candidate at Durham University. It’ll be another busy year for Lindsay, but Lifestyle believes his track record suggests he’ll meet the challenge.
WHEN Ethan Nwaneri came off the bench to face Brentford last September, he became the youngest player in Premier League history at 15 years and 181 days. He also became the youngest first-team player in Arsenal’s history. When proteges such as these surface, it’s always best to proceed with caution, over exposure can lead to disproportionate expectations, so while Lifestyle salutes the young man’s progress and historical achievements, we encourage the community to get behind him with tempered anticipation. The future is very bright for this player.
LISA MILLER
STEPZ (REALSTEPZ)
THE founder of Arco Academy, a sports specialist alternative provision school based in Camberwell, Lisa has seen off a torrid couple of years navigating the real-time effects of running a school during a pandemic. But having come through the testing period, the sky’s the limit. Providing a safe and caring environment with a bespoke learning programme, the school operates on the premise that participation in sports enables young people to be able to develop into well-rounded leaders. You’ll struggle to find another black woman operating in a similar guise across the education sector. In a recent interview with Goldman Sachs, Miller gave an insight into her mindset. “Ultimately, when your ‘why’ is bigger than you, you end up transcending all sorts of barriers.”
THE internet is a place where organic talent that wouldn’t otherwise have a platform to be recognised can thrive and that’s how Lifestyle sees the work of Stepz. From his popular phrase ‘Ahlie’, to the close up unconventional way he films his content, the social media personality, dancer and music artist based in London has hit a tone that clearly resonates with his 2.8 million TikTok followers. Check out the recent Stepz feat Fizzler Pacman dance video on YouTube, his collective know no bounds where their creativity is concerned and are fearless in pursuit and execution of new endeavours. Driven by his mantra “genuine faith produces works”, look out for a lot more from Stepz this year.
CURRENTLY a dental hygiene student at the University of Portsmouth and a General Dental Council (GDC) registered dental nurse, Samara Telesford added the title of Miss Caribbean UK to her multifaceted CV last year. A staunch advocate for beauty pageants, Samara’s own experience began at the age of 16 and she is adamant the vehicle should be used to develop the confidence of young women, encourage them to be entrepreneurial, showcase their intelligence as well as foster great leadership skills. Look out for Samara in 2023 as she pushes her A Black Girls Tale campaign, which advocates a safe place for black women to share, express and overcome their feelings and past experiences they may have faced within the educational system or place of work.
YOMI SODE
THE groundswell of noise around this man continues to grow and not just because of his top tier literary offering Manorism, a selection of poems exploring family, survival, generational trauma and the complexities of belonging. Lifestyle last spoke with Sode in 2021 (watch the interview online) where the award-winning Nigerian British writer spoke candidly of his excitement to be bringing the book to market.
ZION GREEN (@RAISINGZION1)
IF YOU haven’t had your social media timeline peppered with content by Jordan Green, the driver of ‘Project Mbappe’, then you’re just not with it. Now, let’s get this straight, baby Zion Green as pictured, is the real star of the show, like the real MVP, but the support role played by mother and father just makes this all wholesome content personified. Zion is destined for greatness having already graced some of the best football pitches in the Premier League. His first touch is absolutely sublime, he can do it in his sleep, literally. Watch this space, he’s looking like captain material.
38 | THE VOICE JANUARY 2023
Lifestyle
Musical journey pays off for Perry
Composer James Perry wants his inspiring story to help others chase their dreams. By Joel Campbell
J
AMES PERRY is an award-winning music composer from London whose work is played all over the world. With ten years of music experience in the film and TV industry, his career serves as genuine motivation for anyone pursuing an area of vocation largely unheralded in the black community. His most recent work is featured behind the scenes of BAFTA award-winning comedian Mo Gilligan’s latest documentary on Channel 4, The Black British Takeover. Keen to share how his initial interest and subsequent ability have led him down this path, Perry told Lifestyle that it was a chance conversation that turned his head to the opportunities that presented themselves in the world he now finds himself. “I started at university in 2011,” he mused. “I didn’t always tend to be drawn to film music but when I was in university I had a lecturer who happened to be a film composer, so I used to listen to what he was saying. “My course didn’t actually involve film composition but I was so interested in it that I actually used to sit inside lectures of the film composition students even though I wasn’t getting credited for it. I had an interest and I was eager to learn. “I used to go to the library and download films and listen to scores heavy and had a real interest from there, and I think that has led me to this day. “And having studied the music I remember growing up, one of my favourite movies was called Remember the Titans, with Denzel Washington, it’s an American Football movie and it was only after I studied
music I realised that part of the reason it is my favourite movie is because of how heavily involved the music is in terms of swaying the emotion in the movie. “This was an area I wanted to pursue because there is not many people that look like me in this avenue so it would be a great route to take.” Perry didn’t start playing the piano until he was 16-years-old. Initially only focused on playing live music as part of a band and potentially pursuing a career in music production, he says the change of lanes to music composition felt like a natural calling. He says delving into the art form saw him broadening his horizons in terms of what music, instruments and sounds he listened to and as his world expanded, so did his thirst to leave a mark on it. Perry has worked in the US entertainment world since 2014,
STILL EVOLVING: James Perry has worked with many artists including Mo Gilligan, below
where he scored the online series All That Matters directed by Hollywood actresses and directors Meagan Good and Tamara Bass. He then went on to work with Good and Bass again in 2019, when he scored the feature film If Not Now, When?, which was featured at the American Black Film Festival in 2019 before being released on Amazon Prime Video in 2021. In between, Perry also worked with writer/producer, Amy Aniobi on her film Honeymoon, which he received an award for ‘outstanding music’ at the Abuja International Film Festival. “It’s definitely been a journey,” he said. “One of the first projects I did was with a production company called Fully Focused and they did documentaries for the Amy Winehouse Foundation, which were short films to show the importance of alcohol addiction and abuse, in order to raise awareness. “Then one of the first films I did was with a friend called Josh Bridge, who is also a director and producer from the UK, and we had a sold-out premiere in Cineworld. That was in 2013. “In regards to a big break, I feel like that came back in 2014 but it’s only starting to show now. “That was when I worked on
an online web series with Meagan and Tamara. “How I actually went about that was through somebody tagging me on one of Meagan’s posts on Instagram because they were looking for music but they weren’t looking for a composer. “At first I thought it wasn’t my kind of lane so I left it and then after a while I reached out to them and said if they were looking for a composer, I would be happy to do the music for them. “They got back to me and said they loved me but they didn’t have the budget for it. At the time I just thought you know what, I don’t mind helping. “So we went with it and I did four out of the five episodes, they loved it and everything was cool and from there we have had a great relationship. “I feel like that was the start of my career in terms of branching outside of the UK and sowing the seeds and I think even though sometimes people think big breaks are like blockbusting movies and stuff, I think that was a big break for me in terms of planting that seed to go on throughout my career.” Perry is active in a wide range of musical mediums, be it film, TV, theatre, adverts, live performances, music production, podcasts, and games, He composed the current mu-
sic titles for the BAFTA awardwinning TV talk show The Lateish Show with Mo Gilligan (Season 3). On top of this, earlier this year Perry also scored the music for Gilligan’s latest Netflix stand-up There’s Mo To Life, which was released in more than 180 countries. More recently, Perry has continued to attract US clients, as he scored the TV One thriller feature film Stranger Next Door, directed by Victoria Rowell, star-
“I’d love to work on a Marvel film, that would be great” ring Tim Reid, Vicky Jeudy and Skyh Black. This premiered at the American Black Film Festival in June 2022, while also airing on TV One in July. For the aspiring music composer out there looking to emulate his journey, Perry enthused: “They definitely have to first start with the belief and the drive.” He added: “Don’t be afraid to listen to different genres of music, go to networking events, meet people who are as hungry as you, meet people who are looking to do things quite
similar around you. Go to concerts, be inspired. Reach out to people. A lot of the time I feel like people put people on high pedestals, like they aren’t able to be reached but I feel that, behind that person there is always someone else, an assistant for example, so how can you reach out to them? A conversation, an email. There are different paths you can go down.” Looking forward, that hunger Perry speaks about is very much a part of his own blueprint. “For me, future success is evolving, continuing to do what I love and inspiring people through that.” He added: “I think I’d love to work on a Marvel film, that would be great, especially as a black guy from south London, that would be a cool achievement. “To work on something I have grown up on, seen it on TV and in the cinema, being amazed at everything, a Marvel film would be cool. “I would also like to work with Tyler Perry at some point, that would be cool. I think his journey has been amazing. I’d love to know his story more as well, and also, we have the same surname, so that could play a part in making it happen.” Watch the full interview on The Voice website
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Wishing you a Happy & Prosperous 2023
40
| THE VOICE JANUARY 2023
This is Brukout!
by Seani B
New year, new style, new artists to look out for in 2023
T
HIS WAS a phenomenal year for upcoming new artists. I have never seen so many breakthrough in the manner they did. I was gonna ask for everyone to wear name tags as I genuinely couldn’t keep up with all the new names! My prediction last year was Skeng, and I think I can cash that gamble in and safely say that I made a nice win. But there were so many other notable wins too. Jahshii, Silk Boss, Roze Don, Brysco, Topmann, Malie Don, Pablo YG, Kraff, 450 and Jeff Fullyauto are all names that have been on my playlists in the past 12 months and that’s just Jamaica! Looking further afield, I have to mention Kalonji from Trinidad, while closer to home Skeete from Nottingham closed the year with smooth single Weekday. I told ya! I need nametags. However, two names that have stuck in my head I believe will surpass trending for a few weeks are Valiant and Prettii Prettii. Starting with the latter, Prettii Prettii first came to my attention from the vibrant street dance culture in Kingston, Jamaica. To stand out of that pack of naturally talent creatives is not easy. Her team PTR that consists of two other “Dolly’s” (as they are referred to) TC and Rebel have an infectious energy that brought them to the
attention of Dancehall Queen Spice. The trio brought life as dancers to what was already billed as one of the best stage performances from a dancehall artist until an unfortunate parting of ways. This did not slow down the team. They went on the
recent conversation with her, she openly admits that it never “connected” the way it should have. The song that got people looking at her as an artist was Sad Eeh. Directly aimed at her Dolly fanbase, Prettii shows that she can flow and has witty lyrics
“Prettii and her squad are firmly aimed at a young, independent female audience” establish their brand PTR with a successful online series Dancehall Life, creating the Dolly trademark and this is where Prettii Prettii comes into play. Prettii by name, Prettii by nature, she’s also a budding dancehall artist. Her first outing as an artist after splitting from Spice, Buzzing got mixed reviews. If I’m honest, it was just about a good try and in a
that shows an understanding of who she is targeting. But the music is just one part of her brand. Hair and beauty, fashion and trend is what will push her and her girls to the next level. Prettii and her squad are firmly aimed at a young, independent female audience that want to dress up and party with their friends living their best life. With her stage performances as an artist getting better with each show, this young lady is the full package and has the potential of making a mark in 2023. I thought 1BiggsDon, who went TikTok viral with Bwoy Haffi, won the social Media moment of 2022, but a phrase catapulted
FULL PACKAGE:
Prettii Prettii knows her audience; below, Valiant has a contagious singjay style
Valiant into the biggest trending artist of 2022. Kotch E Hat A Lie was the sentenced uttered in a social post that rocketed Valiant into having over 10 songs in the Jamaica trending YouTube videos in the last few months of 2022. The same week as that post, his song California North started to gain traction and he became the artist we all wanted to know about. Valiant has a very contagious singjay style that is in full display on a record that is in the centre of the “Dunce Culture” argument in the dancehall industry.
Dunce Cheque was his biggest song closing off 2022. Back of the class, mi nah nuh subject is not a line I should be singing in reality, but the manner he delivers it has hooked me and many others, and at the same time creating a whirlwind discussion of what is being supported. Mi feel shame, but it’s just so ketchy…. Nevertheless, talent is talent and with so many singles captivating dancehall lovers in such a short space of time, you cannot deny this kid his glory. Crazily, I found out at the end of last year that he is close friends with my JA family, but he
didn’t want to get the easy link to me, he wanted to earn his position that he has attained thus far. This I salute him for, but as a DJ that loves to break new artists I had to give him the side-eye. The music has been in a transitional period, but I believe the sound that has had a big fight from some of the elders is starting to find its feet and a place in the world. We see what Skillibeng is doing and also the heights that Skeng’s Little Miss reached with Nicki Minaj’s helping hands. Let’s see what the next 12 months brings.
JANUARY 2023 THE VOICE |
41
Lifestyle
Keeping the message simple
Akon says the key is to just start the process. By Joel Campbell
A
S WE enter a new year, the message from multi-platinum award-winning Senegalese-American singer, Akon, is a simple one, ‘Just start’. The producer and entrepreneur sat down with Lifestyle while in the UK recently to promote his new EP TT Freak, but he also wanted to impress upon those he networked with the importance of connecting. “Top of the order while I’m here is more of a collaborational thing,” said Akon. “I’ve always been a team player, even for Konvict Kulture our motto is teamwork makes the dream work. “I even built my whole career off of collaborations because I know the power of what comes when you bring things together. One of the reasons why I am even coming back into the business is to understand who and
what is out there that can be utilised as a way of bringing our culture together. “I think the moment we start coming together, we start investing together, we start creating platforms that we can control. “It will put us in a better position to where tomorrow can be a more easier transition, not only for our children but for culture as well too.” Over the past 20 years, Akon has established himself as an unstoppable force selling more than 35 million albums worldwide. Known for his unique sound that blends his West African-styled vocals mixed with East Coast and Southern beats, it’s a reminder of his childhood growing up between Senegal and New Jersey. In collaboration with social media giant TikTok, last month saw Akon’s Konvict Kulture release TT Freak, featuring some
Dance Consortium presents
The Rite of Spring reimagined through the traditional dance of Botswana
LIVING THE DREAM: Akon has sold more than 35 million albums worldwide and recently released TT Freak, featuring a host of breakout artists of the biggest breakout artists of recent times including African sensation Nektunez and the Atlanta raised rapper Amirror. Looking forward to the rest of the year, he says he just wants to “do great music and have an amazing time and just travel the world and tour with the other artists”. In a special message to Voice readers, he enthused: “If i could
speak to The Voice’s audience, I would definitely tell them, not just the typical thing of keep your head up, stay positive, all of that, but whatever dreams you have in life, just start. “I think the problem that a lot of us do, we never accomplish the goals we want to accomplish because we never got to the point where we can even start. We’re always thinking about
what could go wrong, what we ain’t got, what we need, who we need to contact, if I only had this then I could do this ... “No, just start with whatever it is you got.I don’t care what it is, just start the process because once you start the process you are going to be surprised about how many things come to assist you or how many things you discover that you thought
you didn’t need that you can use now to take yourself to the next step. “The key is just to start the process. Once you start everything eventually, I promise you, with good faith in God’s hands things will work out how you want them to.” Watch Akon’s message to The Voice audience on our website.
Dada Masilo’s
The Sacrifice
24 & 25 February 2023
42
| THE VOICE JANUARY 2023
Lifestyle
Channelling global success
Shaka Henry says Rep Dat TV’s rapid growth has taken him by surprise... and there’s more to come. By Joel Campbell
S
INCE SITTING down with Lifestyle over a year and a half ago, Rep Dat TV has gone from strength to strength. The owner of the channel, Shaka Henry, was full of praise for the support he has received from The Voice, with the south Londoner adamant it was important for him to align with likeminded organisations that had blazed a trail before him. Since outlining their plans for growth, things have moved fairly quickly for Henry, who is now on the lookout for more shows and content creators as he prepares for the future. Rep Dat TV is a free-to-air 24-hour TV channel representing black British culture through entertainment, news and current affairs. Henry and his team are on a mission to make it the greatest channel of its ilk. It’s been 13 years since he started out on the journey and it’s so far, so good. “We’ve got a lot of appreciation for the article in The Voice in 2021,” he said. “It’s things like this which I give respect to. I went to my aunty’s house in Lewisham where I grew up and the smile she had just to see the piece, because she has seen the journey, she knows the ups and downs, left and rights, she’s seen everything. I had my mum give it to all of her friends.” He added: “We give a lot of respect to The Voice because it is one of those platforms for black British people that has been going for 40 years, so we have to respect what comes before us, and that’s a lot of what we do at Rep Dat. “We took the article and went on the rampage. We bought about 50 copies and we went to every industry event, letting people know what we were doing and at that point we were just launching the channel. “We’d left Yanga TV and we were joining AVO platform which was just about to launch in Africa. Since that time we’ve grown with them. We were the only black British TV on the platform and they were on Roku, smartphones and all of the platforms. “So as time has gone on we’ve just grown, we’ve gone to all of the events, City Splash, reggae festivals, you name it. “AVO in that time has experi-
enced two million downloads, they are the second biggest platform in Africa after Netflix.” Henry says the rapid nature of the growth left him a little taken aback. It’s not everyday you surpass your own projections in such an emphatic manner. It only served to whet his appetite for more. “We were all surprised by that. We knew there was a need but didn’t anticipate that,” he said. “The company AVO, if you look at them, they’re like Sky over here. They are a massive company. They wanted to launch an on-demand platform, they did that. There are two hundred million people in Nigeria, everybody seems to forget that huge audience. AVO managed to get channels that captivated people and they grew. “So as they grew, Rep Dat grew. “More demands came, more advertising came in, more content came in. We started doing live events like the CAMA Awards, we’ve got viewers in Poland and all over the world tuning in and now we’re at the
“We’ve got viewers in Poland and all over the world tuning in” point where we have launched our own app. “We’re still with AVO but we’re independant. You can get us everywhere you can get Netflix now, everywhere. Phones, tablets, websites, any smart TV in the world you can put Rep Dat TV and see us.” Henry has never wavered from his vision of bringing Rep Dat to life. He admits he’s had to learn some harsh lessons along the way but his background in sales has helped him to cut through. “It’s been 13 years since we launched Rep Dat TV and when we first launched it was a bunch of friends from Lewisham, we’d all grown up in a council flat and always wanted to do something different, just not the stereotypical thing,” Henry enthused. “That’s where we got the name Rep Dat from because we
ON A MISSION: Shaka Henry is on the lookout for more shows and content creators for Rep Dat TV wanted to rep something different from what everyone else was doing. “The environment I’m from is about five per cent of people doing negativity and 85 per cent of people live in their world and about ten per cent stuck in the middle, that’s the actual reality of what we represent. So we said we needed a platform where we can talk to the Saxon’s, the Coxsone’s but then also talk to the Omar’s, the Angie Le Mar’s and
show that we’re more than just Drill music. “Our whole thing was about pushing the positive culture that we have within black Britain.” He added: “Some of the struggles along the way have been with the fact that most of the Sky TV stations were African TV stations, their majority focus was not the black British audience. “One of the things I’ve also seen along the way is that we’re a community that wants a Voice
newspaper, we want a black British Rep Dat TV station, we want a Choice FM, but we do not financially support these platforms. “If it was Netflix doing a black show, everybody is going to run to that show. Channel 4 just launched YouTube 4.0, that’s literally a black platform on YouTube with all of the YouTubers now going to a YouTube channel hoping to get a TV deal to potentially get around £6,000 and get their name out there.
POPULAR: The Reggae Show is proving a big hit with Rep Dat viewers
“But if we could do it ourselves, they’re getting £50,000 or £60,000 on our own platform because they are getting the advertising directly. These are the barriers that we face.” Team Rep Dat are pleased with the work that’s already been done, but looking forward Henry has a clear view about what he wants to see happen next and it could be an opportunity for any one who is interested in TV. “Sound System Culture is one of the biggest shows that got picked up by Amazon Prime and most of our shows have gone onto Sky platforms as well. Tip Your Cap was a really big show and it means a lot because, rest in peace Noel McKoy who just passed away, but we got to make a show dedicated to his career, Omar’s career, Don-E’s career to let them know that they were appreciated. “We’ve got The Reggae Show, the only one of its kind in Europe, and we’ve got lots of movies, so if people want to send us content hit us up. We’re offering revenue splits, so we are not saying to give us your content for free. “If your content makes money, you’re going to make money. a competitive amount of money.”
AUGUST 2022 AUGUST 2022
DELICIOUS
jamaican
PATTIES
ducing...
THE VOICE| 45 THE VOICE| 43
44
| THE VOICE JANUARY 2023
Lifestyle
There’s a Fortune in locks I
DECISION: Fortune decided to focus on locks early in his career
T WAS a ‘spiritual’ connection to locks that made Fortune Malasti decide to pursue every hair stylist’s ultimate dream of owning his own salon. Having upped sticks from South Africa over 15 years ago in his search for a space to explore his creativity, he found himself with an opportunity to come to the UK. His journey has seen him build from the ground up and run Luv Natural salon in east London for the past ten years. Speaking on where it all started, he said: “I grew up in South Africa and I had locks during my late teens. Through having locks myself, that’s where the interest came from,” Fortune said. “Luckily enough I was around people that used to do hair. One of my great mentors, AB, used to do hair across the board in terms of your relaxers, your weaves and stuff like that, which is where I started doing hair. “He was also teaching hairdressing at university, so I became one of the students. I did that for a couple of years
★★★★
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Joel Campbell meets the South African who is turning heads across the capital after which he ended up leaving teaching and we worked together. I then left to do photography, which was something very different to hair.” Following his brief dalliance with taking images, a pastime he says he took up during the downtimes when doing hair wasn’t as busy, Fortune left South Africa to come to the UK. It was a couple of years before he was able to start out on his own and had other opportunities come to fruition it may never even have happened.
EXPERIENCE
He explained: “Prior to coming here, I was due to go on a cruise ship to try to get work experience doing hair and my friend and I applied. Because of that, we had to apply for visas. “Mine came first and I just decided the cruise ship thing was taking too long, so I set off for the UK in 2007. “I was in London for a couple of days then got a job as a doorto-door salesman in Oxford, one of the worst jobs I’ve ever done... I didn’t last long in that field. “One of the first salons I worked in was Morris Roots and I think I did almost two years with him. He’s an amazing guy, I respect his hustle. It was my first time in this country seeing an all black business, which was absolutely amazing.” Flitting between various salons for a five-year period before he launched his own business in 2012, Fortune says it was becoming a father that gave him the impetus to turn Luv Natural from concept into creation. “I remember it was just before my son was born, I said to myself, ‘listen, If I’m going to start something it has too be now’. “I didn’t have a lot of money and started with a tiny cubicle
in Walthamstow, then we moved two doors down as we grew.” Fortune says being able to identify with the way his clients feel has enabled him to evolve with an inherent sense of professionalism at the core of his company’s ethos. He added: “I’ve been very lucky to meet a lot of people and through that, whether it’s good or bad experiences, I’ve learnt from people.” One of the standout decisions Fortune made early on was to only focus on doing locks. Starter locks, interlocks with style, retwists, colouring, steam and hot oil treatments are all available from his salon. One of his more sought-after services is crochet locks. It’s become something of a signature for Fortune. He said: “It is a speciality, it’s a niche part of the business. “When I started doing locks, we used a soap and we would keep twisting your hair until it twisted – it would work out and then products were introduced later on, and that’s the evolution of locks. They’ve evolved to where we are. “Then the retwist came on and then the interlock came through and now we are at the crochet level, who knows what’s coming next. But it has made us extremely busy. “Unfortunately, I am still the only one that can do it in the shop. Personally, I think it’s a patience game because sometimes it can take me ten hours to do one client. You have to have staying power, it can test you.” He added: “With regards to doing just only locks, I’ve done hair across the board, be it weave, relaxers and stuff like that. “I knew the damage that stuff was causing and the idea that those are my sisters and brothers that I am causing this to, how
Some of Fortune’s creations... Directed by
MICHAEL FENTIMAN
Starring
SAMANTHA WOMACK as the White Witch
GILLIAN LYNNE THEATRE | LIONWITCHONSTAGE.COM
do you then just make money out of it and move away? So I started just doing natural hair and said let’s embrace that because I also had locks and I knew the benefits of having locks, it wasn’t a religion but there is a spiritual element to growing your hair as black people, which I won’t dig too deep into but the idea was, this is what I would like to do. “I remember speaking to my mum about everyone passing through the shop and they would say, ‘but if you did other things you would be busier, you’re waiting for a small number of people, why don’t I do relaxers? Why don’t I do cornrows? “My mum said, ‘if you do what you love, the money will come’. “So that’s what I loved and that’s what I stuck to. It’s what I wanted to bring to the world and be a part of, it was already there, I’m not bringing it, but to be a part of something so big, I think locks are amazing and I think they are big and now people are realising it.” Over the festive period, Fortune was at his busiest the company has even been. The capable team he has assembled deliver a top tier service, in keeping with the high standards of thorough training and preparation each member undertakes before being able to work with a client.
GROWTH
Despite the steady growth and success over the past ten years, world domination is not on the agenda for Fortune, he wants to keep his wins simpler than that. He added: “When you say locks, people don’t think of what I have. That’s where the issue is, they think of it as an unkempt hairstyle, people that don’t wash their hair and all of that. A lot of the time when you show them what we do, everybody loves it but when you say locks or dreadlocks, what comes in to their minds is not what we do. “So, it’s actually trying to get to the part where when you say locks, they see this, that’s the ultimate goal.”
JANUARY 2023 THE VOICE |
45
Lifestyle Two culture dates for your diary in 2023 TWO DATES for your diary Lifestyle would not want you to miss feature African photography and the first major UK exhibition by one of today’s most compelling artists and filmmakers. First up (and you have four months to plan for this) Isaac Julien, celebrated for his compelling lyrical films and his video art installations, is set to deliver a solo exhibition featuring work across 40 years. The exhibition will reveal the scope of Julien’s pioneering work in film and installation from the early 1980s through to the present day, highlighting his critical thinking and the way his work breaks down barriers between different artistic disciplines, drawing from film, dance, photography, music, theatre, painting and sculpture by utilising the
EXHIBITION: Isaac Julien’s The Lady of the Lake (Lessons of the Hour) 2019
themes of desire, history and culture. Later in the year from July 6 until January 2024, A World in Common: Contemporary African Photography, inset, is not to be missed. Bringing together a group of artists from different generations, this exhibition will address how photography, film, audio, and more have been used to reimagine Africa’s diverse cultures and historical narratives. Moving beyond a traditional photography exhibition, the show seeks to explore the many ways images travel across histories and geographies. Using themes of spirituality, identity and climate emergency, the exhibition will guide the viewer through dream-like utopias and bustling cityscapes viewed from the artists’ perspectives.
Responding to the past
Keith Piper’s new work at Tate Britain will be shown alongside Whistler mural. By Joel Campbell
A
RT SHOULD stir emotion, right? It should force a response, otherwise what’s the point, right? But what about when that art offends, like, deeply, deeply, offends? It has long been the feeling of many that the imagined hunting trip depicted in the Rex Whistler mural at the Tate Britain is exactly that, offensive, it could even be said, racist. Commissioned to create the panoramic mural for the Tate Gallery’s restaurant in 1927 at the age of 21, who knows what filled the mind of Whistler, let alone what underpinned the foundations of creativity that motivated his work. Within the sequence of scenes, the mural features derogatory and distressing imagery of a black child being kidnapped from his mother and enslaved. Last year, the Tate announced that celebrated British artist Keith Piper will create a new work to be shown alongside the Rex Whistler mural.
This new work will be exhibited in dialogue with the mural, reframing the way the space is experienced. Piper is renowned for his artistic responses to specific historical relationships and geographical sites. He rose to prominence in the 1980s as a founder member of the BLK Art Group and has gone on to stage solo exhibitions at museums and galleries across the UK, Europe and US. His output as an artist ranges from painting and photography to video and digital media. He has also worked as a curator, researcher and academic and is an associate professor at Middlesex University, London. He enthused: “The ‘interwar’ years fascinate me. “On the one hand, we have the creative rebellion and hedonistic excess of the ‘Roaring Twenties’ and its ‘Bright Young Things’. On the other, we have paranoia and polarisation across the country as seen in the anti-black riots of 1919 and the reactionary and racist ide-
RENOWNED: Keith Piper’s new work will be exhibited alongside the Rex Whistler mural (photo: Joel Chester Fildes) ologies that gripped sections of British society. “Rex Whistler’s mural sits at the confluence of multiple influences from that period and becomes a fascinating window into a complex era.” Alex Farquharson, director of Tate Britain, said: “Keith Piper’s
work has always reflected his deep interest in important but overlooked histories, in particular a longstanding engagement with issues of race and the legacies of empire. “Piper’s unique voice will bring a vital new perspective to the room, juxtaposing past and
present in an ongoing conversation, as we often seek to do in Tate Britain’s programme today.” The room containing Rex Whistler’s 1927 mural closed as a restaurant at the start of the pandemic. It was announced last year that the room would reopen as a display space which critically engages with the mural’s history and content, including its racist imagery; and that Tate Eats would look to develop new dining offers in other spaces at Tate Britain in due course. This approach was developed through a series of discussions held in 2021, which invited voices from inside and outside the Tate to explore possible next steps, including artists, art historians, cultural advisors, civic representatives and young creative practitioners. Tate is responsible for the mural and the gallery’s approach needs to create an appropriate context for it to be viewed, as well as allowing this context
to evolve over time. Speaking on the complexity surrounding the process, Amia Srinivasan, Chichele Professor of Social and Political Theory at All Souls College, University of Oxford, and a co-chair of Rex Whistler mural discussions, said: “Conversations about the mural were open, rigorous, and filled with good-natured but deep disagreement. “Would keeping the mural open to the public accentuate its power? Would shutting it off risk doing the same? “Could the space be used by artists of colour as a creative site of reappropriation? Or would this unfairly burden them with a problem produced by a historically white institution? “One of the few points of consensus was that Tate had to take ownership of its history, and that whatever decision was made had to be an invitation to a broader conversation, not the end of one.” Piper’s new work is currently in production and will be unveiled in autumn 2023.
46 | THE VOICE JANUARY 2023
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Vernon’s fight for justice
Pioneering boxer co-writes musical drama based on his inspirational life. By Joel Campbell
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IONEERING BOXER Vernon Vanriel is the subject of a new play at the start of 2023. Musical drama, On The Ropes, is “a story with weighty themes, told in a joyful and playful way,” according to director Anastasia Osei-Kuffour. The play has been co-written by the protagonist himself, together with sporting playwright Dougie Blaxland. The production, staged in a boxing ring, unfolds in 12 ‘metaphorical’ rounds featuring key moments in Vanriel’s life. He came to Britain aged six with his family as part of the Windrush Generation and quickly rose to prominence as one of the UK’s most charismatic and influential black British boxers of the 70s and 80s. In 2005, having lived in north London for 43 years, he found himself trapped in Jamaica; homeless, penniless and denied access to medical care for a heart condition. What followed was a prolonged fight with the British Home Office for his right to citizenship. Pulsating with the rhythmic energies of blues, reggae and boxing, On The Ropes is a celebration of how courage, dignity and a fighting spirit can triumph over prejudice and injustice.
Mensah Bediako stars as Vernon with Ashley D Gale, and Amber James as multi-rolling chorus members. Vanriel says this play is a dream come true. He said: “After 13 long years of being voiceless and invisible, the writing and staging of On The Ropes has given me the opportunity to be acknowledged and heard. “Having my story told in my own words will mark the final step in my homecoming.” Co-writer Blaxland adds: “Vernon’s story is the ultimate embodiment of courage and endurance, and it has been a privilege to work with him as co-writer to bring his story to the stage. “He has been the alpha and omega of the creative process as both the inspirational source and the editor.” Director Osei-Kuffour, who also directed the critically-acclaimed hit show and film Typical starring Richard Blackwood in 2019, said: “I’m drawn to true stories, real people and real situations which highlight where and who we are as human beings today. Vernon’s story feels urgent and important. “I hope this play raises greater awareness about the significant contribution he made to British boxing and the continuing injustices and repercussions faced by
members of the Windrush Generation and their families. This is a story with weighty themes, told in a joyful and playful way.” Colin Blumenau, artistic director of The Production Exchange, says: “This production is the fabulous result of a process which has seen us support the development of the play from its earliest drafts to this vibrant and vital UK premiere. “I couldn’t be more excited about bringing Vernon’s story to a public who need to be aware of the injustices meted out to him in their name. “At the same time, however, they can celebrate the triumph of his indomitable spirit being told with humour, pathos and great, great music.”
TRIUMPH OVER INJUSTICE: Vernon Vanriel is bringing his story to the stage (main photo: Sean Anthony Instagram @seanaaaanthony/www. seanaaaanthony. co.uk
Visit https://parktheatre.co.uk/ whats-on/on-the-ropes
Birmingham set to host European Athletics Championships 2026 By Rodney Hinds HAVING STAGED a highly successful Commonwealth Games in the summer, the city of Birmingham will host the European Athletics Championships in 2026 following a successful bid process with UK Athletics (UKA). Working in partnership with Birmingham City Council and UK Sport, UKA had high hopes of hosting Europe’s most prestigious European athletics competition, seven years on from staging the hugely successful European Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow in 2019. Whilst the UK has also proudly hosted multiple major championships over the last 15 years including the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the World Athletics and World Para Athletics Championships as well as the World
Athletics Indoor Championships, it will be the first time the UK has ever hosted the European Athletics Championships. The bid win follows on from an exciting summer for athletics in the UK with medal success for GB & NI at the World and European Athletics Championships and for the home nation teams at a hugely successful Commonwealth Games hosted by Birmingham at the newly renovated Alexander Stadium – which will be the venue for the event in 2026. UKA’s chief executive Jack Buckner said: “We are delighted and honoured that we have been awarded the privilege of hosting the European Athletics Championships in 2026 in Birmingham. It is wonderful news for athletics and benefits the whole of the UK in demonstrating our ability to host major events across the whole country.
PREMIER FACILITY: Alexander Stadium will be the venue for the event in 2026
“UKA has held a long time wish to deliver this event and we thank European Athletics for its faith in entrusting us with its most important competition. “Our vision for the Championships is about record-breaking ticket sales and an amazing atmosphere for athletes to be inspired inside and outside the
stadium. We have promised to deliver an amazing, innovative and game changing Championships, and we’re excited we can now put this plan into action!” Cllr Ian Ward, leader of Birmingham City Council, added: “We are honoured and privileged to be asked to be the
first ever UK hosts of the prestigious European Athletics Championships. “Over many years we have demonstrated we are a city that can proudly host major events of this type and scale – and the people of Birmingham and indeed the entire nation have proven time and time again their huge appetite for sport, especially athletics. “The Alexander Stadium is beyond all doubt the premier athletics facility in the country and we cannot wait to welcome the elite of European athletics for this event, which will also bring a range of benefits for local communities and our economy beyond the programme of track and field activities.” For those interested in hearing first about tickets and wider opportunities to get involved in the championships, register on this link www.uka.org.uk/ eac-2026-register-your-interest/
JANUARY 2023 THE VOICE |
47
Sport
Shannia’s boxing clever A former university student’s community training business is thriving ... with a little help from the Olympics. By Rodney Hinds
A
VISIONARY STUDENT is assisting her community via the London 2012 Olympic
Games. After Team USA trained at the University of East London during the London Olympics in 2012, they donated their gym equipment to the University’s SportsDock. The equipment has been used by more than 30,000 people over the past ten years and, after its recent gym refurbishment, SportsDock has now passed on some of that equipment to Shannia RichardsonGordon, a former student, to help her community boxing training business in nearby Woolwich. The equipment, including 14 training bikes, a running machine and Olympic weights, is now being used at Shannia’s Power Mobile Gym at Woolwich Common Community Centre. Shannia, 22, has won gold and silver medals at the Amateur Boxing Association championships in the 65+kg category and is one of the youngest boxing coaches in the UK. She graduated from the University of East London with a BA (Hons) in Social Studies two years ago. As well as coaching boxing, Shannia teaches life skills to
young people from the Woolwich community, including cookery and CV and interview preparation. She started her gym in March and has worked with 1,000 young people. Shannia responded to a social media offer of the gym equipment from East London Sport at the University. David Cowell, the East London Sports Centre manager at SportsDock, said he was delighted to help Shannia and her community work. “We also hosted the Team GB medical team and we manage the Olympic archive for the British Olympic Association, so the connection is a strong one,” he said. “To see the legacy continuing with Shannia and through another local gym that received some of the other equipment that Team USA originally donated to us after the Olympics in 2012 is amazing.” Shannia’s future plans include expanding her gym’s range of activities by helping
DRIVING FORCE: Shannia Richardson-Gordon at her Power Mobile Gym at Woolwich Common Community Centre; left, Shannia says she loves helping young people
more young people through supporting some of their costs by providing transport to other boxing clubs for competitions. She said of the project: “East London Sport and SportsDock have been so helpful. The
equipment is excellent. It will get a lot of use and help a lot of young people using the gym. “I love helping young people. Boxing is a great discipline and even though many of the young people I meet have some qualifications, what they aren’t prepared for are life skills and getting
themselves into the best place they can be to apply for jobs. “I do whatever I can to help. The gym gives them a ‘safe space’ to spend some time, get fit and meet other young people from the area. I visit schools and meet young people there as well and talk to them about
boxing and making the best of their lives.” “It’s humbling when their parents come to visit the gym and thank me. I appreciate it but making a difference in the lives of the young people I and the other boxing coaches at the gym meet are all the thanks we need.”
Young cricketers get their chance to shine through programmes By Fiona Lucille THROUGH INCLUSIVE programmes being rolled out by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), Chance to Shine and Lord’s Taverners, cricket will be taken directly to those children who are at the greatest risk of missing out on playing the game. More than 55,000 extra children from underserved communities, and those attending special educational needs and disability schools, are being given the chance to play cricket through targeted investment in schools programmes by the ECB, run in conjunction with Chance to Shine and Lord’s Taverners. Working with the ECB, Chance
to Shine expects to advance its cricket delivery in up to 300 more schools where at least 40 per cent of the student population qualifies for free school meals. At the same time, the ECB will grow its partnership with Lord’s Taverners with the charity expecting to reach at least 200 extra SEND schools running a cricket programme designed to reach more young people with special educational needs and disabilities. In total, the expanded programmes represent an additional 26,000 hours of curriculum time cricket activity aimed at connecting communities and improving lives. These programmes will be completely free of charge, delivered as part of the school day
INVESTMENT: The programmes are completely free of charge so that no additional transport or parental support is required, and every session will be provided by a qualified coach, alongside all the necessary equipment. Clare Connor, interim CEO of
the ECB, said: “Helping everyone to be able to say ‘cricket is a game for me’ is essential for our sport’s continued development and growth. These programmes are fantastic ways to ensure that
young people with the least have the opportunity to gain the most through cricket. Schools cricket is vitally important, and we will continue to be an advocate for more cricket in the curriculum in every discussion we have.” Connor added: “These programmes will be delivered completely free of charge to boys and girls on the school site, so no additional transport or parental support will be required. “We want to raise the game to make cricket the most inclusive and accessible sport in England and Wales, with a barrier-free offer in every school – beginning with those most in need. “We’re delighted to be able to roll out these initiatives and we look forward to seeing their impact in 2023.”
Chance to Shine is a UK based cricket charity that works in state schools and communities across England, Wales, and Scotland. It aims to give all children the opportunity to play, learn, and develop through cricket. Vanessa Greene, interim chief executive of Chance to Shine, said: “An incredible amount of work has gone in to pinpointing the schools and communities that will most benefit from these programmes. “We consistently hear from coaches and teachers that cricket has a wonderful impact on the physical, mental and social development of young people and are excited to bring those benefits to thousands more children moving forward.”
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JANUARY 2023 | THE VOICE
Holness blazing a trail in the world of the Ironmen
Sam becomes first openly autistic athlete to conquer Kona event in Hawaii. By Matthew Chadder
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NSPIRATIONAL SAM Holness recently became the first openly autistic athlete to finish Kona, the Ironman World Championship. The London-born 29-year-old finished the Hawaiian triathlon event, which includes a 3.8km swim, 180km, bike ride and full 42.2km marathon, in 13h 05m 44s. Sam is using his achievements in sport to try and instead change perceptions around autism. His father and coach, Tony, sat down with the Voice of Sport to share the journey so far. MC: What is the inspiration behind getting involved with the triathlons? TH: The life expectancy for autistic people in the UK is 54 years. We made a decision early on that we had to get Sam as healthy as possible to give him the best chance in life. In 2019, we went to Portugal, and he did his first half Ironman, and we asked him what he wanted to do, and he said to just continue doing triathlons. We’ve just been pushing on ever since. With autism, he’s really good at repetitive tasks and we realised that he wanted to master things, not just do it. What we understood about sport, is to be an elite athlete, you need to repeat and master. You’ve got to train the same things and get better, so it’s fairly easy for him to do. As an athlete, he never complains about training, that’s one of the reasons why he’s doing this, it’s something that he enjoys, he wants to be the best he can. We’re just encouraging and nurturing it. MC: What does the training structure look like? TH: He trains up to 25 hours a week, he is full-time, this is what he does. It may include 20 kilometres of swimming, about 500 kilometres of cycling, conditioning two days a week. For the winter, he is probably going to be running about 80k a week. It’s quite intense.
WILL TO SUCCEED: Sam Holness trains up to 25 hours a week, which may include about 500 kilometres of cycling; inset, Sam with father and coach, Tony
MC: How does Sam stay motivated? TH: Motivation for him is very easy. He’s focused, he has a task to do, and he doesn’t give up. All top athletes have that sort of single mindedness and determination. I haven’t had to instil it in him, for him it’s just like playing a game and maxing it out, that’s what he does. Motivation for Sam is this is his job, he just wants to do the best that he can do. MC: What was the decision like to take over as his full-time coach, and how was that decision made? TH: It was probably the easiest and the best decision I made in my life. I’ve had coaches working with him and I think the challenge for coaches is about communication because of the autism, I want him to be the best and I want him to work hard. I drive him up and down, I look after his kit, I work with sponsors, I do all of that type of work for him, so he can just focus on his sport.
“A lot of athletes get up in the morning and don’t want to go out. Sam does not quit” MC: How did the recent competition in Hawaii compare to your other competitions? SH: I had to battle through the hot humid weather, when swimming the waves were really choppy. In Utah, there was a lot of rain, wind, lightning, and a sandstorm and it was hillier in Utah than Kona in Hawaii. Frankfurt was in the countryside with a lot of rolling hills Hawaii was my hardest competition because I had to battle through, Utah was my favourite. When I crossed the
finish line, I felt excited. MC: What is the future like, where do you want to take this next? TH: The next two years are transformative. We have probably the choices of five or six races. The next big race is the 70.3 world championship in Finland. Everything we do is against neurotypical athletes. The journey is how do we turn what’s perceived as a disability or disadvantage into an advantage for him, which is what we’re doing because Sam does not quit. He doesn’t. He will crawl over the line. I think a lot of athletes get up in the morning and don’t want to go out. Sam is always out there. Sam’s goal is to become an elite triathlete, and this is white male sport, it’s not as diverse as it should be, but it’s a really positive community. It’s not because people don’t have ability, if you
don’t have the right bike, if you don’t have the right kit, you just cannot win this race, nothing you can do about it. It’s important that not only are you physically able, but you also need the right kit as well and for triathlons, that means wetsuits, running shoes. To the whole disability community out there, there is a different world out there, it might not be sport, but you just have to find that secret that your child has and nurture it, it’s about changing perceptions of people that have autism as well.
