March 25th

BUSINESS • Zenith Banking - Headquartered in London, Zenith Bank (UK) Ltd was authorised by the FSA in 2007 and has embraced and promoted online banking. You can access a range of banking services such as Cross Border Trade Finance, a full range of Treasury Services and Family Office and Wealth Management. https://www.zenith-bank.co.uk/why-us/ • Lynch & Mason - Made In Britain with subtle classic designs and luxury fabrics, Lynch & Mason was created to meet the demands of the tall, confident, well-groomed gentleman. By concentrating on a small distinctive staple collection every season, Lynch & Mason garments exude & maintain effortless style. https://www.lynchandmason.com/ • Bokit’la (Guadaloupan street food) - Bokit’la is the first french Caribbean street food based in London. Sharing a taste of Guadeloupe by preparing freshly baked dough, known as Bokit. Seriously, check them out. The food is amazing and the owners are very very friendly! https://www.bokitla.com/ • Antidote Street - Born out of a desire to revolutionise black hair and skin products in the UK, Antidote Street is an online platform offering a curated selection of hair and grooming products. They also provide useful tips, advice and product reviews via their blog. https://antidotestreet.com/ •XSandy’s Hair and Beauty - A wholesale and retail hair distributor, founded by Sandra Brown-Pinnock, creator of the “Xsandy’s” brand of hair extensions offering a selection of hair, body and men’s grooming products as well as hair extensions and wigs. Worth mentioning that Xsandys’s is the only black-owned hair and beauty store in South East London! Well done Sandra, this is very inspiring! https://xsandyshairandcosmetics.co.uk/ EVENTS • Chris Rock (Thursday 12 May 2022, Starts: 8:00pm) - Grammy and Emmy Award-winning comedian, actor, director, writer and producer, Chris Rock, has announced his highly anticipated return to live comedy in the U.K. with his Ego Death World Tour 2022. Lauded by peers and critics alike, Chris Rock is one of our generation’s strongest comedic voices. With a career spanning more than three decades, Rock has enjoyed ongoing success in both film and television. The Ego Death tour will no doubt be a cultural calendar highlight of the year – so don’t miss out! https://www.royalalberthall.com/tickets/events/2022/chris-rock/ • Master (Fri 18—Thu 24 Mar 2022,Barbican Cinemas) - Professor Gail Bishop (Regina Hall) has recently been promoted to “Master” of a residence hall, the first time at storied Ancaster College that a Black woman has held the post. Determined to breathe new life into a centuries-old tradition, Gail soon finds herself wrapped up in the trials and tribulations of Jasmine Moore (Zoe Renee), an energetic and optimistic Black freshman. Jasmine’s time at Ancaster hits a snag early on when she’s assigned a dorm room that is rumoured to be haunted. Things get worse when Jasmine clashes in the classroom with Liv Beckman (Amber Gray), a professor in the middle of her own racially charged tenure review. As Gail tries to maintain order and fulfil the duties of a Master, the cracks begin to show in Ancaster’s once-immaculate facade. https://www.wearelewisham.com/event/05fest/ • Secrets of Soho, Black History Walk - This special walk delves into an amazing depth of African/Caribbean history between Soho Square and Russell Square: It features: Ancient African civilisations Black Female entrepreneurs The Marcus Garvey connection Academia and the white curriculum Black British Civil rights activists Forgotten African genocide of the 20th century Black women broadcasters Equality in the military Mary Seacole, Walter Rodney, Ivan Van Sertimahttps://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/secrets-of-soho-black-history-walk-tickets-263680043107?aff=ebdssbdestsearch • Jitney by August Wilson (09 June - 09 July, The Old Vic) - ‘It don’t always turn out like you think it is. You don’t always have the kind of life that you dream about. You know what I mean?’ Jim Becker and his unlicensed drivers take the people of Pittsburgh Hill District where regular taxi cabs won’t – healing old wounds and tearing new ones as they pass the time in a condemned taxi rank between pick-ups. Directed by Tinuke Craig (The Color Purple) and following an acclaimed run at Leeds Playhouse, August Wilson’s (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) groundbreaking modern classic explores the fragile bond between eight men as they live, love and work in a racially segregated, post-Vietnam America. Cast includes: Geoff Aymer, Leanne Henlon, Wil Johnson, Leemore Marrett Jr and Tony Marshall. https://www.oldvictheatre.com/whats-on/2022/watch-at-the-theatre/jitney • Daddy (Almeida Theatre, Sat 26 Mar – Sat 30 Apr) - A young black artist meets an older white art collector. A gospel choir emerges from an infinity pool. A mother stops at nothing to save her son’s soul. In this Bel Air tale of love and family, intimacy is a commodity and the surreal gets real. When it’s summer every day, when even is it? Danya Taymor (Pass Over) directs the UK premiere of “Daddy”, an explosive and blistering melodrama from Jeremy O. Harris, whose play Slave Play received a record 12 nominations at the 74th Tony Awards. "One of the most exciting new voices of his generation" - GQ on Jeremy O. Harris https://almeida.co.uk/whats-on/daddy/26-mar-2022-30-apr-2022?gclid=CjwKCAjwoduRBhA4EiwACL5RP5jtsaWxZ5MaKm0UJbZmvOEXnq5QLaqCRMgmTHuiUuOc2dX9_uTvBxoC0vcQAvD_BwE • Pauline Mayers – What If I Told You (4 April 9 April, Brixton House) - Throughout Pauline’s life, people have made assumptions about her. She’s defied these expectations at every turn, tearing up the narrative. Now, Pauline is ready to tell the world her story. Carefully balancing dance and theatre, What If I Told You immerses us in Pauline’s world. https://brixtonhouse.co.uk/shows/pauline-mayers-what-if-i-told-you/ • Celebrating Heru: Father & son relationship (Saturday 26th March 1 - 6pm ONLINE) - Socially destructive practices (racism, materialism, gangs and drug culture alongside gambling, alcoholism, poor health etc) have placed the future of black men and their families in danger. Come to discuss solutions to improve relationships with our sons so we can create wholesome families in the present and the future. An event for brothers by brothers. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/celebrating-heru-tickets-296367803077?aff=ebdssbdestsearch • Bob Marley One Love Experience (through April 18, Saatchi Gallery London) - The Bob Marley One Love Experience makes its global debut at London’s iconic Saatchi Gallery for a limited ten-week exhibition this February. This unique experience will showcase unseen Marley photographs and memorabilia whilst immersing audiences on a journey through his lifestyle, passions, influences, and enduring legacy. Fans will venture through the exhibition, greeted by different elements of Bob Marley’s multi-faceted life. The One Love Music Room will commemorate Bob Marley’s achievements through accolades and giant art installations. A multi-sensory experience can be discovered in the One Love Forest, and at the heart of the exhibition fans will be able to honor and rejoice in Marley’s musical catalogue at the Soul Shakedown Studio – a live listening experience. The Beautiful Life area will allow fans to delve deeper into Marley’s other personal joys, from football to family, whilst the Concrete Jungle and Fan Art Exhibition will be anchored by world famous artworks by Mr. Brainwash. Audiences will then be able to discover The Next Gen Room celebrating Bob’s family and legacy through the next generation. Discover and celebrate one of the world’s most beloved and unifying musical and cultural figures in this unique exhibition. https://www.saatchigallery.com/ BOOKS • Men We Reaped : A Memoir by Jesmyn Ward -And then we heard the rain falling and that was the blood falling; and when we came to get in the crops, it was dead men that we reaped' Harriet Tubman Jesmyn Ward's acclaimed memoir shines a light on the community she comes from in the small town of DeLisle, Mississippi, a place of quiet beauty and fierce attachment. Here, in the space of four years, she lost five young black men dear to her, including her beloved brother - to accidents, murder and suicide. Their deaths were seemingly unconnected, yet their lives had been connected by identity and place. As Jesmyn dealt with these losses, she came to a staggering truth: the fates of these young men were predetermined by who they were and where they were from, because racism and economic struggle breed a certain kind of bad luck. The agonising reality brought Jesmyn to write, at last, their true stories and her own. https://afroribooks.co.uk/collections/new-in-store/products/men-we-reaped-a-memoir-by-jesmyn-ward

• I've Been Meaning to Tell You : A Letter To My Daughter by David Chariandy- 'There is, as you pick it up, nothing to prepare you for its power' OBSERVER 'Quite simply, one of the most beautiful books I have ever read' AMINATTA FORNA. How do we navigate our complex histories for our children? What is our duty to share and what must we leave for them to discover? Writing to his daughter, David Chariandy asks difficult, unsettling, perhaps impossible questions - questions made all the more poignant by our current political landscape. With tender, spare and luminous prose, Chariandy looks both into his heart and mind and out to the world and humanity. In the tradition of Ta-Nehisi Coates and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, this is a book about race; this is a book about family. https://afroribooks.co.uk/collections/new-in-store/products/ive-been-meaning-to-tell-you-a-letter-to-my-daughter-by-david-chariandy • The Sex Lives of African Women by Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah- The Sex Lives of African Women uniquely amplifies individual women from across the African continent and its global diaspora, as they speak of their diverse experiences of sex, sexualities and relationships. Many of the women who tell their stories in this collection recall the journeys they have travelled in order to own their own sexualities. They do this by grappling with experiences of child sexual abuse, resisting the religious edicts of their childhood, and by asserting their sexual power. https://afroribooks.co.uk/collections/new-in-store/products/the-sex-lives-of-african-women-by-nana-darkoa-sekyiamah • If I Don't Have You (Saereta Domingo) - A captivating, sexy romance that explores the limits of love at first sight... Afro-Brazilian filmmaker Ren is recovering from a romantic betrayal. Kayla is a Black British artist and journalist keen to make her mark. Thrown together during a string of interviews in New York for Ren's latest film, they're struck by an irresistible attraction. The two surrender to one night of searing honesty and passion, which leaves them with more questions than answers about the future. With secrets lurking between them, letting their romance continue could upend the separate lives Ren and Kayla have so carefully built. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dont-Have-You-Twenty-2020-ebook/dp/B08DY9QBRW/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1647773089&sr=8-1 • The Final Revival of Opal & Nev - Opal is a fiercely independent young woman pushing against the grain in her style and attitude, a Black punk artist before her time. Despite her unconventional looks, Opal believes she can be a star. So when the aspiring British singer/songwriter Neville Charles discovers her one night, she takes him up on his offer to make rock music together. In early '70s New York City, just as she's finding her niche as part of a flamboyant and funky creative scene, a rival band signed to her label brandishes a Confederate flag at a promotional concert. Opal's bold protest and the violence that ensues set off a chain of events that will not only change the lives of those she loves but also be a deadly reminder that repercussions are always harsher for women, especially Black women, who dare to speak their truth. Decades later, as Opal considers a 2016 reunion with Nev, music journalist S. Sunny Shelton seizes the chance to curate an oral history about her idols. Sunny thought she knew most of the stories leading up to the cult duo's most politicised chapter, but as her interviews dig deeper, a nasty new allegation from an unexpected source threatens everything. PODCASTS • In Good Company Otegha Uwagba - A culture and ideas podcast covering everything from work and feminism, to race and money, hosted by bestselling author Otegha Uwagba, and featuring interviews with some of the most exciting cultural voices of the moment. https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/in-good-company/id1294215581 •Pints of Malt (HeadStuff) - Pints of Malt Podcast is brought to you by four Nigerian/Irish lads. They share their experiences growing up and living in Ireland. The podcast is full of laughs from the get go: from childhood memories to day-to-day shenanigans, there’s never a dull moment on the podcast with Femi, Kenny, Charlie and Jibbz. https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/pints-of-malt/id1455577261 RADIO • Emotional Baggage - In Emotional Baggage, psychiatrist Professor Henrietta Bowden Jones talks to four people about their experience of migration: artist Anish Kapoor, June Angelides, founder of Mums In Technology, Dina Nayeri, author of The Ungrateful Refugee, and Baroness Benjamin. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3ct3jzh FILM/TV •The Black Cop - Guardian documentary The Black Cop wins Bafta for best short film. Cherish Oteka’s film is about a former police officer who discusses his memories of homophobia and racial profiling in the Met https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/mar/13/guardian-film-the-black-cop-wins-bafta-for-best-documentary-short • Kate & Koji (streaming now on ITV hub) - Kate and Koji centres around a working-class woman who runs an old-fashioned café in a seaside town and who develops a strong, if sometimes volatile, friendship with an asylum-seeking African doctor. Okorie Chukwu joined the cast for the comedy’s second series, with an asylum seeker storyline made tragically newsworthy in light of the Ukraine crisis https://www.itv.com/hub/kate-koji/2a7658 • Young, Famous & African (Netflix)- The show follows the drama, romances and lives of a group of 30-something year old famous Africans with insane wealth living their best, most lavish lives. Set in the richest square mile in Africa in Johannesburg, the eight-episode series features 11 cast members from music stars and actresses to stylists and media personalities. https://www.disneyplus.com/en-gb/series/our-kind-of-people/2VIoVh6x8AqD • Top Boy 2 (Netflix, March 18th) - Top Boy season three landed on Netflix to almost universal acclaim. The former Channel 4 show – cancelled in 2013 – made a truly triumphant return in 2019, becoming the streaming giant's most-watched show in the UK after its release. Set on the fictional Summerhouse estate in London's Hackney, the series focuses on the lives of characters including drug dealers Dushane (Ashley Walters) and Sully (Kane 'Kano' Robinson) and has featured an impressive supporting cast over the first three seasons, including For Life's Nicholas Pinnock, Michaela Coel, Letitia Wright, David Hayman and Doctor Strange's Benedict Wong. https://www.netflix.com/title/80217669 • Movie On the Other Foot - Billy Pitcher, a London cabbie is a devout football fan and an out and out racist. An overprotective, overpowering dad constantly pushing his right-wing agenda. When his daughter starts dating a black man who doesn't agree with any of his views, it tips him over the edge. She is not fazed by her father’s antics and convinces him to attend an African church in order for him to embrace her new partners culture. Unfortunately for him, he attends on the day of 'UMBADEHDEH', a spiritual day where dreams and nightmares can come true! Billy wakes up the next morning inside a black person's body. What follows is an intelligent narrative, a comedic journey of gut-wrenching laugher, as he finds out first-hand what it's like to be Black in todays’ society and why the world is screaming ‘BLACK LIVES MATTER’! https://www.ontheotherfootmovie.com/

• Paradise - A short film based on Caribbean poet Roger Robinson’s tough but tender and ethereal poem, ‘Paradise’, visualising paradise through a distorted lens and uncovering the existential undertones of a ‘perfect’ resort life in the current climate crisis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jNS7SZBrtI

WHAT AM I PAYING ATTENTION TO? • Uk Minorities do better in reaching top jobs (Times, February 24) - Ethnic minority British workers are now more likely than their white counterparts to be employed in a professional role, research suggests as a report calls on ministers to rethink their approach to racial inequalities.The study, by the think tank Civitas, found that one in six non-white British workers were in top professional roles compared with one in eight white British workers. But the report highlighted significant variations between different groups. A quarter of British Indian and Chinese workers (24 per cent) were in the top “higher managerial and professional” classes — twice the proportion of white Britons. In contrast, only 7 per cent of black British workers occupied top roles. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/uk-minorities-do-better-in-reaching-top-jobs-bjrd7rtpn https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/feb/28/bme-career-progression-could-add-24bn-a-year-to-uk-economy • Meet Switzerland-based artist and designer Ini Archibong - Meet Ini Archibong, one of the many contemporary artists whose work is featured in “Before Yesterday We Could Fly: An Afrofuturist Period Room.” Born in California to Nigerian parents and trained in Europe, Archibong incorporates luxurious and technologically daring materials in his designs with influences from folklore, mysticism, astronomy, and music to create a distinctly futuristic aesthetic. https://www.metmuseum.org/perspectives/videos/2022/1/afpr-ini-archibong-interview WHAT I AM PERSONALLY RECOMMENDING? 1.Love Languages: Stories From A London Afro-Caribbean Barbershop (Netflix YouTube) - An Afro-Caribbean barbershop is so much more than just a place to get your hair cut. It’s a safe space for the black male community. Directed by Jason Osborne and produced by Precious Magaha. I love this short film where black men get to open up about matters of the heart, in a safe space. the barbershop. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFprzhXPtJ8 2. Uncorked (Netflix) - The film is loosely based on the life of groundbreaking sommelier DLynn Proctor and his journey to become a Master Sommelier. What makes “Uncorked” different from other wine movies is it is the first featuring a predominantly black cast, focusing solely on one man’s wine journey, played by Mamoudou Aethie as Elijah Bruener. The film was written and directed by Prentice Penny, best known as the executive producer, writer, and director of HBO’s “Insecure.” A great movie played by an excellent cast! https://www.netflix.com/title/81024260 3. A portable paradise https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvIC66Y4soU A Portable Paradise by Roger Robinson Share And if I speak of Paradise, then I’m speaking of my grandmother who told me to carry it always on my person, concealed, so no one else would know but me. That way they can’t steal it, she’d say. And if life puts you under pressure, trace its ridges in your pocket, smell its piney scent on your handkerchief, hum its anthem under your breath. And if your stresses are sustained and daily, get yourself to an empty room – be it hotel, hostel or hovel – find a lamp and empty your paradise onto a desk: your white sands, green hills and fresh fish. Shine the lamp on it like the fresh hope of morning, and keep staring at it till you sleep.