The Voice Newspaper: August Edition

AUGUST 2021 • ISSUE NO. 1921

Lifestyle Rep Dat doing it big p36

Last words from Menelik Shabazz p41

FROM TROUBLED TEEN TO TV SCREEN

WWW.VOICE-ONLINE.CO.UK

Aaron Roach Bridgeman

MEDIA STAR

Aaron Roach Bridgeman reflects on a tough upbringing which moulded him Page 37

This is BrukOut: It’s Spice time now p42

£2.50

Tribute to the late Rev Dr. Joel Edwards

An exemplary Christian leader Pages 23-26

STEPPING FOR PROSTATE CANCER The Voice, JN Bank UK and The Errol McKellar Foundation are collaborating to raise awareness of the perils of prostate cancer, by encouraging the community to participate in a ‘walk and talk’

IN A CLASS OF HIS OWN 10 year old Ore Oni is ranked in the top four in the world of maths

Page 16

Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer in men in the UK. Black men are two to three times more likely to develop this disease, and at an earlier age than their white counterparts, with the death rate being twice as high.

Page 44

Photo credit: Andrew Boateng

initiative.

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Linda Mabhen-Olagunju says ‘Africa has solutions to its power issues’ Page 22

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Inside

ROUNDUP

THIS MONTH

NEWSPAPER

Spotlight Shelomi Farrell

News, views, stories & videos

Floyd Millen says we must question why so many of our prisoners are black p6 UK's first Caribbean-owned bank rated 'excellent' by customers p8

THE 10 MOST POPULAR STORIES ON VOICE-ONLINE.CO.UK 1. UK reggae label Greensleeves sues Chris Brown for copyright infringement The label accuses Chris Brown and Sony Music Entertainment of ripping off dancehall veteran Red Rat’s monster hit Tight Up Skirt

2. Marcus Rashford most trolled footballer online over the last 12 months

The Manchester United and England star received 32,328 abusive tweets

3. Black children more likely to end up in care and less likely to be adopted

The pandemic has widened the financial inequalities many of us are facing p10

Recently released Government figures confirm tragic statistics

4. Kalvin Philips most popular player online during the Euros

Leeds United midfielder has proved to be a huge hit on social media

5. Black British actor Ricardo Lloyd says UK still has a problem with race

When it comes to our children's mental health, we all need to be part of the conversation p14

The 27-year-old has secured an American agent and plans to head Stateside as soon as possible

6. Jamaica to petition Queen to pay reparations – but strategy is flawed

Activists in the UK say this latest attempt "needs to be amended if it is to have any real impact”

Making black love last: Two special couples celebrate 50 years of wedded bliss p30 Menelik Shabazz says it's more important than ever that we share our stories p41

7. From mental health to county lines, why are black kids going missing?

The Voice spoke to experts to understand the reasons behind this worrying trend

8. Virgin Atlantic increases flights to Caribbean as demand skyrockets

A number of Caribbean destinations were added to the travel 'green list' last month

9. Danyal Hussein found guilty of murder of Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman

Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman suffered multiple stab injuries at Fryent Country Park, in north-west London on June 6, 2020

West Indies captain Stafanie Taylor has high hopes for The Hundred p47

10. Landmark report highlights scale of racial equality in Wales

The ‘Joint NGO Shadow Report on Racial Inequality in Wales’, published by Race Equality First, highlights significant failures to address ethnic disparities in all areas of life

This issue is 48 pages

ShelomI, left, with her mother Jhardine

SHELOMI FARRELL always had something special about her.

At just 14, Shelomi’s IQ results landed her in the top one per cent of people with the highest levels of intelligence.

Before she was 10, she began revising the periodic table and in her spare time, made her own Passionate about her daughter’s budding interest in academia, Jhardine turned to Mensa – a society that welcomes people whose IQ is in the top two per cent of the population – when she was just eight years old.

“My mum put me to do a Mensa test online because I wasn’t actually old enough to do the proper test,” recalls Shelomi.

“I found out that I actually had exceptionally good results. However, she had to put my age as four years older than I actually was to do the online test.

"So, we waited and then only a few months ago, I went to Manchester to do the proper test and about a week ago, I found out that I was invited into Mensa.”

The schoolgirl says she was relaxed, yet confident about being accepted into the prestigious society, while only months away from beginning her GCSEs alongside her peers.

With four degrees under Jhardine’s belt already, Shelomi’s achievements almost come as no surprise, hailing from a family where she says education and learning is of the utmost importance.

“I have to remind myself that I am only 14 and that even though I do have a bigger responsibility now by opening up more opportunities for myself, that I also have to take it easy on myself."

She plans to focus on her GCSEs, and getting the highest grades possible.

She loves debating and is preparing on launching her own fashion brand alongside her modelling – but she says she’s also a “sporty person”, spending her time playing cricket, netball and football.

She also loves rollerblading.

“So, that’s like a childish way towards my hobbies I guess,” she admits.

Read the full story at voice-online.co.uk

Got a story? email us at yourviews@thevoicemediagroup.co.uk

NEWSPAPER

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Paulette Simpson E. paulette.simpson@thevoice mediagroup.co.uk CORPORATE AFFAIRS & COMMUNICATIONS Paula Dyke E. paula@thevoicemedia group.co.uk

NEWS DESK E. newsdesk@thevoice mediagroup.co.uk

ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Joel Campbell E. joel.campbell@thevoice mediagroup.co.uk

NEWS EDITOR Vic Motune E. vic.motune@thevoicemedia group.co.uk

SPORTS EDITOR Rodney Hinds E. rodney.hinds@thevoice mediagroup.co.uk

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AUGUST 2021

THE VOICE |

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News feature

THE LEGACY AND IMPACT

Afua Hirsch, a best-selling author, TV presenter and former barrister, recalls the positive impact The Voice has had on her career and the work of black journalists

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HERE IS no way to describe the confidence that comes from feeling a sense of belonging and solidarity in a place of work.”

Writing in Representology, a journal dedicated to research and best-practice perspectives on how to make the media more representative of all sections of society, Afua Hirsch, the writer, broadcaster and former barrister, reflected candidly about her time at The Voice newspaper, where she cut her teeth as an aspiring journalist.

Touching on the feeling of being in an environment that enabled her to ‘celebrate being black’ and the sense of belonging, Hirsch identified Britain’s only black newspaper as a ‘nurturing space’.

“I was a black teenage girl, writing about black teenage girls. Before there was a language ‘for us, by us’, The Voice was a crucial part of the media landscape in Britain that was doing just that.

“I went on to write about racism in football, anorexia in the black community, the exclusion of pregnant schoolgirls, and the emerging culture of British hip hop,” Hirsch wrote.

“Would mainstream media outlets have covered those stories at the time? If so, would they have centred on the black experience or, instead, moulded it to fit a white gaze?

“Would their journalistic instincts, the clear call of public interest, have extended to include not just racism and systemic unfairness, but also — and these are perhaps the early works I’m most proud of — features about cultural innovation that are simply allowed to radiate black joy? The reality is that I may not have got there at all, were it not for my early experience of incubation at The Voice.

DEBATE: Marcus Ryder says the legacy of the black press has been ignored

“There is no way to describe the confidence that comes from feeling a sense of belonging and solidarity in a place of work.”

In a recent study by Reuters Institute, responses showed that ‘improving ethnic diversity’ in newsrooms is highlighted as the most pressing diversity priority’.

PHENOMENA

Those interested in the outcome of that study may also glean further insight from the experiences of people like Hirsch, who have worked in a multitude of organisations experiencing the same negative phenomena of being the only ‘black person’ over and over.

Sharing perspective on her own working life narrative once she had left The Voice, Hirsch wrote: “When I began writing for The Voice, the number of black journalists working on national broadsheets and as TV broadcasters was negligible.

“Other than the grandees of black British media — Trevor Phillips and Moira Stewart, and the crucial work of Darcus Howe — the idea of black people reporting, investigating and presenting news and current affairs was a completely fantastical one to me.”

She added: “Here was a newsroom that was fully

‘NURTURING SPACE’: Afua Hirsch cut her teeth as an aspiring journalist on The Voice and says working in an environment that enabled her to ‘celebrate being black’ proved crucial in her development staffed, owned and executed by black professionals.

“From the editor to the secretary, the reporters and the photographers, it was an assembly of people who shared a sense of community, cultural heritage and discourse — an intellectual curiosity about the black experience and about how to tell those stories.

“As is so often the case, the stories of important black journalists who had been operating throughout the 20th Century — including Una Marson and Barbara Blake Hannah — were invisible and inaccessible to me.

“And yet here was a newsroom that was fully staffed, owned and executed by black professionals.

“It was only later, in newsrooms where I was the visible ‘other’ as one of few, or where there were no other black journalists, that I came to appreciate how nurturing a space that was. Older, more experienced journalists took an interest in nurturing my enthusiasm for writing and reporting.

“A positive reason for celebrating a black press — as well as all the other media outlets that speak specifically and directly to minority communities — is that it creates spaces in which we are not minorities.

“This is something I have come to value more since my time at The Voice, more than

brilliant that such stellar figures in black British public life are writing about their experiences for the journal. Our research is making waves, igniting important conversations about race in Britain. Issue two features pioneering black academics writing on their work for BBC television and radio, and the impor-

The Voice has consistently played an invaluable role in producing both great journalism and great journalists two decades ago. As political and media narratives have become more polarised and polarising, my role has often been to serve as the token black person in a discussion or debate, in which I’m required to justify both my legitimacy as a contributor and the idea that racism exists.”

Speaking to The Voice about the importance of Representology, editor K Biswas said: “It’s

tance of capturing the struggles of people of colour, and equal rights campaigners who blazed the trail for the rest of us.

“All contributors understand the need for a radical overhaul in media diversity in Britain”.

The second issue of Representology is out today, featuring contributions from leading figures including Sir Lenny Henry, Amma Asante, Kurt Barling, Chi

Thai, Adrian Lester, Siobhan McGuirk, Selina Nwulu and Ciaran Thapar.

Marcus Ryder, who sits on the editorial board on Representology, says: “For too long the debate around media diversity has ignored the legacy of the black press in general and The Voice in particular.

“The Voice has consistently played an invaluable role in producing both great journalism and great journalists.

“Afua Hirsch’s piece is an important contribution to making sure The Voice’s role in British media is recognised. It is hard to name a great black British journalist that has not benefited from their time at The Voice.

“The purpose of the Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity is to explore the policies that increase media diversity.

“Afua puts forward a convincing argument that supporting The Voice and independent black media is an effective way of doing this.”

You can read the full article in issue two of Representology.

4 | THE VOICE AUGUST 2021

News feature

Action plan launched in bid to tackle modern slavery UK BME Anti-Slavery Network is calling on key stakeholders to adopt the group’s anti-slavery framework as part of widespread efforts to put an end to racial injustice and inequality

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HE UK BME Anti-Slavery Network (BASNET) has released its Action Plan on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, and calls on key players in the UK modern slavery sector to adopt the plan as an indication of their commitment towards racial justice and equality.

The plan was launched last month and is now available for download at bmeantislavery. org The BASNET Race Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Action Plan is the culmination of a year-long effort, developed as a result of the joint conference held with the Human Trafficking Foundation in July 2020.

It is aimed at tackling racial discrimination in the sector, including in the identification and provision of services for survivors of modern slavery many of whom are either from a foreign country or from a UK black and minority ethnic community.

The Race EDI Action Plan is divided into nine key themes exploring key racial inequality problems in the UK’s modern slavery sector, with recommendations and indicators to measure progress. It identifies that modern slavery research is insufficiently informed by affected people, including those from

DRIVE FOR JUSTICE: Firms and organisations have been urged to implement the framework in a bid to reduce racial inequality

At the core of this action plan is a commitment to do better for victims and survivors ethnic minority backgrounds.

Other poignant issues raised include the proliferation of county lines child trafficking in black communities and the criminalisation of victims from ethnic minority backgrounds.

HOSTILE

The lack of racial diversity in some anti-trafficking charities was identified as a problem alongside the Government’s “hostile environment” policy which discriminates and impacts negatively on victims and survivors of modern slavery from ethnic minority backgrounds.

Debbie Ariyo, founder and chair of BASNET, said: “At the core of this action plan is commitment to do better for victims and survivors, for children and adults and for affected communities through a racially inclusive approach.

“This action plan is to propel

the needed changes within the UK modern slavery and human trafficking sector.”

Key recommendations in the action plan include: • The Government should adopt a ‘victim/survivor first’ policy in relation to modern slavery and human trafficking irrespective race, ethnicity, country of origin of victims.

• The Government should use ethnicity data to ensure equitable treatment and decision-making for all victims/survivors at all stages of the National Referral Mechanism process.

• Modern slavery and human trafficking charities and organisations should commit to increase overall representation and diversity of board and senior management by up to 25 per cent and actively seek to encourage leadership among ethnic minority groups.

• The Government should establish a national working group of academics, survivors, affected communities, faith and statutory experts to develop a national action plan to tack-

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le county lines trafficking as part of the UK’s modern slavery strategy.

• The Modern Slavery Policy and Evidence Centre and other parties should explicitly address issues of how structural racism is manifest in the way research has been historically funded.

ma informed services for all survivors of modern slavery • As part of central and regional governments’ modern slavery strategies, equality, diversity and inclusion working groups should be established as platforms for dialogue and contribution to the modern slavery

Making progress in eliminating modern slavery and trafficking means being inclusive and tackling discrimination in the sector • The National Referral Mechanism Victim Care Contractor should develop and implement a robust and comprehensive action plan on addressing race equality, diversity and inclusion in service provision. This should include the recruitment of a specialist focal point on EDI and survivor engagement.

• The Government and service providers should improve provision of free, specialist, culturally appropriate, trau-

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and human trafficking policy making process.

A range of sector stakeholders were consulted in the production of the action plan including survivors of modern slavery, community based organisations, statutory agencies and charities.

Of those, Dame Sara Thornton, UK Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, said: “I am delighted by the collaboration across the sector in developing this action plan. I am commit-

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ted to playing my part, and will therefore continue to advocate for this important issue and promote good practice.”

Other key stakeholders included Baroness Lola Young of Hornsey, pictured left, cochair of All Party Parliamentary Group on Sports, Modern Slavery and Human Rights, and she said: “Making progress in eliminating modern slavery and trafficking means being inclusive, and tackling discrimination in the sector. This report will contribute to achieving those aims.”

CHANGE

The Human Trafficking Foundation, established to support the work of the many charities and agencies operating to combat human trafficking in the UK, was also involved in the contributing to the action plan.

Their director of operations Tamara Barnett said “We hope this plan leads to real change in our sector – challenging entrenched attitudes as much as representation and ensuring there is no hierarchy of victims.”

www.voice-online.co.uk

JUNE 2021

THE VOICE| 5

6 | THE VOICE AUGUST 2021

News feature

‘We must ask why so many of our prisoners are black’ I

Dr Floyd Millen suggests that cosmopolitan London is intolerant of black people. Here, he explains how he has come to that conclusion – and gives the facts to back it up

F ANYONE doubted that our criminal justice system, our policing, our mental health services, our schools and social services systems disproportionately intervene and mete out more punitive sanctions and interventions on the black community, the above headline should put you in no doubt.

In 2021, it is difficult to comprehend that 74 per cent of children held on remand awaiting trial in London are black.

Children on remand have not been convicted of any crime, but a judge or a magistrate has decided that they must await their trial in prison.

Prison is no place to hold a child who has not been convicted of any crime.

The figures, released under a Freedom of Information Act request by the charity Transform Justice, showed that in 2020, 88 per cent, or nearly nine out of 10 children, were from black or other minority ethnic backgrounds.

Cosmopolitan London is intolerant of black people.

Black, Asian and minority ethnic people are clearly being treated unfairly in the criminal justice system and are less likely to be released on bail than white people.

A key finding of the 2017 Lammy Review which looked into the issues of race in the justice system was that there was a lack of data from magistrates’ courts; of his 35 recommendations only six or eight of it has been implemented in full.

The numbers of black and

WORRYING PICTURE: The evidence shows that you are far more likely to go to prison if you are black

Minority groups are treated unfairly and less likely to be released on bail than white people minority ethnic children on remand in London is much higher than in England and Wales, where in 2020 the numbers were 57 per cent and 33 per cent for black children.

According to data from the Greater London Assembly in 2016, the black population of London was around 13 per cent, whilst the black and minority ethnic population of London is around 44 per cent.

ALARMING

In response to these alarming figures, the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) acknowledged that in addition to reviewing race disparity in the youth justice system, the number of black and ethnic minority children entering the youth justice system for the first time had fallen significantly since 2009.

The MOJ also added that it needed to do much more work to tackle the deep-rooted causes of over-representation, including using the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill to tighten the tests court use to remand children to custody.

It’s not just the system. Mothers and fathers are to blame too

There is indeed a failure in our criminal justice system, our policing, our mental health services, our schools and social services, but there is also an abject failure of mothers and fathers to meaningfully educate, guide, protect, support and continually advocate for their children.

REASSESS

We cannot simply blame institutions. Mothers and fathers need to look critically at their parenting and take responsibility. The strength of any community is the family.

There is a crisis at the heart of our families. Mothers need to reassess how they engage their children in the lives of their fathers, particularly absent fathers.

There are numerous examples of good fathers being prevented from having mean-

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ingful involvement in the lives of their children after a separation. There are also far too many men walking away when their ex-partners wish that they would have more involvement

white males 29 per cent. Imprisonment rate for black males was 5.8 times higher than for white males. The direction of travel in the UK is concerning.

As more black and ethnic mi-

Fathers and mothers need to look at themselves and realise that their failings are resulting in our children being incarcerated in the life and experiences of their children.

Fathers and mothers need to look at themselves and realise that their failings are resulting in our children being incarcerated and left on the margins of society.

Look at the USA. According to the US Bureau of Justice Statistics in 2018, black males accounted for 34 per cent of the total male prison population,

@thevoicenews

norities enter the criminal justice system, we are beginning to see the growth of the Prison Industrial Complex (PIC) which is characterised by the rapid expansion of prisons; higher incarceration rates of black and ethnic minorities; the use of cheap inmate labour to fulfil outside commercial contracts; and prioritisation of financial gain of companies over rehabilitating criminals.

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Incarceration not only destroys lives, but the PIC has become a commercial imperative in the USA as it meets the supply and demand needs of companies who have a ready supply of cheap labour in the prison system.

We cannot afford for this to be perpetrated on our community and our young.

It is time for us to be accountable to each other whilst we make our institutions accountable to us.

Dr Floyd Millen is a political scientist and a former special adviser to the Cabinet Office and the

founder of the first BAME-owned public affairs think tank, Yes

Minister. Dr Millen was mentored by the former Home Secretary, The Rt Hon Charles Clarke, and

studied under the Conservative Peer, Professor, the Lord Norton of Louth.

www.voice-online.co.uk

JUNE 2021

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8 | THE VOICE

AUGUST 2021

News feature

UK’s first Caribbean-owned bank is rated ‘excellent’ UK PRESENCE: JN Bank’s Brixton site. The bank is also fully digital

JN Bank UK gets positive customer reviews in move that will ‘strengthen brand perception’

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N BANK UK, a subsidiary of JN Group, has been rated “excellent” by reviewers on the consumer review website, Trustpilot.com.

JN Bank UK is the first Caribbean bank to be awarded a full banking licence by UK regulators and offers retail savings and personal loan products.

Trustpilot.com, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, reviews businesses worldwide, with nearly a million reviews posted each month. Customers share their experiences with businesses which is a good indication the level of service that the business delivers.

Trustpilot.com reveals if a company is engaged with its customers and also encourages reading about experi-

ences from other consumers.

JN Bank UK received an aggregate score of 4.8 out of five by 349 consumers who posted reviews on the site. The fully digital bank, located in Brixton, south London, offers retail savings and personal loans to consumers, which they can apply for through its website, www. jnbank.co.uk.

“Extremely easy and fast process… money was in my account within an hour. Totally hasslefree!” wrote one reviewer.

“Really quick and easy to apply and the money was in my bank [account] within 24 hours and staff were really helpful [too]! Would 100 per cent

recommend,” wrote another.

“It was an unexpected fast procedure, fast answer,” said a third customer.

“Good experience comparing with other banks. All questions are easy to understand and in point. Recommend this bank!”

Nearly 90 per cent of reviewers rated the bank’s service as excellent, seven per cent said it was “great”; less than one per cent rated it average and poor; while three per cent rated the service bad.

“We believe this is an outstanding position for a new player to the market,” chief executive officer of the bank Dean Fensome commented

on the consumer rating. “As a challenger, it’s a major fillip that will help to strengthen the JN brand perception.”

Earl Jarrett, pictured inset left, chief executive officer of JN Bank UK’s parent organisation, The Jamaica National Group, based in Kingston, added that the rating augurs well for a Caribbean-owned company, which is the first of

its kind in the UK market. He noted that the bank is intended to support people, especially those currently underserved by the formal financial system in the UK.

mitment to deliver not just a product, but an experience that builds the confidence of those served by the bank,” he said.

“We are pleased at how we are perceived in the community.”

JN Bank UK was the first Caribbean bank to be awarded a full banking licence by UK regulators and offers retail savings and personal loan products.

CONFIDENCE

“It redounds to the quality of the management and staff of the company and their com-

Public invited to share their views on Windrush monument shortlist PEOPLE across the country are being invited to have their say on a new national Windrush monument as the four shortlisted designs have been revealed.

Artists Basil Watson, Jeannette Ehlers, Thomas J Price and Valda Jackson have unveiled their designs for the national Windrush monument at London Waterloo station.

The artists, who are all of Caribbean descent, were shortlisted earlier this year to design a permanent tribute to the Windrush Generation to honour how they have enriched our nation’s history.

There artists were featured in The Voice June 2021 issue.

Each of the artists has created a video unveiling their design for the monument, which will be located on the station’s upper concourse, and explaining more about their artistic practice.

“For that reason, it is incredibly important to myself, and the Windrush Commemoration Committee, to hear from young people on what they think of the four designs.

“The monument will be a place that people can visit from far and wide with their children and families to learn and reflect on the lasting legacy of our Windrush Generation.”

IMPACT OPPORTUNITY: Basil Watson, Jeannette Ehlers, Thomas J Price and Valda Jackson have all been shortlisted The public are now being invited to have their say on the artists’ proposals through an online survey.

ENCOURAGED

The government is particularly encouraging those of Caribbean descent to take part and share their views on the designs.

The final artist design will be chosen in September by the Windrush Commemoration Committee, considering views from the general public, and will be announced in October during Black History Month. The monument is expected to be unveiled on Windrush Day 2022.

Chair of the Windrush Commemo-

ration Committee Baroness Floella Benjamin said: “It is so exciting to finally see the designs our talented shortlisted artists have put forward for the National Windrush Monument in London Waterloo station.

“The monument will educate and inspire the next generation through the Windrush story.

Communities Minister Lord Greenhalgh said: “Millions of people visit Waterloo station every year and this monument will always be a reminder to them of the incredible impact the Windrush Generation has had – and continues to have - on the UK and our history.

“I encourage everyone to take part in the survey and share their views ahead of the final design being revealed later this year.”

Please review the designs and share your views on which one should be selected.

Simply scan to select your views

@thevoicenewspaper

@thevoicenews

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t

Visit: www.https://www.gov.uk/guidance/windrush-monument-share-your-views

www.voice-online.co.uk

JUNE 2021

Lambeth Children’s Homes Redress Scheme

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Deadline: Applications for compensation open until 1 January 2022 Lambeth Council has set up a Redress Scheme for people who, as children, were abused or feared abuse at a Lambeth Children’s Home and/or Shirley Oaks Primary School.

There are two types of compensation payment available: n Harm’s Way Payment n Individual Redress Payment To find out more about the Scheme, eligibility and to make a claim, visit lambeth.gov.uk/redress or email redress@lambeth.gov.uk

Below is a list of children’s homes that were run by Lambeth or its predecessor authority (and which subsequently transferred to Lambeth), either within or outside of their area, that provided accommodation for children in care.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

Almond House Hostel Angell Road Calais Street Chestnut Road / Robson Road Chevington House Cumberlow Lodge Garrads Road Gresham Place Highland Road Ingleton House Ivy House / Warham Road

101859 (1.21)

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

Knowle Close Lancester Avenue Lancaster Road Leigham Court Road Lorn Road Monkton Street Mount Villas Nottingham Road Rathmell Drive Rectory Grove / Elaine Claire House Samuel House

23.

24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

29.

30.

31.

32.

33.

Shirley Oaks South Vale Southwood Southwood Discharge Hostel St Saviours Stephany House Stockwell Park The Elms Thornwick Nursery Tivoli Road Woodvale

10 | THE VOICE

AUGUST 2021

Finance

Fixing financial inequality Black women have suffered the biggest financial hit during the pandemic – but the problem goes beyond COVID-19. By Simoney Kyriakou

C

OVID-19 HAS devastated many people’s finances. According to debt charity Turn2Us, more than 11 million Brits are now ‘always running out of money’, compared with just under seven million before March 2020.

But behind the headline statistic lies a yawning gender wealth gap.

Earlier this year, data from United Nations Women suggested the pandemic could wipe out 25 years of increasing gender equality as women leave the workforce, take lower-paid roles or reduce working hours to take on caring responsibilities. Even this does not reveal the full story: women from

Economic security, too, has become more of a concern black and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds are most at risk of poorer financial outcomes, especially post-COVID. According to Turn2Us, over a third of people from both Asian and black ethnic backgrounds frequently run out of money (34 per cent and 36 per cent respectively), compared with a fifth of people from white ethnic backgrounds.

Employment and pay In addition, economic security has become even more of a concern. Turn2Us carried out research among 2,064 people of working age across the UK during 2020 after the pandemic hit.

The results were shocking: 58 per cent of BAME workers have had their employment affected since the start of the pandemic, compared to 47 per cent of white workers. A further breakdown showed black women are likely to be the worst off financially when it comes to wealth gaps: white males take the lead, followed by white females, then black males and finally black females.

Continued on page 29

PLAYING A LOSING GAME: Unequal pay structures are much to blame for black women falling behind when it comes to financial inequality (photo: Samson Katt)

JUNE 2021

After I was diagnosed with HIV my life really changed.

I am now training to be a nurse.

HIV has changed. We help people to come to terms with their HIV diagnosis and get on with life. Support our work now.

tht.org.uk #LifeReallyChanged People on effective HIV treatment CANNOT pass on the virus.

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AUGUST 2021

Finance

How money can affect your overall wellbeing Financial worries can lead to stress, so it pays to be clued up, says Danielle Ferguson of the Money and Pensions Service

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HE PANDEMIC has affected every aspect of people’s money. Some have lost their jobs and many have racked up debt or struggled to pay bills.

In fact, 60 per cent of people have said the pandemic has added to their financial concerns, and we know that a higher than average proportion of those impacted are our black community in the UK. Now more than ever, it’s so important for people to make a plan for what comes next with their money and pensions, ahead of the wind-down of COVID support measures and, for some, the return of day-to-day expenses as restrictions ease.

Even before the pandemic, nine million people were overindebted, often borrowing to buy food or pay bills, 11.5 million had less than £100 in savings, 22 million said they didn’t know enough to plan for retirement. So, what can we do to best recover from the financial impact of COVID-19, and what role does financial wellbeing play?

What is financial wellbeing?

Financial wellbeing is about feeling secure and in control.

It’s knowing that you can pay the bills today, can deal with the unexpected tomorrow and are on track for a healthy financial future.

Similar to how you can go for a walk, run or go to

We give free, impartial and confidential advice to help people make sound financial choices the gym to improve your physical wellbeing, you can also take quick and easy steps, such as finding free and confidential debt advice or making a budget, to improve your financial wellbeing. But sometimes, it is hard to know where to start.

EMPOWERED

At the Money and Pensions Service, we want to see everyone making the most of their money and pensions. We give free, impartial and confidential guidance that helps people make sound financial choices.

In the past year, we saw nearly 50 million website visits to sources of our free guidance and more than one million people received our individual money guidance, expert pensions guidance and free-ofcharge debt advice sessions. We want more people to feel confident and empowered when it comes to making decisions about their money.

Why is financial wellbeing important?

Money worries are one of the biggest causes of stress for people in the UK. Those who are worried about their finances

are more likely to feel low or anxious, which can lead to physical symptoms such as nausea, tiredness and trouble thinking clearly.

People who are worried about money are also more likely to take sick days off work.

So even though it can feel daunting, especially if you’re in debt or struggling to get by, understanding how to make the most of the money you do have can make a huge difference to how you feel physically and emotionally, which are key ingredients to general wellbeing.

For example, we know that three in five people who receive debt advice have either reduced or cleared their debts within three to six months and three quarters of people who have received debt advice feel more in control after getting help.

Where do I start?

This summer, the Money and Pensions Service launched a new, free online programme to help people build their money and pensions during the COVID-19 pandemic, called Couch to Financial Fitness, inspired by the popular step-by-step training app Couch to 5K. Couch to Financial Fitness is easy to use and available on the recently launched MoneyHelper website. It coaches people to improve their financial wellbeing week by week, whether they are a complete beginner or getting back on track, in the same way they would their physical or mental health.

The programme guides people through three simple activities per week, over four weeks, to help people master the money ‘basics’.

There’s also a five-week extension for those wanting to prepare for big money milestones such as having a baby, buying property, or boosting their pension for retirement.

Just like with getting more

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HERE TO HELP: Money worries can have a big impact on overall wellbeing, so getting the right advice on your finances could make a real difference to your life (photo: Tima Miroshnichenko) physically active, taking small steps at their own pace could make a huge difference to people’s financial confidence.

Couch to Financial Fitness is free and available to everyone, on desktop and on mobile. Simply visit www.moneyhelper.org. uk to get started.

Where can I go for further support?

MoneyHelper is a new, impartial and free service to help people make the most of their

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money and pensions. It provides free money and pensions guidance to people over the phone and online.

COVID-19 has shone a light on the importance of financial wellbeing, so MoneyHelper is here to help you find a way forward, from how to create a budget to finding out what benefits you may be entitled to and tips on how to save in the short- and long-term.

MoneyHelper also signposts people to expert and free-of-

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charge debt advice, if they need it. It brings together the services previously provided by our trusted sources of money guidance, the Money Advice Service, the Pensions Advisory Service and Pension Wise.

Would you like to try the Couch to Financial Fitness programme and share your experience with The Voice? Please email: garfield.robinson@thevoice mediagroup.co.uk to register your interest.

www.voice-online.co.uk

AUGUST 2021 THE VOICE | 13

Dotun Adebayo

Rate him or hate him - you can’t ignore him!

News

Join the debate online voice-online.co.uk/opinion

PUTTING OUR CIVIL RIGHTS IN THE FRAME Ordinary black people’s lives matter — so why are we still stopped and stereotyped?

N

OW THAT it has been established that black footballers’ lives matter, following the backlash from the racist abuse England’s three musketeers of penalty-taking at the Euros final (Rashford, pictured below, Sancho and Saka) were subjected to, it is time to turn our attention to the lives of black people who don’t have footballing skills and don’t play for the national team. Our lives matter, too.

You would like to think so.

But the same systematic abuse of our civil rights are continuing every day and I don’t hear a squeak about it. Not in the media, not in the streets and not even a U-turn from the prime minister and the home secretary, who scrambled for the hills when accused by footballer Tyrone Mings of stoking up the racism our intrepid trio faced after missing the spot kicks against Italy at Wembley. ‘All for one and one for all’ is the mantra of this young generation of England footballers and, if they really mean it, we should all be included in that sentiment.

ACCOSTED

Yet it is still considered a crime to be black while walking with a suitcase.

Or it apparently is, if you go walking with a suitcase at the Bluewater Shopping Mall in Kent, if the evidence of a video that has emerged on YouTube is anything to go by. The video shows a young black man being accosted by over-zealous security guards in a high state of anxiety, who are demanding to know whether he paid for the not one, but two suitcases he is rolling in front of him.

The footage is both shocking and demoralising. You would have thought after George Floyd and everything that has gone on in the past year, black

If they saw me as a normal working man with a family, perhaps the approach would be different people would be allowed to go about their business in a shopping mall without being stereotyped as, for instance, having no discernible means of income to be able to afford not one, but two suitcases.

But the security guards at this shopping mall just don’t get it. They don’t get the fact that suitcases have been a fixture at the top of the wardrobe in black homes since the Windrush.

There was always a packed suitcase still emblazoned with the sticker from the ocean liner that brought our parents and our grandparents over, ready and waiting should we have to return home in a hurry for whatever reason. It’s standard.

Where you see black people, you see suitcases.

Like I say, the security guards at this particular shopping mall s t i l l don’t get it. One of them clung to the handle of one the suitcases as if his life de-

pended on it. As if the suitcase might run away all by itself if he didn’t accost it.

The other security guard clung on to the wrist of the young black man as if his life depended on it.

As if the young black man might run away in panic and leave behind the two suitcases which he had paid for legitimately to their own fate.

Far from it. The young man demanded to know why they were accosting him and repeatedly schooled them that this was not the right way to behave towards a fellow human being.

You would have thought that at this point, the security guards would have wondered if they had picked on the wrong young black man.

Here was one who didn’t fear them and didn’t abuse them and didn’t panic. Instead he confronted them with their own mistreatment, including what could be considered as a wrongful arrest, in preventing him from going about his lawful business by apprehending him with that hold of the wrist.

Like I say, they don’t get it and the last thing on their mind was that this young black man was one of the country’s best acclaimed photographers.

The young black man who was behind the 56 portraits of black men project, that saw the faces of black men emblazoned all over public spaces – billboards and public transport.

That young black man, Cephas Williams, didn’t get angry, he got even.

Just like the human rights lawyer Matthew Ryder QC, speaking on one of my radio programmes a few years back, had urged

ACCLAIMED: Cephas Williams is behind the Portraits of Black Britain exhibition young black men and women to do when they are wrongfully arrested, he used his mobile phone to record the whole incident.

But whereas police officers have to routinely wear body cams nowadays, security guards don’t.

When you see the video, you might wonder why they don’t, and start calling for them to also be subject to the bodycam obligation so we can all see in the full glare of transparency wha’ really ah gwaan when they accost us at shopping malls and the like.

Because it is not altogether clear whether they are lawfully detaining us or not.

“I can’t watch that video back without it moving me,” Cephas tells me, “because it’s deep. It’s stuff that happens all the time.

I walked to House of Fraser, bought two suitcases, two security guards run after me as I leave the shop.

“One grabs me from behind and asks ‘did you pay for that

stuff?’... I thought I was being jumped. I turned around and see his badge and he’s holding my hand saying, ‘you ain’t going nowhere’.

“I wasn’t even thinking about the serendipity of that happening to me in the same week that I’m launching a major public exhibition in a major shopping centre on the other side of the country.

SITUATION

“I was just thinking, make sure you record it. You don’t know what this situation could turn into.

Because as a black man, you often need proof. You watch the video and you’ll see how, when they confirmed that I had paid for the suitcases, as they should have done initially, they just walk away as if nothing had happened.

“As a result of this, I’ve ended up speaking to the CEO of Landsec that owns Bluewater.

That’s the important conversation for me. When we get that

top level engagement, change starts to cascade down.

“That’s why my new exhibition Portraits of Black Britain is so important. We need to introduce black people into society as normal people.

“The reason the security guards ran after me and falsely accused me of stealing is they are conditioned to see a black person as a threat.

“If they saw me as a normal working man with my own family, perhaps the approach would have been different.”

In a statement, Landsec said they were saddened to see the video of Cephas Williams’s experience at Bluewater.

“We are sorry Mr Williams was placed in such an unpleasant and stressful situation.”

They said they were reviewing their role in the incident, including the training they provided to their staff: “We stand against any form of discrimination and continue to work hard to provide positive experiences for our guests.”

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

14 | THE VOICE AUGUST 2021

Education

We ALL need to be part of the mental health debate

It’s never been more important to address one of the issues affecting black children that continues to go under the radar. By Dr Melrose Stewart MBE

A

N UNRESOLVED important puzzle in educational research is why – as noted in Demie and Mclean’s 2017 report, Black Caribbean Underachievement in Schools in England – “the relative performance of black Caribbean pupils begins high, starts to decline in Key Stage 2, tails off badly in Key Stage 3 and is below that of most other ethnic groups at Key Stage 4.”

Statistics confirm this group’s subsequent absence from highranked occupations within the UK. Conversely, they are disproportionately highly represented in school fixed-term exclusions in England, in custodial sentencing, stop and search incidents, knife crime, and lower educational attainment at secondary school and university.

Since at least the 1960s, the situation has remained static or, in many respects, worsened.

But why?

Complex reasons, such as socioeconomic disadvantage, institutional and systemic racism, discrimination, limited access to services and lack of cultural competence, have all been advanced but (insofar as they are contributory factors) their consequences for the mental health assessments of these youngsters have received little attention.

Mental health assessments – who cares?

From nursery class, before any formal mental assessment, it is quite likely for a black child to be stigmatised, labelled as a ‘trouble maker’ and inattentive.

Access to mental health assessments for black youths stands in marked contrast to that for their white counterparts. Formal educational and

A black child is likely to be stigmatised from their time at nursery psychological assessments to identify and address common conditions in adolescents, such as Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD), dyslexia, Asperger’s Syndrome, anxiety and depression, are commonplace.

However, while these are frequently conducted for white children, they are often only considered for a black child after their behaviour leads to more serious consequences involving the law.

As a result, black children are three times more likely than their white counterparts to end up in the youth and criminal justice system.

Children and Young People in Custody (Part 1): Entry into the youth justice system, a report

by MPs on the House of Commons Justice Select Committee (November 12, 2020), states: “We are particularly concerned about the disproportionate number of children held in custody who are from BAME backgrounds – 51.9 per cent of the whole cohort as of May 2020.”

It continues: “Race disproportionality is significant and fundamental, visible in every part of the youth justice system.”

Anxiety and depression: who is assessing these?

While data on the prevalence of anxiety and depression are available for children and teenagers generally, statistics for black children in the UK remain

MINDFULNESS: Schools have an important role to play in improving the mental well-being of black pupils obscure. Berry Obianuju et al (2021) and others report how racism is detrimental to mental health and impacts on the socioemotional and behavioural development of children.

Yet, in practice, relatively little attention is paid to how racism triggers the mental health issues of children who are most likely to be affected by it.

Cultural competence in mental health The continuing negative labelling of black children as ‘disruptive’ questions the level of cultural competence of practitioners responsible for their education.

Approaches to effectively assess and manage mental health are complex. Progress requires practitioners who recognise, understand and have skills to respond to the health needs of individuals appropriate to their cultural context.

It demands insight regarding related stigma, belief systems and traditions embedded in how individuals respond to care and the labels they attach to mental health.

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Help when it is needed, not when the justice system is the only alternative The NHS with its Primary Care system is the gateway to health

Next steps To understand and effectively manage the equitable inclusion of black youth within society, we must draw attention to the omissions and factors affect-

Little attention is paid to how racism triggers the mental health issues of children who are most likely to be affected services for the UK population.

It is often described as being the envy of the world.

While it is a moot point whether or not this is the case, it and its child and adolescent mental health services (CAHMS) indisputably fail to meet the mental health care needs of black youth.

Evidence shows youngsters of black British, black African and black Caribbean backgrounds are much more likely than white youths to be referred through social care/youth justice instead of Primary Care.

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ing their mental health within formal assessment procedures in the psychiatric, educational and care systems.

Crucially, we must recognise how mental health conditions including anxiety and depression may feature in the lives of black youth, especially in the face of racism.

Identifying and interpreting different behaviours in a culturally appropriate context from infancy requires vigilance by everyone caring for them, especially teachers.

Unless professional practitioners are appropriately trained

voicenews

and culturally competent to address their mental health, the problem is set to continue or even exacerbate their disadvantage.

Mental health has long been treated as the Cinderella health service, with caring for the mental health of black youngsters shunned like an ugly sister within it.

We can no longer allow caring for the mental health of black youths in the UK to continue to fall under the radar.

Culturally competent assessment of contributory factors including racism and how this affects their mental health is long overdue.

Dr Melrose Stewart MBE is a health and wellbeing enthusiast with a specific focus on the challenges of aging. She received an MBE in 2020 for services to physiotherapy. As one of the experts on the multi award-winning Channel 4 TV documentary Old Peoples’ Home for 4 Year Olds, she sees the adoption of intergenerational activities as an effective way of overcoming some mental and physical problems.

www.voice-online.co.uk

AUGUST 2021

THE VOICE | 15

News feature

WAITING FOR THE TRUTH

The family of Mouayed Bashir, who was ‘restrained by police’ before he died in hospital, must wait until next July for a full inquest into his death, writes Sophie Huskisson

S

INCE MOHANNAD Bashir was a child, his best friend has always been his younger brother Mouayed.

“He used to get me in a lot of trouble to be fair and I used to have to wrap it up for him,” Mohannad says.

Younger brother Mohamed was born shortly afterwards and they became a trio of pranksters. “We were always causing mischief. It was a sweet childhood,” Mohannad says.

On the morning of February 17, 2021, Mohannad, whilst working in London, received a message from Mohamed saying, Mouayed, 29 at the time, had died. “My first response was: ‘What?! Call me’,” Mohannad says. “I tried to make sense of the phone call. He was angry and upset, he was speaking way too fast.”

After getting a hold of his dad, he was told Mouayed died after an encounter with the police.

Last week, Mohannad and his family attended an inquest at Newport Coroner’s Court, where they found out the full inquest into Mouayed’s death will begin in July 2022 in front of a jury.

Senior coroner for Gwent, Caroline Saunders, said “the circumstances of his death, in that he died in or shortly after being in police custody, and that his cause of death is currently unascertained, require me to investigate his death under the terms of an inquest”.

The Bashir family, Sudanese by heritage, came to the UK as refugees when the brothers were children. It was in their family home in Newport the encounter with Gwent Police took place.

In an exclusive interview with The Voice, Mohannad shared the family’s personal account of the events surrounding his brother’s death.

The family’s side The month before Mouayed died, he was a stabbing victim.

He was lucky to survive it. After the incident, his parents noticed Mouayed’s personality change,

He was already mentally not there, fearful and scared about the state of his injury and under heavy medication, became paranoid that people were trying to kill him.

It was post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Mohannad says.

On February 17, Mouayed was worried his stab wound on his thigh was not healing properly. His dad called the GP and was advised to call an ambulance. Mohannad says when his parents requested an ambulance, reporting also that Mouayed was suffering a mental health episode, the operator repeatedly asked the same question: do you need an ambulance, the police, or the fire brigade? Both parents kept saying they wanted an ambulance, but were asked the same question by the operator. His dad got frustrated and said: just send something.

Meanwhile, after Mouayed took a shower awaiting the arrival of the paramedics, the police were knocking at the door. “I’m trying to picture this because I’m in this room wondering about the state he was in,” Mohannad says, looking around what was Mouayed’s old bedroom. “He was already mentally not there, fearful and already scared about the state of his injury. He was expecting paramedics, but then the police turned up, with force.”

Four officers squeezed their way into the small room, Mohannad says. “That alone is just too much — too many people in one space. There was a bit of activity, a bit of noise, a bit of whatever was going on in this room.” His parents were trying to see what was going on, but were told not to interfere with police business. From outside

CLOSE-KNIT FAMILY: Mouayed, left, with younger brother Mohamed and their parents the room, his parents heard an unfamiliar sound. They recreated the sound to Mohannad, he says he knew it was the sound of a Taser. After that, Mouayed went silent.

Mouayed’s dad managed to get his head into the room. “He opened the door slightly and he saw Mouayed had been handcuffed and bound by his legs,” Mohannad says. “My dad was saying, ‘He’s already injured.

What are you doing? Look, he’s bleeding again. Let go of him.

Just let him breathe’.”

Their dad noticed that Mouayed’s head was in the wardrobe, too.

“We have no idea how the whole thing happened. But my dad asked: ‘Is Mouayed’s airway clear? Is he breathing?

Again, [the police said:] ‘Get out. We know what we’re doing’,” Mohannad says.

Their parents were still waiting for the ambulance to arrive.

At this point the police also decided to call for an ambulance.

His mum, who has hypotension and heart problems, fainted. Another ambulance was called for her. Mouayed and his mum were taken to the same hospital. Mouayed was later pronounced dead.

Mohannad says the postmortem has not yet been finalised and to his knowledge,

it doesn’t match what he saw when he went to the morgue to wash his brother’s body, a Muslim tradition done when a family member passes away.

training sessions on integration and culture to the police. Sadly, his son was a victim of the consequences of them not taking [the training] on board.”

IOPC has been ‘very tight-lipped’ Gwent Police referred themselves to the Independent Of-

The family’s campaign The family’s main priority is finding out the truth about what happened to Mouayed,

The fact that the inquest is finally happening is a huge leap for getting and demanding justice for Mouayed fice for Police Conduct (IOPC), which is currently investigating Mouayed’s death.

The IOPC’s statement, published the day after Mouayed’s death, established that nine officers had gone to the property.

But Mohannad says the IOPC have been “very tight-lipped”, and to this day, the family are still unaware how many police officers turned up to the property; how many of them have been investigated or still under investigation; or how many have been suspended.

In the past, the family had a very different relationship with the police. As part of his role with the Welsh Refugee Council, the brothers’ dad delivered

who Mohannad describes as a “lovable guy” and the “soul of the party”. Having previously lived in London, Mohannad moved to Newport to the family home a couple of weeks ago where they can support each other closely in their fight for the truth.

Now sleeping in Mouayed’s old bedroom, he says he sits there everyday “wondering what would happen if only walls could talk”.

The family has received a huge amount of support from across their community and on social media.

The day after Mouayed died, more than 100 protesters gathered outside Newport’s cen-

tral police station demanding answers.

It came after Mohamud Mohammed Hassan died hours after being released from police custody in Cardiff less than a month before. An ongoing petition for the IOPC and Gwent Police to release the officers’ body camera footage to his family has reached 6,569 signatures out of its target 7,000, while the Justice for Mouayed Bashir CrowdJustice fundraiser campaign has raised £6,497 so far to help with legal fees.

About the inquest, Mohannad says it was “surreal” as “there’s no manual for this kind of thing, but the fact the inquest is finally happening is a huge leap for getting and demanding justice for Mouayed”.

Mohannad wants to thank everyone who has been supporting them: “It’s beautiful, it’s overwhelming, it’s great ... because the power of the people is greater than the people in power.”

The inquest will be held in July

2022. The public can donate to

the Bashir family’s CrowdJustice page which is helping to fundraise the legal fees, at https://

www.crowdjustice.com/case/

black-man-dies-under-policerestraint/

16 | THE VOICE

AUGUST 2021

Education

It’s strength in numbers for multi-talented Ore

IT ALL ADDS UP: There’s no big secret as to why Ore Oni is ranked in the top four in the world when it comes to competing in maths competitions

When it comes to taking part in maths quizzes, 10-year-old Bronte School pupil Ore Oni is in a class of his own. But why is this particular youngster one of the world’s best? Here, Deon P Green provides us with the right answers

D

ESCRIBED AS having a thirst for learning, being a diligent worker and always wanting to achieve better each time, 10-year-old Ore Oni, from the Bronte School in Gravesend, has been ranked fourth globally and second in England as an individual participant in an international maths competition.

Ore’s ability combined with his fellow pupils resulted in the thrashing of nearly 1.9 million competitors from 150 schools worldwide recently.

From a young age he has always wanted to work to a very high standard.

He is always trying to do better

GLOBAL

with a diversity of other inputs that has made him among the best at his age in maths.

She also had high praise for the school, saying: “He does have a natural ability, and he also attends a very good school that has been able to push him by giving him the tools to practice every day”.

With a mother and father both with master degrees along with professional careers, Ore is charting his own academic path with maths at the forefront, with his two siblings in hot pursuit.

The occasion was part of the annual Mathletics Challenge which is a global event where schools go head-to-head in maths quizzes to mark World Maths Day. The icing on the cake was the school’s Year 6 class placing first in the UK, while three other students in that same class were placed in the top 100 across the whole of the United Kingdom.

Speaking to The Voice, Ore’s mother Funke Oni, a British national of Nigerian background, noted that her son has been diligent in his work and is always aiming for the highest, along

The mother added that Ore has a five-year-old sister and a brother two years older than him who have also both shown much academic potency.

As for Ore, “from a very young age he has always wanted to work to a very high standard. The thing with him is that no matter how good he is at something he always tries to do it better, to improve himself,” his mother emphasised.

She has also observed from an early age that her son is keen on his work.

“He has a hard-working attitude and has a huge thirst for learning,” she continued.

“He has a very serious attitude to understanding how things work; even when he is very good at something he wants to make it better.”

It must be highlighted that Ore’s parents are hands-on in his academic advancement.

“We are very involved, and the school that he goes to is very good,” she said.

“However, it doesn’t matter how good a school is. As parents you must put in the work at home to progress on what is taught at school. But he is quite independent”.

Ore’s parents have no qualms about his future career choice.

“It’s really up to him, we prefer that each of the children make their own career decisions.

“He has mentioned several things before, but he is not quite sure what he wants to do as yet, but he does think that he wants to do something that is related to maths.”

The Voice was also told that Ore is competent across all subjects.

“His reading has been excellent. Most times when he is assessed, his reading ability

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is recorded as above the age that he is actually is,” Ms Oni concluded.

At the start of the new academic year in September, Ore will move on to Dartford Grammar School for Boys, having

“I am extremely proud of all that we offer at Bronte School as I believe we have both the academically rigorous systems and friendly personal approach that brings out the best in our pupils.

Bronte School is a school where each individual is encouraged and supported to achieve their best received outstanding scores in his Kent 11+ Exam.

Headmistress Emma Wood, in the school’s welcoming brochure, pointed out that “Bronte School is where each individual is encouraged and supported to achieve their best, where potential is identified for both teachers and pupils”.

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“As an oversubscribed small school community, we nurture individuals through an integral and caring pastoral system to ensure that talents are fostered and achievements celebrated.

“We emphasise enquiry and rigour in all areas – humanities, languages, science, music, sport, performing and visual

voicenews

arts – as well as the core of maths and English.

Ms Wood, pictured inset left, a mother to three children, highlighted that she has witnessed first-hand how their early experiences shaped their future and this informs a passion for early education. “Whether it is social or academic development, we have a responsibility to build strong foundations.”

ARTICULATE

Being at the school for over 10 years, Ms Wood said she has seen children arriving at age three or four who may at first be nervous or shy and leave as confident, articulate and successful young people at age 11.

The vast majority of Bronte pupils gain their first-choice senior school and, year-onyear, more than 85 per cent of them are successful at 11+ selection tests.

www.voice-online.co.uk

JUNE 2021

THE VOICE| 11

18 | THE VOICE AUGUST 2021

Midlands News GAMES UPDATE

Birmingham steps up plans for Games Preparations are intensifying for the Commonwealth Games, which will take place in and around Birmingham between July 28 and August 8, 2022. The tournament has been cast, somewhat controversially in the eyes of some local people, as a transformative event which will kick off a series of benefits to housing, employment and creative sectors in the Second City.

Share your stories via questionnaire A registered charity is producing a stitched fabric panel to represent every Commonwealth country and is calling for interested parties to complete a questionnaire to share their stories and memories of one of the 72 qualifying countries competing in next year’s tournament.

Threads Together will create the design which will be inspired by the descriptions, stories and recollections given in the answers.

Each of the panels will include the country’s flag, motto, emblem and national flower.

If you would like to take part, visit www.threads together.org.uk.

Children’s charity offering performance opportunities A call has been put out for participants aged 8-25, able and disabled, to register to take part in “a truly unique performance that leaves a legacy beyond the Games.”

The appeal, made in conjunction with Cauldwell Children, a national charity, who will also be putting on free music and arts workshops at the tournament.

The effort is part of ‘All Roads Lead to Alexander,’ — a long-term project that aims to represent the breadth of diversity that the Commonwealth has to offer. Register your interest by telephone: 0345 300 1348, via email: charity@ cauldwellchildren.com or volunteers@cauldwellchildren.com For more on the Commonwealth Games, visit the official website, www.birmingham2022.com.

by Veron Graham

LEGAL EAGLE DELADEM IS THE BEST BAR NONE! Proud father pays tribute to daughter after she passes crucial law exams – despite losing all her work and having to resit exam after software crash

A

PROUD BIRMINGHAM-BASED father and daughter have spoken of their delight at the latter’s call to the bar at age 24.

Father Sylvanus Dzotsi, speaking of the achievement by daughter Deladem, said: “I am so very proud, the whole family is. Since her childhood, Deladem has always focused hard on her goals. The thing that made it nicer is she found out on her 24th birthday!”

“I am proud to make my dad and my mum proud,” added London-born, Birminghamraised Deladem.

“That means everything to me. I’m also happy because black girls and black women can see that this is possible.

“I didn’t see many people that looked like me when I was coming through — it’s important that young people and females can see themselves in these roles.”

Law entered Deladem’s academic journey at GCSE level, which she continued among her chosen A-levels, propelling her to gaining a law degree at Nottingham Trent University.

During the year she took out, Deladem worked as a parttime volunteer at a law firm in Tamworth which specialises in immigration, alongside parttime paid hours in a high street department store.

Such was her impact on the law firm, the volunteer role became a paid one.

September 2019 saw her start the bar course and beginning the required 12 qualifying sessions to demonstrate competence as a barrister.

COVID-19 not only delayed the course finish date from May 2020 to August 2020, a software crash while completing a three-hour exam remotely meant the loss of all her work, requiring a resit the following November.

“It was the exam in professional ethics – the hardest one,” Deladem recalled. “It was really hard, but I pushed through and got a really good grade!”

There was more good news coming: a full-time paralegal role at the law firm where

I believe education is the best gift you can give a child. I would encourage our community to aim for such goals Deladem continues to work, gaining valuable experience towards the pupillage application, the next stage on the road from being a qualified barrister to a practising one, which takes place between November and February 2022.

“Deladem likely got her interest in the law from me,” added Ghanaian-born Sylvanus, who studied the subject to A-level standard. “If I wasn’t an accountant I would have gone into the legal profession. As she grew up, we always watched television shows about the law, and I could see her interest taking shape from an early age.”

TRADITION

Deladem has continued a family tradition of reaching the professional services: her paternal grandfather was also an accountant. There could be more to come: of her two younger siblings, one will start at a famed grammar school in September and the other is gearing up to take the 11+ exam in the hope of following suit.

Sylvanus added: “I believe education is the best gift you can give a child and so I would encourage our community to apply themselves and aim for such goals. In this environment, when so much is going on that affects us, we need to encourage our community to apply themselves towards great achievements, like others are doing.”

Deladem will be sharing her inspirational story at a school in Yorkshire next month.

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ACHIEVEMENT: Deladem Dzotsi pushed herself to secure an amazing grade

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www.voice-online.co.uk

AUGUST 2021 THE VOICE | 19

Midlands News

PERSEVERANCE FINALLY PAYS OFF FOR VICTOR

TIME TO REFLECT: Victor Richards plays an older man who is preparing to leave England to return to his native Barbados

Streets Paved with Gold started life as a one-man stage play that debuted more than a quarter of a century ago. Charting the experiences of Windrush-era arrivals, the play by writer/actor Victor Richards has finally transferred to the big screen

A

F TER CLOSE to 10 years since a homegrown film with a majority black cast hit the silver screen in the Midlands, the gains made

by Leicester-based writer/actor Victor Richards could set to make it two this year.

Richards’ Streets Paved with Gold (SPWG), in following urban drama The Tale of the Fatherless which went on general release earlier this summer, is currently in post-production with an autumn release date in sight.

SPWG started life as a oneman stage play, debuting a quarter of a century ago and has graduated from UK church and community venues to sites around the world. It charts the experiences of many Windrushera arrivals in the UK from the Caribbean as demonstrated by lead character Augustus Cleveland Johnson, an older man who is preparing to leave England to return to his native Barbados.

He reflects on his bittersweet life surrounded by authentic props including an old-fashioned grip, radiogram, analogue telephone and other family heirlooms.

The PG-rated play steadily built an international audience in countries as diverse as Barbados and Japan, also making its mark in the Gambia as the outbreak of coronavirus curtailed its march.

Undeterred, Richards, pictured inset above, continued his collaboration with director Su-

After we’d come so far, at one stage I asked myself what I had to lose in investing the money to do this laman Garcia to adapt the stage play into a screenplay.

The film was shot in and around a historic house in Crystal Palace, south London, that was inhabited by a real Barbadian couple in the postWindrush years that came to Garcia’s attention.

The adapted story centres around Augustus being helped to pack for his homegoing by his granddaughter, whom he doesn’t know, wasn’t expecting and was sent by his estranged daughter who isn’t speaking to him.

The journey from stage to screen marks a herculean effort from Richards, now 61, considering he was advised not to produce SPWG for the stage.

He told The Voice: “When you start on a journey like this as a younger man, the furthest thing from your mind is getting a one-man play onto the silver screen.

“I was told it wouldn’t work

as a concept. Even then I only aimed to perform it for a year.

“I realised early on that a one-man play had a better chance of lasting than the two and three-handers my contemporaries were doing back then which often fell prey to fallings out and family matters.

“It’s been a long journey with SPWG and I’m coming to the end of this chapter of my career and I’m excited about the start of this new one.”

The journey has apparently been one of self-sacrifice for Richards, who despite being tight-lipped about the actual cost in financial terms, his answers to subsequent questions made this all too clear.

FUNDING

“After we’d come so far, at one stage I asked myself what I had to lose in investing the money to do this.

“There was no real access to funding, it’s really difficult out there. I worked with Garcia for three years prior — getting to know him and set about earning the money so I could pay him. “ Ironically, many of the props that travelled the globe made it to the screen as part of a set – which a smiling Richards estimated cost £50 to collate!

Richards concluded: “I tried all aspects of acting – voiceovers, theatre, film, musicals – but I didn’t fit it.

“It wasn’t me. I realised the only way I was going to achieve and be satisfied is to make my own way.”

The trailer for SPWG can be

seen at www.SPWGmovie.com

Walk remembers COVID victims AN ARTS-LED organisation recently held a memorial walk in Birmingham, concluding with the unveiling of two banners to mark the additional emotional, psychological and physical impact COVID-19 has had on the local black communities.

The event was organised and led by the Blackstory Partnership (BSP), producers of Birmingham’s Black History Month celebrations in recent years, and took place in Handsworth Park as part of BSP’s TEAR (Together Embrace And Remember) project.

During her address to the crowd that gathered in the open air near the Park’s iconic cricket ground, Reverend Eve Pitts said: “The purpose of us being here is to remember. I’ve seen the impact of COVID-19 on our communities close up. I pray to my God whom I know looks like me and created us. It is important to rec-

IMPACT: Guest speaker Rev Eve Pitts and BSP’s Audrey Hayles-Parkes

ognise our loss and encourage our people.”

Rev Pitts was later thanked by fellow guest speaker, Birmingham councillor and TEAR Ambassador Paulette Hamilton, for telephoning her during the height of the pandemic, to “see if I was OK. I’m honoured to be here, and I appreciate the welcome from the Blackstory Partnership to introduce TEAR.” Extending the focus to wider societal matters, Cllr Hamilton added: “The situation is not just about COVID patients: it’s about the people

who didn’t get to hospital and suffered or died of other conditions, and those who have lost loved ones.

“During the lockdowns, we’ve not had the chance to see people, fully realise who has been affected or to hold funerals like we’re used to celebrate those who have passed on. Putting up these banners is part of many things to come to honour our community.”

For more on TEAR, visit https:// blackstorypartnership.com/ portfolio/tear-project

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

20 | THE VOICE

AUGUST 2021

News feature

Hairdressing standards become more inclusive

IMPACT: The new standards will have a positive effect on the profession and ensure that hairdressers have the right skills to work with all types of hair

National guidelines for professionals updated to take wavy, curly and coily hair into account

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S IGNIFICA N T MILESTONE and major turning point took place within the hairdressing industry as the government approval of the revised National Occupational Standards (NOS) in hairdressing reflected it had been given with wavy, curly and coily hair textures now also fully inclusive within the standards.

This means the delivery of hairdressing training and measuring of skills, all textures of hair are representational of the diverse society we live in, and the plethora of hair textures evident will be covered when training hairdressing professionals.

Here is what some of the major players in the industry had to say...

Sharon Thompson, international marketing manager for McBride Research Labs for the EMEA Region, hairdressing training advocate, writer and entrepreneur, saw the need to partner the Design Essentials brand and HABIA and support their efforts now and long term.

Education in hairdressing is delivered by the Design Essentials international team of educators throughout the region

It ensures standards are diverse and inclusive to reflect the community and remains paramount to the growth of professionals catering to this sector of the market. They played a major role in contributing to the revision of the standard and championing it to include wavy, curly and coily hair.

She is delighted the reviewed hairdressing NOS reflects inclusivity. She said: “It gives me absolute pleasure to welcome the launch of the new NOS for hairdressing as developed by the Hairdressing and Beauty Industry Authority (HABIA), not only as a corporate partner, but also for me as an individual having advocated for the inclusion of hairdressing training for all hair textures including wavy, curly and coily within the standards and at all levels.

“I am delighted that with the new standards, we can now confidently deliver training that is aligned with the salon’s standards, college and consumer forums that represent every demographic evident within the communities in which we live in Britain.

Joan Scott, Cert Ed, MSc, chair of the Hairdressing and Beauty Industry Authority (HABIA), beauty and spa expert, author, multi award-winning educationalist specialising in apprenticeships and adult education, ambassador for the Association of Colleges (AoC) promoting WorldSkills UK and assistant principal at Trafford College Group, had this to say about the Design Essentials brand partnership with HABIA: “We’re delighted to announce a partnership with Design Essentials. As an organisation, they are raising the awareness of textured hair and are promoting an inclusive educational experience.

“It is extremely important that NOS reflects and represents the diverse range of hair types and textures of all clients across the hair sector.

“HABIA have recently had approval for the review of the NOS. “The standards have been updated to ensure they reflect current technical developments and meet the needs of the UK’s diverse community.

“Design Essentials are dedicated to working with educators and trainers, helping them become more confident in their skill in textured hair

What do NOS and HABIA mean?

What are hairdressing National Occupational Standards (NOS)?

NOS are developed by considering requirements for standards suitable for use across the UK in relation to expected levels in achievement of work, knowledge and skills needed to perform effectively. These standards are approved through consultations with employers and other stakeholders. This is then examined for accreditation and the NOS are published. Subsequently, they can be transferred into vocational and other qualifications, for training programmes, to measure competence in the workplace and influencing job descriptions. Hairdressing is one

of the NOS suites, and it is within this suite that the government has approved it as totally inclusive and diverse, as it relates to all hair textures.

HABIA’s drive for inclusivity through expert working groups HABIA, with the support of the British Beauty Council, championed the development of an inclusive hairdressing NOS to fully meet the needs of the UK’s diverse community and since 2020 worked alongside industry employers and trainers to form an expert working group, focusing on reviewing and recommending adjustments to the existing hairdressing NOS.

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techniques. We look forward to working closely with Design Essentials and their team to ensure colleges and training providers are aware of their support for educators and learners.”

Judith Hughes, vice-chair of the expert working group (EWG) for the hairdressing NOS, lecturer at Manchester College, hair consultant at jhhhairconsultant.com and VTCT technical expert, said: “It was an honour and a pleasure working as vice chair of the hairdressing EWG along with a dedicated team to produce standards in the hair industry that are inclusive of all hair types.

“Our aim has been to shape and update a suite of standards that accommodate the diverse background of all our clients to reflect current trends and techniques within the industry.

“The NOS includes a full and diverse range of hair types and curl patterns, ensuring the standards are diverse and inclusive to reflect the needs of our industry.”

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Sandra Gittens, an expert in HABIA’s EWG for hairdressing, author, lecturer, hair historian, training consultant to the hair, film and theatre industries, said: “It was excellent to be part of the developing NOS and working with other specialists from across the industry. Previously, I have worked as an external verifier for HABIA and City & Guilds and as course leader for hairdressing at London College of Fashion, so I was extremely keen that my students gained qualifications that were recognised by the UK hair industry.

“As a consultant, I also developed new standards that included working on African type hair, so this is a tremendous celebration that we once again have training standards that are all inclusive and ensure standards across the industry.

Angel Ramsay, expert in HABIA’s EWG for hairdressing, college lecturer, educator and field marketing consultant, said: “Al-

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though I have been delivering the standards inclusively for many years, I recognised there were many training providers easily opting out of this as the NOS had been written in such a way that delivering all hair types was an option.

“However, as the industry is one that continuously develops, it was important to reflect its evolving needs by ensuring that it is as an opportunity and not an option for all learners to gain understanding, confidence and experience of learning and working with all hair types from basic to advanced levels.”

Diane Hey, employer and chair of the overall NOS steering group, said: “We are delighted with the approval and publication of the hairdressing National Occupational Standards and it has been a privilege to Chair the process. I thank all our colleagues, experts and EWG chairs for their diligence and commitment to ensuring these NOS are complete and reflective of developments in key aspects of the sectors including hairdressing.”

www.voice-online.co.uk

JUNE 2021

THE VOICE| 21

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| THE VOICE AUGUST 2021

News feature

‘AFRICA HAS SOLUTIONS TO ITS POWER ISSUES’

A leader in the renewable energy sector, Linda MabhenaOlagunju says electricity supply is linked to economic performance, and says that Africa has to take control of, and harness, its own rich resources. By Shanae Dennis

M

EET LINDA Mabhena-Olagunju, one of the most powerful women in Africa, according to Oprah’s power list and Forbes Women in Africa, and a key thought leader in the renewable energy sector.

Linda is only 37 and the founder and CEO of DLO Energy – behind one of the largest wind farms in Africa and a wholly black female-owned independent power producer in South Africa. “I got into the energy sector when I was a student at the University of Aberdeen, I went there to study oil and gas law,” she said.

Speaking to The Voice from her home in Johannesburg, South Africa, she said: “As part of my research, I saw that there was a direct link between the economic performance of the country and access to power.”

At the time when Linda was undertaking her studies, South Africa was experiencing rolling blackouts and load-shedding.

Load-shedding is when power companies switch off power supplies to groups of customers in order to reduce electricity.

South Africans have been living with load-shedding since 2007, and according to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, in 2020 load-shedding occurred for 859 hours of the year (9.8 per cent).

Linda explained: “We have a wealth of resources on this continent, but our economies are constantly underperforming and one of the key challenges is around power supply. Only 50 per cent of businesses in Africa have access to reliable, stable power and that obviously impacts on performance.”

Better representation One of the ongoing challenges for women in Africa is representation in the sector.

According to the Global Women’s Network for the Energy Transitions’ (GWNET) re-

You seldom hear African voices. I think it’s important that we are part of the conversation cent report, women only make up 27 per cent of the traditional energy sector workforce and 32 per cent of the renewable energy workforce in that sector.

In the UK, black, Asian and minority ethnic groups make up just five per cent of the current offshore wind sector.

“I didn’t see representation of people that look like me in the sector, so whenever you hear about climate change, you are always hearing European voices and seldom African voices. I think it’s important that we are part of the conversation,” Linda explained.

RESOURCES

“I think building a school or a health facility or a church as part of your social economic development is not enough,” Linda told The Voice.

“If you see Africa as a true partner and black people as true partners, you ought to empower or give them the access to be empowered to create and own their own technology and be in a position to replace foreign engineers in this space.”

Linda questioned the emphasis on foreign products in Africa which is perhaps the most resource-rich continent in the world.

“We ought to be growing our own economies, employing our own people, and ensuring that we are innovating, rather than empowering foreign economies at the expense of our people.

“It’s a cycle of poverty that continues on the African conti-

nent — we need to be a continent of makers, doers, innovators in order to break this chain of poverty.”

Impact of the Paris Agreement The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change that came into force on November 4, 2016.

It aims to substantially reduce global greenhouse gas emissions and the long-term goal is net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

PRICE

“Given that the continent generates most of its revenue from what are called hydrocarbon resources, like oil and gas, which are so called big polluters, it was important for me to lend my voice to what Africans feel about climate change.

“We only are responsible for two per cent of the world’s global emissions yet, with the Paris Agreement, we are going to have to pay a heavy price.”

Addressing climate change is a well-welcomed conversation, however, some are disappointed in the way the conversation has been handled so far.

“Europe and the industrialised West have been using dirty energy sources and now they are imposing punitive measures on Africa, where it’s meant to be zero emissions by 2050.

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EMPOWERED: Linda Mabhena-Olagunju is the founder and CEO of DLO Energy, behind one of Africa’s largest wind farms; below, Mabhena-Olagunju was recognised in Oprah Winfrey’s Power List Without having consulted the continent in a way on how they can practically get to that stage,” Linda explained.

Development in Africa Linda had what she describes as a ‘colourful’ childhood, growing up in South Africa towards the end of the apartheid regime.

pushing for the change that she would like to see.

“I would like to see us attracting more capital from black investors, my dream actually is to create a pan-African investment arm in the sector.

“If we can get more black people investing in renewable energy and power, at least then

we need to make it work here, We’ve even got the raw materials that are required here in this continent, we need more intra African trade.

“I think it’s time for us to stop waiting for someone to save us on this continent, we have to do that ourselves and that starts from a government level,” Linda added.

It’s time for us to stop waiting INNOVATOR Linda was listed amongst the for someone to save us.

20 Most Powerful Women in Africa, has featured on Oprah’s We have to do that ourselves Power List, the Best Emerging In 1994, when the apartheid regime formally ended, Linda transitioned to an all-white school and experienced racism attacks, which she says fuelled her motivation for economic reform and representative wealth.

For her company, DLO energy which celebrates its 10 -year anniversary this year, she wants to keep

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we have more black participation — that’s the dream I have.”

Linda, like many, is sceptical of the intentions of some foreign investors and wants governments within the continent to work together to create policies that empower and increase the capacity for trading across the African continent .

“Africa has the answers and solutions to its power and power security issues,” she said.

“Nigeria could look to South Africa for a model that works.

South Africa could look to Nigeria, Ghana and Zimbabwe, for engineers.”

“We’ve got everything that

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Entrepreneur by Forbes Woman Africa in 2017 and was recognised as the 2018 Youngest Board Member on the University of Oxford’s International Advisory Board. She is the mother of three girls, an innovator and thought leader.

“Amongst honest people, they like my ideas, but amongst those who want to exploit this continent and continue to do so, my views may be viewed as controversial, but I don’t think anyone can say that they’re not factual. They’re based on facts.”

You can keep up with Linda on LinkedIn and Instagram

@lindamabhena_olagunju

www.voice-online.co.uk

AUGUST 2021 THE VOICE | 23

Tribute: Rev Dr Joel Edwards

‘Goodbye, until we meet again’ Rev Dr Joel Edwards – October 15, 1951 – June 30, 2021

HONOURED: Rev Dr Joel Edwards, far left, with his son Joel Jnr as he collected his CBE in 2019, has sadly died; below, his farewell message; below left, Bishop Rose Hudson-Wilkin has paid tribute

Bishop Rose Hudson-Wilkin pays tribute to a friend she described as ‘an exemplary Christian leader’

I

T IS with some sadness that I touch the keys of my keyboard, because in effect, I am acknowledging that a dear friend is no longer with us.

I met Joel after moving from the Midlands to serve in Hackney in 1998.

Our paths continued to cross at a variety of meetings some in relation to do with ministry, others in relation to the social issues impacting the commu-

nities around us. I have since learnt of his musical interest – that he played the guitar and was part of a band.

Joel was a humble, quiet, spiritually deep man of God. He was someone I could speak to and know that he would give me a considered response.

Some may know of his academic achievements, his contribution to the Pentecostal church movement and the dif-

ference he made to the African and Caribbean Evangelical Alliance, or indeed the

looking at issues to do with global poverty.

He was a great communica-

Joel was a humble, quiet, spiritually deep man of God. He was a great communicator work he did as the General Director of the Evangelical Alliance. He was international director of ‘Micah Challenge’,

tor, an exemplary Christian leader who was not afraid to speak prophetically – speaking truth to power.

He received several honours, including the CBE in 2019.

A few days before he passed, he told me the greatest honour to be bestowed on him was being appointed to establish a Racial Justice Commission.

He knew the difference this could make and, after all, his life was about making a difference in the lives of those he served.

“I regret that I will not be

able to do this,” he said. His care and compassion for others, even in his last days were still clearly to be seen.

In his words, “Goodbye my friend” (and I add with tears) “Goodbye my brother, God be with you, until we meet again”.

May his soul rest in peace and rise in glory!

— Bishop Rose HudsonWilkin

A memorial of Life service for Rev Joel Edwards will be held on September 24 at St Johns Hackney, East London. Full details coming soon

24 | THE VOICE

AUGUST 2021

Tribute: Rev Dr Joel Edwards

History maker, preacher, theologian – and more...

O

Dr R. David Muir writes about the life and impact of the late Rev Dr Joel Edwards, one of Britain’s most influential black Christians

N WEDNESDAY, June 30, Rev Dr Joel Edwards CBE passed away. The Christian community globally and the black community in the UK lost one of its best leaders.

As part of the ‘Windrush Generation’, Joel came to the UK in May 1960. In his book Lord, Make us One - But Not All The Same! seeking unity in diversity, he recalls leaving Kingston, Jamaica, to join his mother in London.

Being ‘wrenched away’ from his beloved Jamaica, with all the security of friends, family, familiar sights and sounds, was one of the saddest days in the life of this eight-year-old boy poised to change the face of evangelicalism in the UK. Like so many families of his generation, coming to England presented greater opportunities for employment, education and social mobility.

I suspect many Caribbeans can identify with Joel when he said “My journey from arrival in 1960 to my closing months of schooling was a precarious path along the way to identity.

“I was part of a growing band of the Caribbean diaspora who lived in two worlds: a black person at home but someone with different cultural persona once the front door was closed behind me. It was the uncon-

Dr Edwards embodied the Christian faith and the gospel at its very best scious development of a cultural dualism which became the norm for many in those early days of immigration.”

Dr Joel Edwards was so many things to so many people. He embodied the Christian faith and the gospel at its best.

He was a pastor, preacher and gifted communicator. An apotheosis was reached in 2018, when Joel delivered the address at the 70th Anniversary Windrush Service in Westminster Abbey. It was a brilliant tour de force of the Caribbean experience in Britain from 1948.

This document is politically fecund; it should be studied carefully by all those interested in the ‘Windrush Generation’ and its spiritual legacy. In that powerful address, the preacher and thinker spoke of the ‘political task’ of black people in Britain as we ‘adjust to the possibilities of an unknown future.

Although Joel is best remembered for his work and ministry as General Director of the Evangelical Alliance (EA) in the UK and the World Evangelical Alliance, it is important to recognise some of his other contributions.

Before becoming General Secretary of the West Indian Evangelical Alliance (later known as the African Caribbean Evangelical Alliance, ACEA) in 1988, Joel spent 10 years fulltime as a probationary officer (19751985). He worked

with young people and families, supporting them through difficult times.

Joel was also one of the three senior church leaders who gave evidence to the Macpherson Inquiry into the death of Stephen Lawrence.

He became a member of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) in 2009, at a time when evangelicals like Edwards were portrayed by some as ‘conservative reactionaries’ who are unwilling to engage in constructive dialogue on human sexuality.

SIGNIFICANT

As UK Director of the Evangelical Alliance from 1992-1997, Joel played a leading role in developing and strengthening the voice of evangelicals in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

He also played a significant part in the celebrations marking the 150th Anniversary of the Alliance since its founding in 1846.

But his big break came in 1997. In that year, he made history. He was the first black person (from a Pentecostal denomination) to become General Director of the Evangelical Alliance.

By the end of the 1990s, according to church historian Ian Randall, Joel became ‘the most prominent evangelical in Britain’. From 1997-2008 he led the EA in Europe and influenced the public policy work of the World Evangelical Alliance. He made the voice of evangelicals and other Christians credible in the public square.

The creation of the department of Public Theology at the EA in 2005 was Joel’s strategic attempt to make the evangelical/Christian voice heard in the public square on social, political, moral and religious themes and issues.

Joel was a true internationalist, a friend and champion of the work of evangelicals in Africa, the Caribbean and in Asia.

As International Director of Mi-

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ONE OF A KIND: The late Rev Dr Joel Edwards looks relaxed in his office back in 2007; inset below left, speaking at a ceremony celebrating the 70th anniversary of Windrush in 2018 cah Challenge from 2009-2015, he worked with international leaders and institutions to make good the promises of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). He was able to mobilise the churches in rich countries

conscious’; it was ‘the happening place’ where you heard preaching at its best, where discipleship took place in an empowering and loving environment. And, of course, Joel instituted the phenomenal ‘Cul-

By the end of the 1990s, Joel was acknowledged as ‘the most prominent evangelical in Britain’ to support and stand in solidarity with the poor in the global South.

In 2019, he was recognised in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List with a CBE for ‘services to tackling poverty and injustice’.

His tenure as Senior Pastor of Mile End New Testament Church of God from 1985-1995 was one of the most exciting times in the history of the organisation. It was a special time for all those who came under the spell of his ministry and presence.

He empowered women’s leadership at a time when it was not fashionable; and he threw off many of the inherited ‘holiness’ strictures and practices of the Church of God. Mile End New Testament Church of God was the place to be if you were ‘young, Christian and black

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tural Weekends’ where issues of black history, culture, politics and black Christian identity were explored.

Those who remember his time as Senior Pastor of Mile End New Testament Church of God do so with great fondness and affection.

He impacted too many lives to mention, but there are people from the local church whose career choices and development Joel significantly impacted.

We have lost a spiritual giant of our generation. But how will this church and community leader be remembered?

Many will remember him for his warmth, his smile, his jokes, sense of humour and his compassion. Others will recall his powerful preaching and his public witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ to transform

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lives and culture. As a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4 Thought for the Day, his voice, insight and wisdom was heard nationally and internationally.

Joel Nigel Patrick Edwards was comfortable with who he was, who he became, who God had made him: he was a black Pentecostal Christian leader who God used to bring about change in Church and society.

GIFT

We remember our friend and colleague Joel Edwards as an ‘Ambassador of Christ’ with a ministry and gift for reconciliation. In his unique and characteristic style, his farewell message to his friends and the wider Christian family reminds us of God as ‘The faithful One’ who is ‘marvellous, mysterious and majestic in all that He does’.

Confident in his faith and the Christian hope of the resurrection, he ends his farewell message with these beautiful words: “I wait to welcome you.”

Dr Muir was Joel’s personal adviser; he also worked with him when he was General Secretary of the ACEA and became Joel’s executive director for Public Theology and Public Policy at the EA (2005-2010). He was also a member of Mile End New Testament Church under Joel’s leadership.

www.voice-online.co.uk

AUGUST 2021 THE VOICE | 25

Tribute: Rev Dr Joel Edwards

‘A GREAT MENTOR’ So many words to sum up someone who had a positive impact on so many people’s lives

‘Showing attention and respect’ I WAS fuming as I glared at the man across the desk of his office at 186 Kennington Park Road. It was 1997 and I had come to express my frustration and needing an explanation as to why the Evangelical Alliance was not supporting a particular large evangelistic event in London.

He sat quietly and respectfully as I released my pent-up emotions.

He then calmly and very succinctly explained analytically, strategically, theologically, and prophetically why it would not be appropriate for the Alliance to partner with the ministry in question.

By the time he had finished with his highly intellectual and deep spiritual response, I was a convert and fan of the Reverend Joel Edwards. That was how we met!

to visit me as I had taken the trouble to come to his office. I was not used to older black men affording me that much attention and respect. He was an instant hit!

Rev Joel was a great mentor to me.

He would arrange one-on-one meetings and would take my thoughts and views very seriously.

He taught me how to be comfortable in my African heritage whilst engaging with the broader white, Asian and Caribbean church communities and leaders. He modelled Servant Leadership for me.

I do not just miss him, a part of me has gone missing since he left.

Grace and peace.

We struck up an immediate relationship from that moment as he insisted that he would come over

— Dr Jonathan Oloyede, Convenor, National Day of Prayer and Worship

‘Christian statesman and true ambassador’

‘A trailblazer who will never be forgotten’

I FIRST met Joel in the 1990s when he was director of the African and Caribbean Evangelical Alliance (ACEA) and I was pastor and area bishop for the Church of God of Prophecy based in Sheffield. He charmingly presented the case for why my denomination, regional and local church should take an active interest in the work of ACEA which was trying to bring African and Caribbeanled churches closer together. Then as now, the social, economic and political context was tainted by racism that affected all areas of our lives, and Joel was clear that the black churches should not, and could not, afford to give the impression we were aloof and unaffected by the currents that buffeted our communities. Joel was

REV DR Joel Edwards was a trailblazer and pioneer whose impact in the church and public life will be felt for generations to come.

As an exemplary leader, he was committed to building and developing leaders of his generation, as well as dedicating himself to encouraging and paving the way for millennials, and younger generations, in a truly genuine and fatherly way, of which I can testify.

Whilst the church and wider community will miss him terribly, I am under no doubt that he is rejoicing and cheering us here on Earth to continue to build the kingdom in an impactful way.

From his closing final statement to the heartfelt tributes that have flooded in across the different traditions

persuasive on the issue of black church unity as a prerequisite to collaboration with ‘mainstream’ churches. For me, Joel stood out as a Christian statesman and an ambassador enabling cross-cultural, cross-denominational, cross-theological communication, demystifying those relationships in ways only Joel could.

I miss him. RIEP. — Bishop Dr Joe Aldred, National Church Leaders Forum (NCLF)

‘A man who took the lead in so many different ways’ I SALUTE my dear friend Rev Dr Joel Edwards CBE who demonstrated humility consistently in all areas of his life.

I am very pleased to have shared a few years indulging in our shared passion, making music, having been instrumental assembling eight church boys from various parts of London to form ‘Kainos’, a very radical Christian band at the time.

This did not seem to match the image of Joel Edwards, who was clearly on a journey to be an outstanding preacher/church leader.

However, he was the lead guitarist of the band which had quite an impact on the gospel music and church community and was quite a character when the “Kainos” family gigged or rehearsed. He was brilliant when mimicking some of the characters in his church and would have us in bouts of laughter as he played out the people who were his admirers and leaders.

I miss my friend and will never forget his call to me from his bed in hospital to say goodbye. He felt his journey from life was about to begin, and I was left speechless encountering an emotional out-of-body experience, an experience I had never known.

It lives in my mind constantly, he is resting, no longer in agony. Joel Edwards is a giant whose impact will come to the fore as knowledge of his life of guidance, fighting for the good of all is realised.

— Bazil Meade MBE, Director and Founder, London Community Gospel Choir

‘Our most significant person’

of the church, I know many lives across the world will continue to be impacted and enriched by the fruit of his labour.

To Rev Dr Joel’s family I pray continued peace and comfort during this time.

— Shermara JJ Fletcher, Principal Officer for Pentecostal, Charismatic and Multi-cultural Relations, Churches Together in England

REV DR Joel Edwards was and is the most significant person to us - the children of the Windrush Generation. As a young person, his influence extended beyond denominational barriers.

The fact that he, a black British-based leader who wrote, spoke, campaigned for issues that impacted humanity, showed he maximised his potential to do with passion what Our Creator asked of us to love our neighbour as ourselves, to love justice and mercy; he certainly walked in humility – with a power to influence

without self-serving.

He saw the bigger picture of who we needed to be beyond racial divides.

Yet amidst the broader missions, his personal pastoral heart remained.

He intervened, supported and mentored many that he knew from his youth - including me. Joel truly loved people, loved life in all its mystery, majesty - and indeed the miracle of Hope in Christ.

— Juliet Fletcher, Former BBC Producer and Founder of the GMIA

26 | THE VOICE

AUGUST 2021

Tribute: Rev Dr Joel Edwards

We thank God for Joel

Joel Edwards possessed many incredible qualities.

Here, Rev John Root tells us why he believes he was such a special person and what he will remember most about a man he’d known for so many years

I

CAN’T REMEMBER when I first met Joel, but it was some time in the 1970s working with the Evangelical Race Relations Group, and our paths have crossed regularly since then.

What do I especially remember and thank God for about Joel?

Warmth This was the most immediately obvious characteristic about Joel.

He loved and accepted people and exuded a joy and delight in the gift of life.

Spending time with him somehow always gave me a sense of well-being.

His personal warmth meant he was widely trusted and able to gather people together.

As General Director of the Evangelical Alliance, he was instrumental in drawing many black majority churches into what had predominantly been a white organisation.

He was honoured widely

Sometimes God gives us better leaders than we deserve, such as Joel throughout the breadth of British Christianity.

He became a lay canon of St Paul’s Cathedral and received an award from the Archbishop of Canterbury.

His standing was recognised with his invitation to preach at the Windrush 70th Anniversary service at Westminster Abbey.

Conviction Whilst he was a person of wide sympathies, Joel was also clear about his beliefs and stayed loyal to his Pentecostal roots.

But he also strongly believed that the voice of Christian faith

should be heard much more clearly in the public square, and contributed on the BBC’s Thought for the Day and Question Time.

I valued working with him in encouraging the churches to take seriously issues of racial injustice.

He also worked for Micah Challenge, addressing issues of global poverty, and Christian Solidarity Worldwide, addressing the persecution of Christians.

Intelligence On a formal level, Joel achieved a PhD in his 60s.

At a far more informal level, I was always constantly struck by the shrewdness of his judgements, plus the enviable fluency with which he could express them.

I particularly remember a meeting last year where he strongly criticised British evangelical leaders for failing to distance themselves from the shame brought on the word

IMPORTANT INTRODUCTION: Mayor of London Sadiq Khan meets Rev Dr Joel Edwards during a service at Westminster Abbey to honour the 70th anniversary of the Windrush landing ‘evangelical’ by Trump supporters in the USA. Faith Joel travelled a long way from his childhood in Jamaica, then becoming his school head boy, being a probation officer,

studying at London School of Theology, being a pastor, and then on through serving in various Christian organisations, to working with Tony Blair and being awarded a CBE. But he was always someone whose faith was centred on the

risen Jesus as his saviour and friend, and whose faith was the bedrock of his friendship and his work. People often say that we get the leaders we deserve, but sometimes in His mercy God gives us better leaders than we deserve. Such was Joel.

Social media messages come flooding in from both near and far NEWS of Rev Dr Joel Edwards’ death from cancer was posted on social media with a special message, written

by Joel himself, specifically for those left behind.

He thanked his friends for their prayers, told them that he had ‘gone home’ and that his prayer for them was that they would have been strengthened in praying for his healing.

He also asked them to watch over

his family and that he would be waiting to welcome us. Hundreds took to social media to pay tribute to Joel Edwards after reading this.

People who made public tributes to Joel and his life included the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, Chine McDonald, Head of Fundraising and Community Engagement at Christian Aid, bestselling author Ben Lindsay and members of the New Testament Church of God, among others.

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ADVERTORIAL

27 | THE VOICE AUGUST 2021

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28 | THE VOICE AUGUST 2021

News feature

Community organisation celebrating black youths

Proud and Gifted is making a huge difference to the lives of children and young people. Sinai Fleary talks to founder Steven Oram about why it’s so important to celebrate their achievements

A

L EADING BODY has launched a special initiative to celebrate the achievements of black youth.

Proud and Gifted was founded in December 2018, as a response to the lack of positive stories about young people in the media.

The project acknowledges success stories of young people aged between nine and 25 in the UK and awards them with personalised medals and certificates.

The initiative is a small gesture which is making a huge difference to the lives of our children and young people, according to founder, Steven Oram.

Speaking to The Voice, he said: “It is vital we celebrate our young people and encourage them when they are doing the right thing.

“It is the minority who are doing bad but they grab the headlines and Proud and Gifted wants to celebrate those who are shining examples.”

The father, from east London, said he was unsure of how he wanted to champion young people and enlisted the help of his younger sister, Esther.

He told The Voice that she helped him to take the first steps in creating his youth empowerment programme three years ago, through discussions on WhatsApp. He launched Proud and Gifted after he failed to find a platform which celebrates young

When we turn on our televisions the representation of our young people is so negative black people and children — who are succeeding.

Mr Oram was keen to have a safe space for young people to be inspired by others in their peer groups and wanted to provide a programme which is free from negativity and violence.

“When we turn on our televisions the representation of our young people is so negative and there are so many out there who are not like that, I wanted to put some attention on the good ones because they deserve it,” he added.

Proud and Gifted awards young people with a personalised certificate, which is now sponsored by The Voice and a medal, which is sponsored by James Shoe Care in Barkingside.

Speaking about his new partnership with The Voice, he said: “I have always read The Voice and grew up buying the paper.

“For me, it is a personal accomplishment to have them on board and I really wanted to show people that two black organisations can come together for our young people.”

“I love that together with The Voice we can raise awareness and put the spotlight back on our youth in a good way,” he added.

So far, the initiative has awarded several talented young people, including, vegan chef Omari McQueen and dancer Princess K. But Mr Oram is still on the lookout for more gifted and hardworking youngsters to celebrate.

He is encouraging people to nominate young people deserving of an award, even if they do not have a huge online audience.

PLATFORM: Clockwise, from main, Proud and Gifted founder Steven Oram with Joshua Adeyemi, Kenya WaltersObeng and British wheelchair athlete Kare Adenegan

POSITIVITY

The youth advocate also commemorates those chosen by featuring them on the cover of the Proud and Gifted promotional magazine.

Mr Oram said he is committed to spreading more positivity in the black community, especially after it was disproportionately impacted throughout the pandemic.

He has worked in the youth sector for over 20 years and, alongside Proud and Gifted, works as an appropriate adult — assisting young and vulnerable people after they have been arrested — at local police stations in east and north London.

He has been in this profession for 12 years and takes his role very seriously. He said: “I make sure their rights are met and they are being treated fairly and ensure they understand the police procedure.”

Mr Oram describes the job as “a real eye-opener”.

But, unfortunately, he revealed to The Voice that over the last six years his clients have been getting younger.

Recently, he represented a child who was just 12 years old.

He said: “I have gone to the police station to represent someone

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and I was so surprised when a little person came out in a school uniform.

“With young people they scan you up and down to get a first impression of you.”

His role is independent of the police and he always emphasises this, which helps build trust and respect with his clients.

He said: “I always introduce myself and let them know I am there to safeguard them.

“I talk with young people, I don’t talk at them and this helps to break down any initial barriers.

“What I find hard sometimes is whenever I call parents, most of the time it is mothers on the other end of the phone.”

Despite these challenges, Mr Oram told The Voice he will continue to work as an appropriate adult to support those who need him.

He said: “The hardest part is when the reality hits a young person, who has been arrested for a serious crime and I know they are not going home — that can be very difficult to deal with.

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“But I love my job and I love supporting young people and I hope my interactions can make a real difference in their lives.”

Mr Oram told The Voice the assumptions made about the ethnicity of his black clients has been hurtful.

STEREOTYPE

He said: “So many people have assumed that all the children I represent are of a Caribbean background and that hurts.

“There is this stereotype if a black child is in trouble with the police, they must be of Caribbean heritage and that is far from the truth.

“A lot of the children I work with are black, but they come from all over the world.

“People make blanket statements but don’t take into consideration the circumstances about why a child or young person is arrested in the first place.

“I always say, never judge someone who has been arrested because it can happen to anyone — all it takes is for some-

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one to make an allegation.”

Mr Oram believes there is a mental health crisis among young people who are “dealing with a lot of stress and trauma” and is calling for more support from parents, families, communities and authorities.

Since launching Proud and Gifted, Mr Oram says he has been left speechless by the immense level of support shown from his local community in Leyton and wider areas.

When asked what his hopes are for the future, he said: “I hope we continue to keep up with the momentum we have seen in the black community over the last few years and continue to lift up our young people because they are our future.”

For more information on

Proud and Gifted or to find out

how you can nominate a young

person, go to: https://www.proud andgifted.co.uk/. Follow Proud and Gifted on social media: @proudandgifted

www.voice-online.co.uk

AUGUST 2021

THE VOICE | 29

Finance

‘Turn awareness into action’

Continued from page 10

Unequal pay structures are much to blame.

The Office for National Statistics found most minority ethnic British people earned less on average than white British people in 2019.

The gap was widest, however, between white males and ethnic minority females. White British males earned an average of £13.78 an hour, compared with £11.53 for black British women.

An element of this is due to employment.

Last year, a study by the Trades Union Congress found around 12.1 per cent black and minority ethnic women are employed in insecure jobs, compared to 6.4 per cent white women and 5.5 per cent white men.

The TUC’s commented that many of these roles are in vital front-line services like health

and social care. And, with the UK Government implementing a pay freeze on public sector workers including NHS from 2011 until 2018-2019, and a paltry one per cent increase in 2020-21, it’s clear caring roles have not been sufficiently remunerated.

Structural bias But there’s a structural bias, also, that must be addressed.

Davinia Tomlinson, pictured inset left, is an entrepreneur who founded a company called Rainchq to help women take control of their finances.

She says while there are, inevitably, some things individuals can do to improve their own financial situations, there is an overwhelming sense of structural bias that is adversely affecting black women.

She explains: “For black women this issue is compound-

There are clearly broader factors at play that require attention

ed by a pre-existing racial wealth gap which sees the average black household generating income 63 per cent less than the average white household yet, perhaps unsurprisingly, carrying the most debt.”

Tomlinson points out that just 0.24 per cent of venture capital funding goes to black entrepreneurs – 38 businesses in total. Only one black female founder raised series A funding in the decade between 2009 and 2019.

She adds: “When you consider the structural and institutional inequalities that see black women start their working lives at a disadvantage, fi-

nancially at least, then there are clearly broader factors at play that require urgent attention.”

Changes needed Sian Fisher, chief executive of the Chartered Insurance Institute and co-founder of Insuring Women’s Futures, says financial services needed to sit down and think harder about how to close the ethnic wealth gap.

She says: “We need to think about structures we are part of and have an open conversation, analyse processes, review rules and change cultures that result in inequality.

“Recruitment and career progression must be revisited. Role models need to be highlighted.”

Fisher also calls for the government to act: “A Government plan to introduce ethnicity pay reporting appears to have stalled but it is vital this is introduced to focus minds.”

According to DiversityQ, a company which promotes business diversity, only 11 per cent of companies have published ethnicity pay reports.

TIME LOST: With hospitality closed, typically low-paid black hospitality workers have suffered (photo: Andrea Piacquadio) Hence the reason Lord Simon Woolley, a former senior government adviser on race disparity, told BBC’s Radio 5 Live earlier this year it should be mandatory for companies to

disclose their ethnicity pay gap.

Yet while transparency is welcome, still more will be needed; as Fisher states: “Awareness needs to turn into action.”

30 | THE VOICE

AUGUST 2021

News feature

Making black love last: Two couples celebrating 50 years July 17, 1971 was a day that two very special couples will never forget as they mark 50 years of marriage. Here, they tell their incredible and inspiring stories

‘When I met her I knew this was a nice young lady’ After journeys to Britain from Montserrat and Jamaica, it seems Mavis and Toby were meant to be...

MEET Mavis and Toby Ryan - who celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary last month!

Toby and Mavis came to England – Toby came from Montserrat and Mavis from Jamaica.

In 1969, three years after Mavis’s arrival to the UK she first saw Toby.

“When I saw him, I fell in love with the young man – he was handsome, so friendly and happy,” Mavis said.

Toby, better known as Mr Ryan, caught Mavis’s attention from the start. “I remember it was a Sunday afternoon, when I met her the old toes them were wiggling – I knew this was a nice young lady,” Mr Ryan shared. They formed an inseparable bond

THE HAPPY COUPLE: Mavis said she fell in love with Toby when she first saw him more than 50 years ago

three sons and three daughters – and have 23 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.

Mavis is currently unwell and has been ill on and off since 2012 with a stroke – and Mr Ryan is her full time carer.

“It came automatically – I did not make a decision.

“One thing I said is that she isn’t going to any home. She is staying here,” Mr Ryan explained.

VOWS and got married on July 17, 1971. Mavis and Mr Ryan have shared many achievements and beautiful moments over the last 50+ years.

“Up to today we always

share special moments,” Mr Ryan told The Voice.

Mr Ryan, 79 and Mavis, 82, bought the family home that they still live in today in 1976.

They have six children –

Earlier this year Mavis’s health took a turn for the worse and she was admitted into hospital – and during this time hospice staff visited them to discuss Mavis going into a hospice.

True to their marriage vows, the couple have stuck together through sickness and health.

Fifty happy years – Mavis and Toby Like many from the Windrush Generation Mavis and Toby are filled with sound advice.

Mr Ryan says: “No matter what kinda argument you have out there, never do it in front of anybody. Even if something happens outside, wait ‘til you get home.”

Even though Mavis was head over heels for Mr Ryan,

she advises young women today to exercise more caution.

“Don’t run into a young man unless you’re very sure – these young men are not like the ones from years back they don’t love the same,” Mavis said.

The Voice wishes Toby and Mavis a happy golden anniversary and many more years together.

‘Everything was the same as my wedding day 50 years ago’ After chance meetings and a date at the cinema, Mayblin and George Hamilton have enjoyed an extraordinary life together MAYBLIN and George both came to England from Jamaica at an early age - George at 17 and Mayblin at 15.

Like many others from the Windrush Generation, they found their first jobs in their local area – George worked in a factory doing

engineering and Mayblin assembled radios.

Mayblin would often see George on the 187 bus as he travelled to and from work.

One day on the bus Mayblin was with her friend Betty and George caught her eye – and she threw paper at him to get his attention.

From there, they started talking, grew to like each other and had their first date at the cinema.

On July 17, 1971, Mayblin and George Hamilton got married at Our Lady of A special day – Mayblin and George Lourdes and

Saint Vincent De Paul Church in London. Their wedding day was planned by Mayblin’s father, Oscar Gray.

Everything was organised

by Mr Gray – so the only thing she had to do was get was her wedding dress and her bridesmaids dresses.

Mayblin recalls that the day was very special – but it was so hot that Mayblin’s father had to buy everyone an ice cream to cool down!

WE STILL DO: Mayblin and George Hamilton renewed their vows at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church – and were presented with a certificate from Pope Francis

JOURNEY

During their 50-year marriage, they had three children – Donnette, Jacqui and Georgina – and four grandchildren, Jheannel, Kamal, Destiny and Rayleigh-Mae. While bringing up their family, they continued to work hard and George owned

a sewing machine company, and Mayblin worked at Claybury hospital; until one day they both decided to leave their profession and embark

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@thevoicenews

on a new catering journey and started Plantation Inn. They have owned the Plantation Inn for over 37 years, starting as a Caribbean res-

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taurant and a takeaway and growing it into one of the most successful Caribbean catering companies in London.

On Saturday July 17, 2021, their daughters Donnette, Jacqui and Georgina planned a surprise 50th anniversary for their parents and organised it just like Mr Gray had done 50 years ago.

Mayblin said: “Everything was the same as my wedding day 50 years ago just like my father had planned for me and my husband.

“Now my children have come and done the same for me.”

They renewed their vows at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church and were presented with a certificate from Pope Francis to acknowledge their 50 years of marriage.

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AUGUST 2021 THE VOICE | 31

News feature

Black diversity: We are not all the same T

Removing the “acting black” tag is a vitally important process in the push for diversity. By Terence Channer

HE IRONY of pushing for greater diversity and inclusion concerning black people is that the fight for diversity and inclusion is not singular.

What do I mean? If we accept that rejecting the need for diversity and inclusion pertaining to race and ethnicity is racist, then what does it mean if both black and non-black people expect black people to act in prescribed ways?

Now, it’s never good to answer a question with a question, but I think you begin to get my drift.

Black people are expected by some to vote for parties that are considered sympathetic to black causes. We are expected by some to speak with a certain accent, walk in a certain way, dress a certain way, listen to a certain type of music and generally “act black”.

It’s time to dismantle this type of thinking, as it does nothing but stifle black heterogeneity and diversity. I appreciate that many of us have moved on from this type of stereotypical thinking, but I feel there are still too many of us (black and non-black), who expect a degree of uniformity.

We need to be able to be whoever we choose, and that means walking, talking, dress-

We need to be whoever we choose to be, by doing whatever we want

ing, voting and culturally doing whatever we want. Our desire is to go hiking in the countryside hills, go open-water swimming, listen to classical music and run major companies.

When this allegation of a black person not acting black is carefully scrutinised, it is often used to suggest a black person is “acting white”.

This is where this concept becomes harmful, as white people are generally regarded as heterogeneous and one of the fundamental goals of anti-black racism is to restrict black progress by maintaining uniformity and kill off attempts at black diversity. Black diversity means true freedom.

The complaints following the January 10, 2021 BBC Countryfile segment on the Black Girls Hike Group was an attempt to kill off black diversity – the thought that black girls are not allowed to hike in the countryside and should stick to urban areas. We need to disrupt the stereotype.

Why is a poor white man just a poor man, whereas a poor black man is a poor black man? This is because the black man is acting black in line with expectations. The day when a rich black man is simply a rich man and not a rich black man, would be a great day indeed.

BACKLASH: Black Girls Hike, founded So yes, I do feel a

by Rhiane Fatinikun, left, appeared on tension between Countryfile earlier this year black homogeneity

and black heterogeneity. The frustration a lot of us have as black people is the expectation of others, including other black people, about how we should behave – that there are some prescribed rules and regulations on how we should conduct ourselves and if we do not comply with the so-called Handbook on Being Black, we are somehow “not black enough” or, worse still, a sell-out.

ASPIRING

It takes a brave black person to say in a room full of black people that they don’t like reggae music or Afrobeats or they prefer rock, baroque or classical, but this is the type of dynamic range that we should be aspiring to – namely those black people who love reggae music and those who don’t.

I love reggae music, but I should be able to embrace someone who has a different appetite for music rather than viewing them with suspicion.

This is diversity of appetite and opinion (a few months ago, I fell into the same trap by expecting someone from Colombia to love salsa music and be able to dance salsa).

Don’t worry, rich black musical traditions and culture is not going anywhere any time soon.

If we are to strive for diversity within white spaces, we need black diversity in black spaces (in fact we certainly need to push for black diversity in black spaces regardless).

The uncomfortable nature surrounding this issue is, us black folk are going to have to sit next to and speak to other black folk who we vehemently disagree with, especially politically.

There are black people in the Conservative party and although the party has not passed a single piece of anti-black racism legislation in its history, it is important, in my view, to have black people in the party.

Black people who I agree and

WE ARE ALL INDIVIDUALS: Our own beliefs and interests help make us all unique disagree with on certain political issues. You can have very different groups of black people with very differing political values, views, aims and objectives, all taking the knee for one common purpose, to eradicating racism.

We have to accept that in every post-colonial independent country in the Caribbean

presence in the party is beginning to make some headway with the Conservatives Against Racism, For Equality group.

I still believe the litmus test is whether a political party is prepared to pass primary legislation to address racial inequalities. Therefore, the black presence in the Conservative party needs to increase rather

and institutional structures that tries to sap black diversity is something we have to strive and fight for both inside and outside black spaces.

What we do have to be careful about in striving for black diversity, is black people in positions of power and responsibility being weaponised to further an “anti-black agenda”.

This is where it can become difficult to tell the wood from the trees.

You can have very different groups of black people with PROMINENT There has been much very differing political values and Africa, the class system is alive and kicking.

Therefore, don’t expect many of them atop these systems of social stratification to have as much empathy with working class black folk when they move to the UK. That ruling class mind-set is not suddenly going to disappear. Many of them will be politically right of centre – we see clear signs of this. For example, to say black people do not have confidence in the police is reductive; black Africans have more confidence in the police than black Caribbean people.

Although the Conservative party’s record on passing race discrimination legislation is embarrassing (zero out of five), some may argue that the black

than decline (the same applies to other political parties so long as black people are not turkeys voting for Christmas).

I appreciate that black turkeys don’t vote for a white Christmas and therefore black people are generally collectively bound to politically and morally eschew the self-destructive; this goes without saying.

However, there is a diverse enough range that is wide enough for black people to inhabit and thrive with differing political and moral values, views, attitudes and opinions whereby we can throw off the prescriptive shackles of “acting black”.

I fully understand that society tries to pigeonhole us, but notwithstanding the systemic

said about certain prominent black or brown political figures here in the UK and in the USA being weaponised to further an agenda that is generally not conducive to black life; such as downplaying institutional racism or the extent of racism.

At what point are they being weaponised and at what point is it simply a case of us disagreeing with their views?

One thing is for sure, however, it is that we must push for black diversity and reject the notion of “acting black” as we are not a monolith.

The son of Jamaican migrants, 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.

32 | THE VOICE AUGUST 2021

News feature

Amazing Azariah hits 100 After arriving in Britain from Jamaica as a 29-year-old in 1956, Azariah Fuller has now made it to 100 and celebrated with friends and family at his Handsworth home – in a very special hat. By Deon P Green

D

ECKED OUT in the hat he wore when he arrived in Britain during the Windrush era and his work blazer from British Railways, Azariah Fuller celebrated his 100th birthday surrounded by family and friends at his home in Wandsworth, London on Sunday, July 18.

In an exclusive interview with The Voice, Mr Fuller, who has defied all odds to reach his century, including being rescued by a firefighter and surviving COVID-19, told The Voice: “I was a hardworking man, my governors found no fault with me, all of them are now deceased,” in reference to his managers at New Cross Gate Railway station where he spent all his working life.

Mr Fuller was only aged 29 when he arrived in Britain on March 3, 1956 from Portland, Jamaica.

Despite acknowledging some loss of memory, he told The Voice newspaper that he began working with British Railways the day after his arrival, repairing wagons.

I worked at New Cross Gate all my life – it was terrible hard work Of those early days he said: “I remember working there (New Cross Gate) all my life, it was terrible hard work. I worked on the train doing maintenance all my life.”

For the duration of his career, Mr Fuller remained a stalwart of British Railway until his retirement at the age of 65 in 1986.

FALL

However, speaking of more recent events he said: “Here what happen to me now, mi lose mi memory because I get a fall in this house and I lay on the floor downstairs until the fire engine man come and take me out.”

Niece Sherine Thompson was more precise about the incident.

FAMILY FUN: Above left, Mr Fuller is flanked by nieces Peaches and Sherine during his birthday celebrations; above right, Mr Fuller makes his way to his party in the hat he arrived from Jamaica in She told us that on October 19, 2019 her uncle had a fall at his home.

“We (family members) got suspicious when he was not answering his phone.

“I raised the alarm and fire fighters were summoned; the firefighters found him unresponsive, he was there lying on

the floor for over 12 hours before being rescued by firefighters from Clapham Common.”

She added that he revived after family members began speaking to him. The accident left him in hospital for almost one month.

“Up until that time (the fall) my uncle would independently

THEN AND NOW: Left, a young Mr Fuller shortly after his arrival in Britain, and right, with his card from the Queen on his 100th birthday

@thevoicenewspaper

@thevoicenews

jump on the bus to Brixton, sit in Iceland as he was known and loved by many of the stalls and shop owners in Brixton Market, they even set a chair for him to sit. He was a part of Brixton’s community; he was a community man,” she added.

Among the many gifts he received was his work blazer and tie from British Railways, and congratulatory letter from Queen Elizabeth II, a birthday card from the Clapham Common Fire Service and a letter from Railway Pension Investment Ltd (RPMI) chief executive John Chilman which in part stated, “I am delighted to hear of your incredible achievement of turning 100 years old”.

Responding to his feelings on celebrating such a significant milestone, he said: “I am all right, I am OK. I am happy, I am climbing, many have gone, and I am still here.”

To the younger generation he said: “They need to do better than what they are doing – they are spoilt.

voicenews

“In my days the children were different. Children today are rude, talk all kind of ugly words. In our days we had our parents and we obeyed our parents, but these children nowadays do not obey their parents, they need to be obedient to their parents.”

The former party-goer could not attribute his longevity to any special food or drink – but he did say that he avoids beers as much as possible.

ANOINTED

He ended the conversation making his way down a steep stairway unaided.

Anointed and prayed for

by Pastor Gordon, Mr Fuller was surrounded by family and friends under a canopy of balloons.

He was praised as a man of kind words, very caring, generous, and observant with love for his family far and wide.

He was reminded that his name Azariah is of Hebrew origin meaning the Lord is my helper, hence his dedication and service that ensures his longevity.

www.voice-online.co.uk

2 | THE VOICE JUNE 2021

JUNE 2021

THE VOICE| 33

JUN 22 -AUG 29

2021

24 • JULY 8-14, 2021

THE WEEKLY GLEANER

34 | THE VOICE JUNE 2021

THE WEEKLY GLEANER

JUNE 2021

THE VOICE| 3

JULY 8-14, 2021 •

25

Lifestyle Rep Dat doing it big p36

Last words from Menelik Shabazz p41

FROM TROUBLED TEEN TO TV SCREEN Aaron Roach Bridgeman

This is BrukOut: It’s Spice time now p42

36 | THE VOICE AUGUST 2021

Lifestyle

Television

Rep Dat TV breaking ground

TV channel dedicated to creating content for black people, by black people hitting the airwaves

SHOWCASING CULTURE: Clockwise, from main, The Reggae Show; The MC Bushkin Show; Rep Dat TV founder Shaka Henry

Roots joins St Paul’s Carnival team

BY JOEL CAMPBELL THE TEAM behind one of Bristol’s most-loved public events, St Paul’s Carnival, announced last month the appointment of Levi Roots to the board as chair.

The multi-talented businessman, food writer and musician has been appointed for a three-year term beginning in September 2021.

He will take over from current interim chair and long-time board member Carole Johnson, who will resume her role as vice chair.

Commenting, executive director of St Paul’s Carnival, LaToyah McAllisterJones said: “We’re really excited to be welcoming Levi to the St Paul’s Carnival family. He brings with him such rich experience, his guidance and counsel as chair of the board will be invaluable.

“It’s been a tough few years for everyone living through the pandemic and after two years of not being able to put on carnival, we can’t wait to come back with a booming bass in 2022. I have no doubt Levi will play a key role in

what will be a huge celebration for everyone in Bristol.” Reflecting on his appointment, Roots said: “I can’t wait to get started. I have a longtime love for Bristol, having sold my sauce here in the early days. Carnival culture has always been central to my experience and business — it’s the perfect blend of music and food — two things I am very passionate about.

CONNECTION

“Going back to the early 1970s, Bristol, especially St Paul’s, was a regular trip for me as part of the Sir Coxsone Outernational sound system.

“My connection to Bristol continued after that with my sauce business — I was a regular at St Paul’s Carnival selling Reggae Reggae Sauce well before its launch on the BBC. Local Bristol shops in Stapleton Road supported me.

“I was also very welcomed in St Nicholas Market and I supplied many stalls including Jenny’s Caribbean takeaway and other shops in Clifton.

When the sauce was eventually launched in 2007, St Paul’s Carnival was one of the first carnivals to invite me to play live with my band.”

@thevoicenewspaper

BY JOEL CAMPBELL

F

INALLY, A TELEVISION channel dedicated to the type of genuine organic content for black people, by black people, but not limited to black people.

Representing UK culture, Rep Dat TV launches in August and the organisers have told Lifestyle it has a been a long and winding road to this point, but they are proud of what they are about to roll out.

Launching on ROKU and Africa’s largest OTT platform AVO TV this month, Rep Dat TV will also be available on Freeview, with plans afoot to be on Samsung Play TV in autumn 2021.

The channel will feature diverse programmes representing the culture of black British lifestyle and the impact it’s had on the UK and the rest of the world.

With more than a decade of entertaining their audience through cutting edge music and online cult TV shows, to pro-

@thevoicenews

through its diverse pro“Rep Dat TV will groups gramming. shows across the unite talented RepPopular Dat TV ecosystem already include the likes of The Balcony content (Season 1, 2 & 3 — Sky, Amazon creators who Prime, SBTV), The MC Bushkin Show (Sky), One Mic (Season 1, represent the 2 & 3 — Sky) and Sounds System Culture (Sky, Amazon Prime). diverse and unique culture VISION A spokesperson said: “This has of black Britain” been a vision and plan in the viding engaging and thoughtprovoking content to channels such as BBC Three and Amazon Prime, Rep Dat TV is strategically placed amongst the giants of the digital and satellite distributors, reaching audiences from the millennial and Gen Z to the traditional satellite audience, establishing an unrivalled space within the industry.

In addition to developing compelling content, Rep Dat TV told Lifestyle they look forward to strengthening their relationships with and providing a platform for British content creators, community leaders and social rights

voicenews

works for over 20 years.

“To create a platform that brings the communities together and represents the culture. Rep Dat TV will unite talented content creators who represent the diverse and unique culture of black Britain, with an audience that has been long overdue a channel which brings balance to the stereotypes and representations we see in mainstream media and showcases us to the world.”

Rep Dat TV launches on ROKU and Africa’s largest OTT platform AVO TV on August 2 and will be available on Samsung Play TV this autumn

www.voice-online.co.uk

AUGUST 2021

THE VOICE | 37

Lifestyle

Television

From a troubled teen to a popular TV presenter

Aaron Roach Bridgeman reflects on the tough upbringing which has moulded him into the media star he is today

BY DARELL J PHILIP

G

ROWING UP on the streets of Harlesden, north west London, Aaron Roach Bridgeman never imagined he would be in the position he now finds himself.

Raised by his Barbadian and Dominican parents, Aaron is a highly popular television and documentary presenter.

His list of interviewees is a who’s who of A-Listers in the entertainment world, from platinum-selling American artist and Fast and Furious actor Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges, multiple Grammy award-winning artist Kelly Rowland, to world record Jamaican sprint legend Usain Bolt and Britain’s very own highly sought-after actor Idris Elba.

From his presenting debut in 2012 on SB.TV – the UK’s biggest online youth platform with over 700 million views and 1.2m subscribers – to his hard-hitting documentaries such as Channel 5’s Vigilante Street Justice, about people taking the law into their own hands, and the Broadcast Digital Award-nominated You Match the Description: Stop and Search for the BBC, Aaron has proved himself to be a force to be reckoned with in the TV presenting world.

But he is under no illusions

ROLE MODEL:

“I grew up in Harlesden which, although being a relatively small borough, had the worst gun and knife crime in London”

Aaron Roach Bridgeman is living proof that a tough background shouldn’t hold you back;

inset below left, on the set of Unmuted with co-host Remel London

as to how different it could have been when remembering his turbulent teenage years.

“I grew up as a teenager in Harlesden which, at the time, although being one of the smallest boroughs, had the worst gun and knife crime in London,” Aaron began.

VIOLENCE

“In fact, Operation Trident first started as a direct response to the violence in the area that I’m from.

“I remember someone being shot in the head and killed, as well as an educational tutor my parents had booked for me being savagely beaten and robbed, all taking place outside our front door.”

As well as the notorious gun crime in the area, Aaron witnessed stabbings, friends going to jail and the death of his best friend. He was surrounded by violence and criminality which seemed hard to escape and, at one time, as an 11-year-old,

he even found himself carrying a pocket flip knife as a form of protection in response to a failed robbery attempt on him by an older youth. All these compounding experiences began to negatively impact on both his home and school life.

“I began to internalise a lot of frustration and anger related to what I was experiencing among my peer group.

“I did not respond well to parental discipline or when school teachers tried to assert authority over me because of my erratic behaviour. While I was suspended from school on numerous occasions, they really did not know what to do with me because I got good grades.”

Far from succumbing to a life of crime, violence and even jail as some of his friends had done, Aaron left school with 11 GCSEs – 10 of those grades A-C – followed by three grade Bs in his A-levels.

“I was embarrassed because the grades were so high and I did not want to come across as some nerd or my friends to feel bad and then shun me.

“But to my surprise when they found out, they were like, ‘you know Roach got 11 GCSEs’

and were celebrating. It was one of the first times I realised that achievement by one of your own could be accepted and championed with pride as opposed to being frowned upon.”

Aaron then took the decision to leave his surroundings to study at university. He chose Birmingham University be-

the ends and seen first-hand the issues which impact upon these communities including the youth, I’ve always had a passion to present documentaries on these subjects, with the intention of bringing not only awareness to those not in the know but to also offer a semblance of hope to the communities

“Where you are from shouldn’t define you. You shouldn’t let anything get in the way of pursuing your dreams” cause while it was a city away from home, it was one where he could also feel comfortable knowing that it was populated with people from his racial and cultural background.

He graduated with a degree in Media, Culture and Society before being given a break as an online presenter on SB.TV, a youth entertainment platform dedicated to media and music.

Yet while he enjoyed interviewing high-profile celebrities from the world of entertainment, he developed a real passion to move into programming closer to home.

“As one who has come from

as they share their own stories through mainstream platforms.”

Like many brought up in Caribbean households, Aaron’s parents, who were apprehensive about the career path he had taken, have slowly begun to change their thinking.

“My mother is very proud and, while my father doesn’t say much about it, as most Caribbean fathers do, I know deep down he is proud, too,” smiles Aaron.

Last month Aaron, alongside co-host Remel London, presented the second series of Unmuted, a topical entertainment show celebrating the arts and culture, with award-win-

ning British artist Emeli Sande among those to have featured in the first episode broadcast on Sky Arts on July 7. This month will also see Aaron presenting a BBC documentary on the impact within black businesses after the COVID-19 pandemic.

ESCAPING

For those young people who, like Aaron once did, feel there is no escaping where they come from to achieve what seems like an impossible dream, he has this to say: “Where you are from and what you are surrounded by can condition you, but it doesn’t define you and I’m an example of that. You should never let anything get in the way of pursuing your dreams.

“The key to success is determination, surrounding yourself with positive people and networking.

Before long you will reach your goal and find yourself in a place where you can also positively influence others within your community to do the same.”

Unmuted presented by Aaron Roach Bridgeman and Remel London is on Sky Arts every Wednesday at 10 pm.

38 | THE VOICE AUGUST 2021

Lifestyle

Theatre

Roundabout goes on tour

ON THE ROAD: Paines Plough’s Roundabout 2021 cast and creatives (photo: Rebecca Need-Menear)

Paines Plough theatre company are taking their 2021 programme around the country this summer

BY MILTON BOYCE

A

RTISTIC DIRECTORS of Paines Plough Charlotte Bennett and Katie Posner have announced the UK tour dates for Roundabout 2021, as part of this year’s programme A Promise to 2021.

The pop-up venue, which usually premieres its work at Summerhall as part of Edinburgh Festival Fringe, has announced an alternate plan for this year.

PORTABLE

The venue will premiere its four shows in rep as part of Belgrade Theatre’s Coventry UK City of Culture 2021 from July 27 – August 8, before touring to Northern Stage in Newcastle and then heading to south London, popping up in Slade Gardens, Brixton from August 19 to 29. Tickets for Roundabout: Brixton are on sale via the Paines Plough website.

The award-winning, portable, in-the-round auditorium will then tour across the UK to cities including Salford, Ramsgate, Doncaster, Lincoln and Bournemouth throughout the autumn.

The line-up of four world premieres includes a new musical

by Chinonyerem Odimba (Princess & The Hustler, Medea) — Black Love, with music by Ben and Max Ringham, which will

“Paines Plough are planning to partner with food banks across the tour to support those affected by the pandemic” be co-directed by Chinonyerem Odimba and Katie Posner, in association with Tiata Fahodzi.

This will play in rep with Chris Bush’s (Steel, The Changing Room) new play Hungry, a play about food, love, class and grief in a world where there’s little left to savour, and Phoebe EclairPowell’s (Fury, Epic Love and Pop Songs) new family show Really Big And Really Loud, both directed by Katie Posner.

Paines Plough’s 2019 playwright fellow Frankie Meredith will also present May Queen — a coming-of-age story about a young woman from Coventry on a quest to find her place in her city and in the world, directed by 2021 co-artistic director of Belgrade Theatre Balisha Karra.

Balisha was Paines Plough’s trainee director in 2018. The season will be part of Belgrade Theatre’s Coventry UK City of Culture 2021 Programme.

Black Love, Hungry and Really

Big and Really Loud will be performed in rep by Nathan Queeley-Dennis, Leah St Luce, Eleanor Sutton, with Yasmin Dawes joining as the central character in May Queen. The 10-day Roundabout: Brixton programme will also include performances from visiting companies and artists including Rashdash, Nouveau Riche, Bonnie and the Bonnettes, Sukh Ojla and Sindhu Vee. Roundabout lands in Brixton in partnership with Lambeth Elevate and will host a series of community events and as well as Paines Plough’s big, loud activity programme for young people in connection with Really Big And Really Loud from August 23-27.

VOICES

Paines Plough are planning to partner with food banks across the Roundabout tour to support those most affected by the pandemic and, alongside family show Really Big And Really Loud, they plan to work with young people across the country to deliver an engagement programme encouraging them to use their voices after over a year kept away from friends and peers.

Roundabout is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and has been additionally supported by the Theatre’s Trust. The Brixton Season is supported by the London Borough of Lambeth through #LambethELEVATE.

JUNE 2021

THE VOICE| 39

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40 | THE VOICE AUGUST 2021

Lifestyle

Stage

Liberating Ancient Egypt

TWO’S COMPANY: Joan Iyiola and Ashley Zhangazha on stage during a Changing Destiny rehearsal (photo: Marc Brenner)

Actors will compete each night to play key warrior king role, breaking down casting barriers in theatre

BY KAREN PALMER

R

EHEARSAL IMAGES have been released for Changing Destiny, the epic new stage adaptation of the 4,000-year-old Egyptian poem about the Warrior King Sinuhe, written by Booker Prize-winner Ben Okri.

Directed by Young Vic artistic director Kwame Kwei-Armah and vividly brought to life with design by acclaimed architect Sir David Adjaye, this radical in-the-round staging of one of the earliest-known literary texts explores the essence of humanity and the complexities of immigration.

Across the performance run, cast members Joan Iyiola and Ashley Zhangazha will share the role of Sinuhe, with a game played on stage at the start of each performance dictating who will play the role in that show.

VIVID

Kwei-Armah said: “Immersing ourselves in the Ancient Egyptian culture from which this story was born, and realising a thousand characters with just two actors, has resulted in the company exploring the spiritual and the physical across a spectrum of gender, age and form.

“This has led to us liberating the casting entirely; deciding on the night which characters will be played by either actor.

“It has resulted in the company exploring the spiritual and physical across a spectrum” “Working with a mechanism of chance vividly emphasises the liveness of each show — something I know so many of us have missed this last year.

“I look forward to welcome audiences into this world we have created, based on a story written over 4,000 years ago which speaks precisely to today.”

Changing Destiny is writ-

ten by Okri and directed by Kwei-Armah, with set and costume design by Adjaye and Adjaye Associates, lighting design by Jackie Shemesh, sound design by XANA, projection design by Duncan McLean, composition

by Tunde Jegede, movement direction by Rachael Nanyonjo, fight direction by Yarit Dor, with Jerwood assistant director

Khadifa Wong and Boris Karloff trainee assistant director Xanthus.

Changing Destiny is the first show to be broadcast through Best Seat in Your House, the Young Vic’s immersive multicamera broadcast experience.

Further information, including streaming ticket information, will be released in due course.

Captioned performance: August 5, 7.30pm Relaxed performance: August 17, 7.30pm Audio-described performance: August 19, 7.30pm Tickets for performances of Changing Destiny are on sale now, starting at £10

AUGUST 2021

THE VOICE | 41

Lifestyle

Film

‘Our story is vital for us’ Filmmaker Menelik Shabazz talks about black activism in the 20th century and how film can promote healing

BY MIRANDA ARMSTRONG

W

ITHIN A couple of decades of arriving in Britain from Barbados aged five, Menelik Shabazz was in the vanguard of developing independent black British cinema.

His filmography was broad and varied, capturing significant moments of London’s history as well as intimate aspects of life within African-Caribbean heritage communities. In April 2021, Shabazz joined Miranda Armstrong online from his home in Zimbabwe for an extremely rare interview. Their conversation was wide-ranging, covering the historical and ongoing importance of documenting our stories, the benefits of independent filmmaking and the ways in which racism in Britain has impacted on the production of work by black artists.

MA: What do you remember about 20th century London?

MS: When I first came to the UK everything seemed to be colourless. It went from the days of fog when you could hardly see beyond five feet and of people eating chips out of newspaper, to a London that became very multicultural and colourful. Not just with us but other cultures coming in. By the end of the 20th century, England was a very vibrant place with multicultural influences, but that trend of racism was still very much there, it kind of weaved its way through.

MA: The city could be mistaken for a multicultural utopia if you’re not aware of certain things.

MS: Yes, my thought is that it’s a very deceptive place. The UK and London can do your head in. It gives a sense that doors are open and we’re all equal. Then

“Those rebellions showed what we were feeling and how we wanted our lives to matter” when you get to the door it locks in your face.

I think of the actress Cassie Macfarlane [who played Pat in Burning an Illusion], who was amazing in the film. You’d think she was going to move on and become an important actor of her generation, but nothing happened for her. What does that do to your head?

Same with me, I thought that when I made Burning, the doors would open for me. I use those examples to show the head spin that London and the UK can cause you as a black person.

MA: Burning an Illusion and Blood Ah Go Run were films made in the present, but you also returned to that same period in Lovers Rock, which you made during the 2010s. What is it about that period of the late 1970s and early 1980s that is so important?

MS: We were the rebel generation, we were the generation that said no to racism, fought and resisted it, whereas our parents were more compliant. There was also realisation that most people didn’t know about our generation because the media was not covering our experiences beyond conflict or riots. I wanted other generations to know we were here and this is what we did.

MA: There were a lot of rebellions from during the 1980s. Do you think there is also some resonance of that time with the Black Lives Matter movement?

MS: Certainly, because we were m a k i n g the same statement in 1981, we were saying black lives matter.

When the police were arresting untold numbers of young people, the stop and search and all of that, we were saying that and so I think it’s a continuation, but we just didn’t have that term at the time. We did have more of a sense of community and collectivity, maybe because we understood that we were the out-

siders, and so we had to fend for ourselves. There was also the knowledge that South Africa was still under apartheid and that there were struggles going on around the world, so it was a more politicised era in that sense.

There was a simmering feeling underneath that we were being discriminated against, and the police would trigger emotions with the things they did. Those rebellions showed what we were feeling and how we wanted our lives to matter to the system.

MA: Some of your work shows the challenges that black people faced during the late 20th century in urban Britain. For you ,what was the purpose of capturing those moments on film?

MS: It’s very important that we document our history, and we don’t do enough of it. We’re often tied into trying to get our work through the broadcasting systems, then we end up not getting anywhere.

With films like Blood Ah Go Run, I wasn’t going to the BBC asking them to give me money or to shoot the [Black People’s Day of Action] march. It is there for people to see only because I decided to do it. The existence of these films highlights the need for more documentation of our story, which is very colourful, very beautiful, very sad and very uplifting, it has all elements in it. Our story is vital for us, but it’s also vital for British society to know what we are about.

MA: Do you think independent filmmaking is the best option for aspiring black filmmakers or do you think things are beginning to change?

MS: I don’t think mainstream television is interested in changing narratives. I had that experience when I did a film called Breaking Point for ATV, which was a mainstream channel. I was about 23 years old, and I was one of the first black directors to be in that chair.

I went in there thinking that TV had a role to play in educating people. But they put a disclaimer at the beginning of the film which said “this film was made by a black director about people’s feelings”, which was a terrible thing to do. The mainstream can never really satisfy our needs because our authentic voice can never really come through. That’s because it is powerful, and that is not what the mainstream media is interested in. The price is that

VOICE MATTERS: Menelik Shabazz, also below left, said it was important for British society to understand the black community and hear the stories people have to tell

the wider society doesn’t get to understand who we are, and we don’t even understand ourselves.

MA: I feel that Burning an Illusion is under-celebrated. Do you think it’s been under-recognised due to racist sexism?

MS: I think black women in cinema have had a hard time, and especially women with dark skin, which is exactly why I cast Cassie Macfarlane, she was perfect.

the documentary are incredibly rich, how did you go about having those conversations?

MS: Lover’s Rock was an organic film in a lot of ways. I bought the comedy element into it because I was thinking ‘how do I make it different and not just a talking head documentary?’ It was very organic in that people just came into my orbit at that moment, Angie Le Mar, she just came into my orbit and Robbie Gee did as well, so it

“The love many of us experience is fragmented love, because that’s what has been passed down” I think even to this day there are issues around depiction of black women. Growing up, the backdrop to my consciousness was the Black Power era.

I was educated by bookshops and that gave me an evolved perspective about women, the dynamics between men and women and the need for us to be transformed. That fed into Burning an Illusion. I always wanted my work to reflect the best of how we could be, to challenge viewers and to show that women are important.

MA: I’d like to talk about The Story of Lover’s Rock. The interviews in

all kind of just evolved.

MA: One poignant thing said was that on the Lover’s Rock scene young men sought out a close dance because they weren’t getting hugs at home. Do you think aspects of black family life need further exploration in film?

MS: Absolutely. The next film I did after that was the documentary Looking for Love, which dealt with the issues that we are confronted with: emotions, pain and healing. It explored a deeper issue, that we have a serious need for love in our community, loving of self principally. The self has been

destroyed in many ways and we cover it up. Self-love and love within families is very important, but you can’t love your family if you don’t love yourself. The love many of us experience is fragmented love, because that’s what has been passed down.

MA: You’ve spoken about the need for community healing, do you think film can aid healing?

MS: Definitely, because we respond to it. I was very happy to see the film If Beale Street Could Talk. To me, it’s beautiful because it showed warmth and love between two black people, which you rarely ever see on screen.

The media can play a tremendous role. We’ve come to perceive love through this westernised notion, but love is far more. That’s what we’re not taught, how it can transform your experience, how it can heal. Love is the most powerful source we have.

This interview has been condensed and edited for brevity.

Menelik Shabazz was interviewed as part of the Leverhulme Trust-funded research project Archiving the Inner City. Miranda Armstrong is a writer and academic researcher at the University of York. For more information visit mirandaarmstrong.com.

42 | THE VOICE AUGUST 2021

This is Brukout!

by Seani B

Spice all set to reign

The Queen of Dancehall’s debut album could be the crowning glory in her dazzling career

I

T WAS in September 2019 that I saw a picture of Spice and Shaggy surface on social media as they sat down with executives from VP Records.

This was the very same VP that Spice had been feuding with publicly. It made me think, “What the hell is going on here, what’s Shaggy up to?”

The reason for this feud was fuelled by what Spice had deemed as a lack of support since signing in 2009 with reggae and dancehall’s main label and distributor.

During that time, the ramping shop star had delivered one of the biggest songs of her career, So Mi Like It, which she released in 2014. She didn’t stop there, continuing with a barrage of big songs to position her with the coveted title of The Queen of Dancehall.

But it was her performance at the Redbull Culture Clash in London in 2016 that really announced Gracie to the wider world. Yet even with all of this, there was no album to be seen or heard.

Not to be discouraged, Spice continued in her relentless work that she is known for and ended up being cast in the popular celebrity reality TV show Love and Hip Hop. Of course, her brash Jamaican hard-core style on the Atlanta-based show was going to make her stand out, which it

“It is Spice’s time. We are trying to bring her to those who don’t know her” did, and further propelled her into the star we know her to be.

But still no album!

Fast forward and with all her hard work and persistence and the negotiating skills of Mr Bombastic, we are finally edging closer to actually seeing the release of Spice’s debut album Ten. Originally scheduled to be released on July 30, it got pushed back to August 6 which, coincidentally, is her birthday and Jamaica’s independence. Could this be a good omen?

Ahead of it hitting the streaming sites, I was lucky enough to get an early listen to the album, which was aptly named after the amount of years Gracie has been waiting for this project to actually happen.

Ten is executively produced by chief negotiator Shaggy and I was interested as to why he wanted to take on this task.

“I am a fan, and was surprised that she didn’t have a body of work out for her fans.

Part of the agreement with VP

was that I would produce it, that’s as part of the leverage, Spice was totally open to experiment.”

The intro shows that experimentation and throws you into a completely different world of Spice – the American drumlinestyle production with Spice in full cheerleader mode!

It’s Gimme a S. Gimme a P, and if you never knew her story of the struggles and hardship, she breaks it all down for you in this song.

BANGER

The next few tracks bring you back to a familiar sound that you know from the Queen of the Dancehall, and this is where the summer banger featuring Shaggy and Sean Paul sits comfortably.

Go Dung Deh has seen Spice reach platforms such as UK breakfast TV and the late night American chat show with Jimmy Kimmel, with the help of the two powerhouses of the industry sitting proudly alongside her in full support.

Sean Paul told me: “It is Spice’s time.

“We are trying to bring her to people who don’t know about her. I mean we just did Wendy Williams and she never know ‘bout her. She never knew she had such a great career in dancehall.”

Track number six caught my attention because once again you hear Spice show her lyrical skill which you would know if you are a fan of her grassroots stage performances where she always displays it – she can go toe-to-toe with anyone.

Po Po talks about the injustices that many of us have witnessed black people suffer at the hands of the police.

This Black Lives Matter song is even more striking because her young son Nicholas shows that he could follow in mum’s footsteps with a perfectly delivered verse.

My favourite track on the album has to be Don’t Care which visits the classic from reggae group The Techniques. If Shaggy was trying to find that crossover reggae hit, then I think this could be it.

Many don’t realise the sweet vocal that Spice actually has,

@thevoicenewspaper

ALL THINGS NICE: Shaggy and Spice, also inset left, are proving to be a winning combination which is perfectly blended with an old time DJ style for this great song.

I can’t wait to see the video for this one!

The album continues with a blend of pop crossover tracks and some more favourites like Frenz that has already seen the number one spot in a few dancehall reggae charts.

Another track that caught my

@thevoicenews

attention was Different Sh*t, which sees Spice alongside long-time Shaggy collaborator, Mellisa Musique.

POLISHED

This R’n’B-fused track is very typical of the polished sound of this album coming from The Ranch studios.

The balance of rough and smooth, core and mainstream

voicenews

seems to be met and Shaggy agrees with that sentiment.

“There’s enough dancehall and hard-core elements on there to please that audience.

I think they’ll be open-minded and ready to see her take that next step.”

Only time will now tell if Ten can do the right thing and take The Queen to her deserved worldwide royalty status.

www.voice-online.co.uk

Lambeth-Covid19-Voice AD-V1-PRINT.pdf

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It’s not over yet Over 1,000 people a week in Lambeth are getting Covid-19 You can help: get vaccinated • test yourself often • access the Lambeth support to self-isolate Lambeth.gov.uk/self-isolate-help

THE VOICE| 43

44 |

THE VOICE JULY 2021

Lifestyle

Charity walk

Walk and talk for prostate cancer

D

ESPITE THE threat

of thunderstorms on Sunday 25th July, the community turned out to walk and talk in the fight against prostate cancer – the silent killer that is affecting our men.

They were joined by many prostate cancer survivors including Sir Gordon Greenridge MBE, one of the greatest West Indian cricketers of all time, and Weininger Irwin, the first champion of ITV’s Gladiators. Both are strong campaigners to raise awareness and encourage all men to get tested.

Comedian Robbie Gee, dressed as superman, spoke of his unwavering support, and kept high spirits as he joined the walkers around the trail.

Dawn Butler MP congratu-

lated the walkers and gave her commitment to do her part to boost awareness and support prostate cancer initiatives.

Some 35 prostate cancer sufferers were among the participants who walked, talked, and shared their stories to provide emotional support for each other. Mothers, daughters, granddaughters also join ed in to remember and celebrate the lives of loved ones they lost.

The second Walk and Talk for prostate cancer event is being planned for Sunday, August 22 in Brockwell Park in South London. For further information email walk&talk@errolmckellar. com or call 07850 317 995.

These events are hosted in collaboration with Errol McKellar Foundation, JN Bank UK and The Voice.

Walk & Talk

for Prostate Cancer

KEEP GOING

You’re almost there

I’ve Got This – so should you!

Education programme for marginalised sections of society is already proving to be of great value

BY DR AMBROZ NEIL

A

RE WE all in this together? This is an important question that underpins the reality that whilst nobody is immune from contracting COVID-19, how well we fare depends on pre-existing conditions that are not only medical but social, economic or racial.

A range of evidence from various sources indicates marginalised sections of society, namely those from black, Asian and others, are suffering disproportionally from the impacts of the virus.

Let us focus on education.

All children have spent far less time at school; the extent of

teaching has been patchy; the realities associated with on-line learning as the principal method have highlighted that children learn far better face-to-face.

LOWEST

A House of Commons briefing paper in 2020 reported that across the black ethnic group in 2018/19 only 59 per cent of pupils attained a standard pass in English and maths GCSE (grades 9 to 4, broadly equivalent to the old A* to C grading) – the lowest rate for a major ethnic group. It is expected that given the many social and economic challenges that children from black, Asian and other minority groups face, future data is likely to show a deterioration of this already poor comparative achievement.

In response, Alexander Part-

ners has used its experience and expertise in developing teaching and learning materials for poorly resourced communities and children within the UK and overseas who are routinely home educated to develop a series of materials – ‘I’ve Got This’.

‘I’ve Got This’ has been tested using qualified teachers who are also homeschoolers, and homeschooled children. When asked to rate against learning material they presently use, ‘I’ve Got This’ is reported to be 40 per cent more beneficial for homeschooled and independent learners.

Dr Ambroz Neil is the main consultant of Alexander Partners and co-chairperson for the charity, Education Otherwise. ambroz@ alexanderpartners.org.uk/www. alexanderpartners.org.uk

AUGUST 2021

THE VOICE | 45

Lifestyle

Events

Medical ethics in focus Mojisola Adebayo’s Family Tree, which explores the story of a woman whose cells were cultivated after her death, is one of the key events at Greenwich+Docklands International Festival

A

S TICKETS go on sale for Greenwich+Docklands International Festival (GDIF), Actors Touring Company (ATC) announces the creative team for one of this year’s festival highlights, Family Tree by Mojisola Adebayo, in an outdoor performance of this work-in-development, created especially for FESTIVAL.ORG (producers of GDIF).

Directed by ATC’s artistic director Matthew Xia, this site-responsive outdoor production is designed by Sandra Falase (J’Ouvert, Romeo and Juliet), with music by Fran Rivers (Evening Standard Future Theatre Fund Award winner, 2021; Othello) and movement by Vicki

the story of Henrietta “Adebayo has spiration Lacks, an African American woman, whose cells were harcreated a vested and cultivated without her consent after her death play which from cervical cancer in the is fearless, 1950s. brutally SPRINGBOARD honest, The so-called HeLa cells have been vital to studying disease hilarious and and have even contributed to the development of the COVultimately ID-19 vaccines. transformative” Using the Lacks story as a Igbokwe (founder and creative director of Uchenna Dance, mass movement choreographer, Olympic & Paralympic ceremonies).

Family Tree takes as its in-

springboard, the work is a powerful exploration around the themes of ethics in healthcare, racism, the environment and a woman’s right to autonomy over her own body.

This outdoor staging of Fam-

Venue: Charlton House and Gardens, Charlton Road, SE7 8RE (outdoor) Dates: August 27-30 Performances: August 27 – 7.30pm August 28-30 – 2pm and 7.30pm Booking: festival. org/whats-on/gdiffamilytree/

The talent behind the production...

MOJISOLA ADEBAYO is a British-born, Nigerian/Danish performer, playwright, director, producer, workshop leader and teacher.

She has worked in theatre, radio and television, over the past two decades, performing in over 50 productions, writing, devising and directing over 30 plays and leading countless workshops, worldwide, from Antarctica to Zimbabwe. Publications include her plays Moj of the Antarctic: An African Odyssey, Muhammad Ali and Me and Matt Henson: North Star which are available in Mojisola Adebayo: Plays One (Oberon); 48 Minutes for Palestine in Theatre in Pieces (Methuen); The Theatre for Development Handbook with John Martin and Manisha Mehta, (available through pan-arts.net); and several academic chapters. Mojisola Adebayo: Plays Two (Oberon), featuring STARS, I Stand Corrected, Oranges and Stones and The Interrogation of Sandra Bland, was published in 2019. Mojisola is an associate artist with Pan Arts, Black Lives, Black Words and Building the Anti-Racist Classroom, a visiting artist at Rose Bruford College and Goldsmiths,

and a lecturer at Queen Mary, University of London. She recently completed her first commission for the National Theatre (Britain) entitled Wind Rush Generation(s).

MATTHEW XIA one of the busiest and most exciting directors in the UK, has led Actors Touring Company since 2019. He is a former associate artistic director of Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester; director in residence at Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse; and associate director of Theatre Royal Stratford East. He is currently an associate artist at Nottingham Playhouse. Matthew is a founding member of Act for Change, a trustee of Artistic Directors of the Future and Cardboard Citizens.

SANDRA FALASE is an interdisciplinary artist. Their theatre credits include J’Ouvert (Theatre503 & Sonia Friedman Productions); This is Black (Bunker Theatre); Romeo & Juliet (Orange Tree Theatre) and Living Newspaper (Royal Court). Films include Signs and Brain in Gear. Sandra has worked on various exhibitions for the ICA, Tate and Afropunk 2018.

FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS: Alleyne Dance; below left, Black Victorians

ily Tree is presented by ATC, FESTIVAL.ORG and Young Vic from the co-commission by ATC and Young Vic, for seven performances only, as part of the development process for a full theatre run in 2022.

Xia said: “Mojisola Adebayo has created a play which responds to the present moment whilst holding historical malpractice to account.

“It’s fearless, brutally hon-

est, at turns hilarious, and ultimately transformative.

This ritualistic celebration is our way of uplifting, remembering, and learning from these women who were used in the name of medical advancement.”

46 | THE VOICE AUGUST 2021

Sport TOP SPORTS COVERAGE 24/7 VOICE-ONLINE.CO.UK/SPORT

OF SPORT NEWSPAPER

WORLD CUP OF UNITY Rugby League tournament organisers still hoping everything will go according to plan

By James Aldred

A

FTER MONTHS of rumours and speculation, tournament chief executive Jon Dutton recently confirmed that this autumn’s Rugby League World Cup 2021 (RLWC2021) will go ahead.

A massive spanner has since been thrown in the works, with Australia and New Zealand announcing on July 22 they were withdrawing from the competition because of their concerns over the rising number of COVID cases in the UK. But talks are now ongoing in the hope that their decision can be reversed, or if the tournament should continue without them.

While those discussions are taking place, it’s business as usual for the World Cup staff, who are continuing to work as hard as ever. Organising a major sporting event is difficult enough, not least in the midst of the global pandemic.

Faced with the troubles of COVID testing, travel and more, it’s obviously been a challenging time for the RLWC2021 team, but there are still high hopes their hard work and adaptability will pay off in October.

“Work comes with challenges all the time,” World Cup commercial director Jonathan Neill told the Voice of Sport. “It’s

“Our strategy from the start is driven by the ideas of equality and inclusivity” been hard to second guess the problems the pandemic poses.

“We’ve needed time, but we’ve used the roadmap set out by the UK government and the developments regarding international travel and quarantine arrangements to keep our plans in check.

CONFIDENT

“We’re confident now that with three months or so to go, we’re going to be able to have full stadiums and we’ll be able to provide the safest environments for the teams that will be taking part in the men’s, women’s and wheelchair tournaments.”

Like many sports fans, Jonathan was captivated by last month’s men’s European Championships. In addition to the action on the pitch, Jonathan believes the tournament brought several nations together, a notion he hopes will be true of rugby league’s equivalent later this year.

“Our intention and strategy

from the very start has been driven by the ideas of equality and inclusivity,” he asserted.

“Following the BBC’s commitment to show every minute of every match, we feel we have an unprecedented platform upon which to do that. The world’s eyes will also be upon us. As a nation, we embrace success and come together, like at the London Olympics of 2012 and the European Championships that have just taken place.

“With this tournament’s scale and narratives, we feel like we can achieve something similar.”

With less than three months to go, Jonathan and his colleagues are hard at work to ensure the commercial aspects of the World Cup run as smoothly as possible.

From the tournament’s sponsorship deals to its fantastic and varied merchandise, there is plenty for Jonathan to oversee, but he says a simple set of ideas is, and has always been, at the forefront of his and his team’s thinking.

“Between now and the start of the tournament, the focus is more on operational execution,” he adds. “We want to add more sponsors, get more people involved in our tiered hospitality programmes, build on our fan travel plans and experiences, and create innovative broadcast content. This is underpinned by

EYEING THE PRIZE: Jonathan Neill stands proudly at the side of the Rugby League World Cup ahead of the global event, which is scheduled to start in October

adhering to our core, corporate values. They’re about creating equal platforms, inclusivity and building a powerful social impact programme.

“These are USPs and goals that no other tournament has had and are part of the single biggest project that the sport of rugby league has undertaken.

“We want to continue the momentum we’ve built in our commercial programme, in our five key areas and in pushing these values.”

Sancho to gain Southwark’s top honour MAYOR OF Southwark Barrie Hargrove has announced his intention, if formally agreed, for England footballer Jadon Sancho to be awarded the Freedom of the Borough, the highest civic award the authority can give to an individual.

This is in recognition of his exceptional contribution to sport, and for his role in helping the England team reach the final of a major football tournament for the first time in 55 years. He has spoken out, and acted before, on racism, and exemplifies the values that Southwark Council holds in the highest regard.

Sancho, inset, who has just signed for Manchester United, was born in Camberwell and represented Southwark at the 2011 London Youth Games team, where they won the under-11s football tournament.

The scheme was designed to encourage young people to take up fun, competitive sports and activities for free in their local area and celebrated its 40th birthday in 2017.

As he grew up, the young sporting star rose through the ranks of professional football. Sancho was part of the England youth team that won the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup and made his

debut for the senior team in 2018. Now 21 years old, he has become one of the best players in Europe, playing as a winger for Borussia Dortmund and England.

INCREDIBLE

The Mayor said: “Watching Jadon play in the Euro tournament was incredible. I felt, like many residents, that he is a diamond in Southwark’s crown and we could not be more proud of him and what he achieved for this country – the team brought everyone together and gave us hope and joy when we needed it most.

“This is why I am recommending that he be considered for Freedom of the Borough, the highest accolade we can give.”

@thevoicenewspaper

@thevoicenews

Having been part of the team responsible for this year’s World Cup since 2018, there is no better person to ask than Jonathan as to why people should secure their tickets (which are now back on general sale) for this autumn.

SYMBOLISM

Much like his approach towards its commercial elements, Jonathan says fans should flock to games across all three World Cups because of their wider

significance and symbolism.

“This World Cup is a national and global celebration of unity, pride and place,” he explains.

“It’s a chance to enjoy a fantastic, post-pandemic celebration of togetherness and positive social change.

“By coming to the Rugby League World Cup, people can be part of something far greater than a sport.”

Visit: www.rlwc2021.com for more information

Update from RLWC21 “The Rugby League World Cup 2021 have held an emergency Board meeting following the hugely disappointing statement made by ARLC and NZRL. The Board conducted constructive discussions on the best way forward for the tournament and will continue dialogue with all stakeholders, including the UK Government, in the coming days.

“The well-being of all those involved in the tournament, particularly players and team officials, have been the pri-

voicenews

ority for the organisers. The Board reiterated the relentless hard work and extraordinary measures that have been taken to create a world class environment in line with other major sports events that have been successfully hosted in UK this year.

“The Board will meet again in the coming days but in the meantime will continue to concentrate its efforts on being solutions focused and achieving the best possible outcome for the tournament.”

www.voice-online.co.uk

AUGUST 2021

THE VOICE | 47

Sport

A 2020 vision

TAYLOR’S TOP TONIC

West Indies captain Stafanie excited about The Hundred - and spreading the cricket gospel

By Anshu Taneja

J

AMAICAN STAFANIE TAYLOR took over as West Indies women’s captain from Merissa Aguilleira six years ago.

A year later she led the Caribbean team to the World T20 title; when they beat three-time champions Australia in a thrilling finale.

Now, while playing for the Southern Brave franchise, she is looking to succeed in cricket’s new format, The Hundred.

Voice of Sport: Are you excited for The Hundred, and who should the viewers keep their eyes on?

Stafanie Taylor: It’s going to be very exciting seeing that it’s a new format, a lot of people are looking forward to it, including myself.

To be honest, I’m still trying to wrap my head around the rules and regulations – it’s a little bit complicated at the moment!

I guess when I get there I will know further on that aspect.

I think [England international] Danni Wyatt is definitely going

“We really need to get young players integrating with seniors” to be someone to look out for, and the young upcoming talent Maia Bouchier. I am playing with Maia at Southern Brave and I am excited to get back.

VOS: What is it like travelling and playing cricket around the world and why is playing in England so different?

ST: It’s nice to play around the world, you get to see places like New Zealand and Australia, but I think England is different because it’s colder and the ball swings around a lot more. I believe that if you can perform in England you can perform anywhere. Playing in England is definitely challenging.

VOS: Who have been your role models and players you look up to?

ST: I’ve watched Chris Gayle a

lot, but I have never spoken to him about cricket!

Every time I would talk to him it was “how you doing” and stuff not pertinent to the sport.

When it comes to how to play and how to handle the pressure, I think Daren Sammy might be that person.

I remember having that conversation about cricket; his mind is brilliant and he’s really good at motivation. Whenever I see him, I feel he is the person I would want to talk cricket with.

Sammy is the only captain to have won the World T20 competition twice. I also like Virat Kohli and the way he carries himself.

On the women’s side, I like having conversations with England’s Heather Knight. We have played together at Western Storm, and she’s a brilliant captain.

VOS: How do you think we can get more kids of a black and African background into the sport?

ST: I think if we could start in the schools, that would be good.

We should focus on how many girls we could get interested in the game. In the Caribbean

INSPIRATION: The likes of Stafanie Taylor are helping to encourage more girls to play cricket, and the introduction of The Hundred is a further way of increasing the popularity of the sport

we have Kiddy Cricket but it’s mostly boys and you only have a few girls.

If you could start from the schools where you could get more girls interested, that will

help the development of West Indies cricket. When you look at the professional players, some of us have been playing for more than ten years, and most of us are approaching retire-

ment. So we really need to get the young players integrating with the seniors so that when we do leave, there is not that much of a big gap. That would be crucial.

Our Ride helps put diversity on the right track l Inclusive Clubs funding: This is a discount for private course bookings for clubs that can demonstrate that they are working to improve diversity and inclusion in cycling. Clubs will need to allocate 50 per cent of places to underrepresented groups in cycling, including female, black, Asian, minority ethnic, LGBQTIA+ cyclists or disabled cyclists.

By Rodney Hinds HAVING PUBLISHED its first long-term strategy for quality, diversity and inclusion, Our Ride, British Cycling has announced a range of new bursaries and financial incentives at a value of £110,000 to broaden access to cycling education initiatives and transform the diversity of Britain’s coaching workforce.

All new funding streams are now open, with applications sought in particular from women and girls, those aged 14-21, and clubs looking to provide inclusive opportunities for disabled people and people from diverse ethnic or LGBTQ+ backgrounds. Additional funding is also being made available to the British Cycling regions to support this work.

Despite an increase over recent years, women continue to represent only 33 per cent of the coaching workforce. Of British Cycling’s volunteer workforce, 8.7 per cent are from an ethnically diverse community and 11.6 per cent have told British Cycling that they have a life-limiting illness or disability – compared with 17 per cent and 17.8 per cent of the general population, respectively. The new funding streams are: l Flying Start Bursary: Targeted specifically at young people aged between 14 and 21-yearsold, this bursary offers discounts of up to 70

NURTURE

FUN FOR ALL: Young cyclists learn how to ride their bikes properly and safely per cent off coaching courses for those that are supporting cycling activity, either in a club, school or community. 50 per cent of the bursaries available are reserved for women and girls. l Ignite Bursary: Created for women and girls, the Ignite Bursary offers a discount of up to 55 per cent off coaching, ride leadership and

mountain bike leadership courses which support British Cycling activity, including clubs, programmes, and events. l Club Delivery Bursary: Designed to support, retain and grow club activity with a focus on improving diversity and inclusion, applicants get a £100 discount on any formal coaching qualification.

British Cycling’s Cycling Delivery Director, Danielle Every, said: “Simply put, coaches play such a vital role to inspire and nurture riders whether coaching in schools, clubs, communities or with elite riders.

“We want to ensure that there are opportunities for anyone with an interest to start their coaching journey.

“Widening access to education and coaching has been a key theme emerging out of our recent discipline plans and is a key part of the plan to action our aims in Our Ride.

“We are delighted to start this important work straight away.”

For more information and to apply, visit: https:// www.britishcycling.org.uk/coaching/article/ Bursaries-Funding

48 | THE VOICE JUNE 2021

,

Be tHere FOr reAl 23 OCTOBER - 27 NOVEMBER 2021

Buy tickets tODAy

rlwc2021.cOm/tickets