Many recent discussions I have, have usually referenced the madness that we are seeing and reading from the news. Front and centre of the discourse is the daily London body count of gun and knife crime in the capital, that has been framed at the door of the black community, particularly young black men. London itself is quickly reaching the look and feel of dystopia ala a modern Dickensien saga. As the London landscape changes, the…
On a basic human level the death George Floyd’s at the hands of serving police officers who chose to abuse their position of a duty of care to the public, and commit murder is unacceptable. The vision of a police officers knee on George Floyd’s neck have sparked Worldwide protests. People are marching to express their disgust, because this is not new; countless other have died needlessly at the hands of US police because of…
We have all heard the term institutional racism. David Jordan, director of the BBC’s editorial and policy standards, really put his foot in his mouth when responding to Nick Robinson on Radio 4’s Today programme on Friday 27th May, suggesting that everyone had misinterpreted the committee’s decision to uphold a complaint against Naga Munchetty that she had breach editorial guidelines. In trying to explain how Naga had breach BBC’s ever so high standards, when she…
A watershed in UK broadcasting, saw 22 men of African, African Caribbean descent, being interviewed on the Victoria Derbyshire programme. Cephas Williams whose idea it was to put together what is already becoming an iconic photograph of 56 British Black Men wearing black hoodies to address a debate not often aired, about how media stereotypes Black men through a lens of a dominant white culture, that has created a narrative for this group in UK…
Spent some time with Dr Patrick Hylton, author of The Role of Religion in the Caribbean and The Power and Politics of Caribbean Music. Starts this conversation talking about the Physics of Change then moves on to culture and some history of Jamaican Music. https://youtu.be/K_LJOY-RwA8
Some History Behind The Race and Immigration Construct What follows is a very short synopsis of in which I have referenced John Solomos’s, Black Youth, Racism and the State – The Politics of Ideology and Policy. Race, Immigration and Housing – The Changing Policy Narrative after Windrush Race has always been a contentious issue for the UK to reconcile. When you delve into the academic research, much can be found to extrapolate a narrative that…
Reflections on 30+ yrs of BME Social Housing The BME Housing Sector started out as a campaigning movement of community leaders seeking to address the abject poverty and social exclusion suffered by the people they represented. It’s a story of how a collective conscience, sought to organise and transition groups of people from BME backgrounds into civic service to build the foundations of organisations that are still flourishing today. Against all the odds these groups…
The irony of the Windrush saga, the momentum of the press and publicity that has unfolded over the last few weeks, can only be said to be part of God’s plan, that is if you are a believer. Here we are in the year of 70th anniversary of HMT Windrush reaching the shores of the UK in 1948, with the first cohort of economic migrants from Jamaica; a celebration that may have only reached those…
On a recent visit to Jamaica, I made effort to record some of Trelawny, rural Jamaica, where my family comes from. A interview with Hugh. M Dixon a local historian, gave an alternative insight to Jamaica’s history focusing on the ecology of the landscape, which unfolded into a comprehensive contextual narrative of early Jamaican History, Escape and Resistance of the Maroons, Roots of the early Jamaican economy, Spanish and English Wars, Caribbean migration, Atlantic Slave…
The tributes for Cyrille Regis, ex-England International footballer who died aged 59 on the morning of Monday 15th January 2018 show the greatness of the man. A torch bearer in dark times. The most handsome, and coolest of personalities, has been lauded by all as a true gentleman; a black man who showed the strength, skill and subtlety on a football pitch, when blacks were excluded from the game by racial abuse and bias in…