NOVEMBER 2020 • ISSUE NO. 1912
NEWSPAPER
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SPECIAL FOCUS
Racism in Britain today See pages 14, 18, 23, 41, 46
LEWIS HAMILTON Greatest of all time Tribute inside
NEW DIGITAL UK BANK LAUNCHED The first 100% Caribbean owned UK retail bank JN Bank, was launched in Black History Month by JN Group. In keeping with its value to support communities, a flagship branch was opened in Brixton, South London. JN Bank has started by offering savings accounts and personal loans. See pages 3 - 6 and 16
Inside
ROUNDUP
THIS MONTH
NEWSPAPER
Spotlight
News, views, stories & videos
David Olusoga says that for all its negativity, 2020 has been a year of progress p8
Family and friends continue their fight to get justice for Belly Mujinga
THE 10 MOST POPULAR STORIES ON VOICE-ONLINE.CO.UK 1. Renowned broadcaster and journalist Brenda Emmanus will leave the BBC after 28 years The Voice alumnus has spent almost two decades as BBC London’s Arts and Culture correspondent.
2. Desmond's star leaves a lasting legacy in Ghana Humphrey Barclay, producer of Desmond's star Gyearbuor Asante became a chief in Tafo, Ghana after visiting for his friend's funeral.
3. The legacy of the NHS's first black nurse
p14-15
Is race equality really on the horizon? Lawrence Davies opines p18-19 Levi Roots on Windrush, his parents, and our stories
Kofoworola Abeni Pratt's persistence on her nursing journey is explored, and Black nurses in the NHS today reflect on how she inspires them.
4. This mission to 'end Afro hair discrimination' continues
Major UK teaching unions have backed World Afro Day's campaign to end Afro hair discrimination in all schools.
5. New 50p coin celebrating Britain's diversity unveiled A new coin has now entered circulation.
6. Black women in business: Sandra Murphy, the equine industry pioneer
Sandra’s revolutionary equine product finally solves a problem that’s existed for over 850 years but she's had to overcome racism to succeed.
p25
Emma Akuwudike on how county lines drug networks are putting our youngsters' lives at risk p46 After his career in the Met, Leroy Logan has put his story to paper p54
Kia Commodore
7. Caribbean at imminent risk of major ecological disaster due to oil spill An abandoned oil tanker may cause a major ecological disaster if action is not taken.
8. OBE for Brenda Emmanus, Colleen Amos and more
Brenda Emmanus, Colleen Althea Amos and Nimco Ali have been awarded bursaries.
9. Joshua Beckford: Youngest ever Oxford University student fundraises to build Nigerian school
His father says he’s fundraising to build a school in Nigeria.
10. RIP to The Real McCoy comic Collette Johnson Friends and family pay tribute.
This issue is 64 pages
KIA COMMODORE is a personal finance guru, public speaker and is the creator of the podcast and platform Pennies To Pounds as well as being a co-host on the BBC 5 Live podcast Your Work, Your Money. Kia created the Pennies to Pounds podcast in 2019 after completing her university degree in French and Business. During her time at university she recognised that many of her friends struggled with financial literacy and how to properly manage their finances. She wanted to share her knowledge and create a platform for young people, enabling them to gain that knowledge. After just one year, the Pennies To Pounds podcast won an award for Best Podcast of 2020 at the Brown Sugar Awards, as voted for by her peers. Kia has worked hard over the last year, partnering with financial services brands such as Monzo, Barclays, and Hargreaves Lansdown to create and curate financial education content. Pennies To Pounds has also been featured on the BBC and other print media as a great podcast to listen to if you need to top tips on money management. As a black woman, Kia has not found the journey an easy one – despite the obstacles she has persevered and is well respected by her peers. Recently she was nominated by GUAP magazine as one of the top 30 young black creators in 2020. Kia hopes her own achievements will inspire other young people to be aim for excellence in what they do. Even though her podcast is still in its ‘infancy’, her hope is to continue to make exciting and engaging content for young people around financial literacy whilst simultaneously breaking down any barriers that stand in her way as a young black women. The Voice salutes Kia for her determination and commitment to young people. You can check out her Pennies to Pounds podcast online, or follow her on Twitter at @ikeeyah
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
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NOVEMBER 2020 THE VOICE | 3
News
‘At last – we’ve finally got a bank of our own in Britain’ Moment of celebration for savers and borrowers as JN Bank opens its first UK branch in Brixton By Staff Writer
J
N BANK launched to the public last month and opened its first UK branch in Brixton, south London. A moment of celebration for all and a decisive moment for the “black pound”. For far too long, black Britons have been poorly served by high street banks. For whatever reason, British banks have not treated their black savers and borrowers equitably. Former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg said so when he accused our high street banks of racism. He pointed out that firms owned by individuals of black African origin are four times more likely than “white firms” to be denied loans outright. That was nine years ago. Now, finally, a change has come. JN Group’s first bank in the UK will change high street banking forever and grow black Britons stronger economically. A bank of our own is a game changer. A bank that sees your potential rather than the stereotype. Or, as Martin Luther King Jr might have put it much more eloquently, a bank that will judge you not by the colour of your skin, but by the content of your character. For far too long, black Britons have had to jump too many hurdles in Britain to achieve their wealth. Hence the handful of attempts that there have been to start a black bank in the UK. The Windrush generation ar-
Black Britons have been poorly served by high street banks. They have not treated black savers and borrowers equitably rived in this country with hope in their eyes, believing they could make something of themselves here and that wealth sees no colour bar. But the dream was a struggle in the cold light of day. It was harder than they imagined to make ends meet from the sweat of their brow.
CO-OPERATIVE
Particularly when it came to owning your own home. No bank would lend to the new immigrants and so an informal (co-operative) system developed in which you put your money into a savings scheme together with a group of friends and family members until there was enough money for the first person on the list to buy a house. And they and the rest of the scheme’s members would continue putting in their subs every week until the next person on
BRANCHING OUT: Above and below left, the new JN Bank in Brixton, south London (photos: Marek Sikora Photography) the list had enough money to buy a house and so on and so forth. It was called the ‘pardna’ (partner) and was the original savings scheme that enabled people from the Caribbean to buy their first homes in Britain, save for a holiday, buy a car or even for funerals to bury their loved ones in the UK or back in the Caribbean.
PARDNA
Pardna brought the community together and brought the discipline of saving and some people still continue with it today. However, most of us would rather use a bank, like JN Bank which says: “Not all loans are created equal.” It was the dream of the late Messrs Dyke and Dryden, who were amongst the first self-made millionaires in this country. The two gentlemen pooled
their resources and brought a third investor, Tony Wade, into the equation and, from their base in north London, made their fortune selling Afro combs
in this country and it was much needed at the time.” Easier said than done. Dyke and Dryden got close, but the financial regulator put a moun-
It is vital that we not only welcome a bank of our own, but that we support it, too when the Afro was the thing – black and proud. They went on to become the main distributors of all black products, especially hair care and cosmetics. In their retirement, they dreamed of starting a black bank and pulled together some of the great and good of the black community to a series of meetings to see how it could happen from the ground up. Edutainer Leo Muhammad remembers those meetings: “It was the closest we have come to starting a black bank
tain in their way to climb. It proved insurmountable for all subsequent attempts also. Until JN Group came with enough capital to satisfy the banking authorities. Funds built up by its members over the last 146 years of its evolvement from the Westmoreland Building Society to the commercial bank it is today. It is so exciting to have a bank of our own and to imagine the difference it will make to us and our families and our status in this country. But it is
vital that we not only welcome a bank of our own but that we support it, too. A bank is only as strong as its members. We are the JN Bank’s members. It only takes a million of us to open up an account with the JNB, for it to become one of the most powerful financial institutions in the country. And we can still hang on to our existing bank accounts with the high street banks.
TALLAWAH
But the JN Bank needs us, small and big account holders, as much as we need it. It lickle but it tallawah compared to some of the other high street banks – but like all the others it’s online (www.jnbank.co.uk). And you know what the best thing of all is? It only took me 10 minutes to open an account. I am in – are you?
8 | THE VOICE NOVEMBER 2020
Column
2020 HAS BEEN A YEAR OF PROGRESS, HOWEVER HARD HISTORY REPEATING ITSELF: Founder of the League of Coloured Peoples, Harold Moody, complained to the BBC in 1940 about the use of racist language – but a BBC reporter used the ‘N’ word in a programme this summer
Statues have been toppled and books on race have made charts. We never foresaw COVID-19 sweeping the world, but we also never anticipated the Black Lives Matter doing the same, says David Olusoga
T
HIS YEAR, for reasons good and bad, has been a year like no other. There is a quote, attributed to Lenin, that sums up what we’ve all been through this summer. What Lenin said, or is supposed to have said, is that “There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.” In 2020 it has felt as if our society’s capacity and willingness to recognise the realities of racism suddenly expanded. One way to remind ourselves how remarkable the past few months have been is to attempt to imagine ourselves back to the first weeks of 2020, and ask what expectations we might have realistically had for the year ahead. If, at the beginning of 2020, I had been told that during the summer they would be weeks in which half of the books on the Sunday Times bestseller list would be books on black history and race I would not – for a moment – have believed them. If someone had told me that millions of young people across the world would organise thousands of marches and demonstrations in the name of anti-racism, I would have dismissed the idea as fanciful. If, in January, someone had told me that in 2020 the statue of the 17th Century slave trader Edward Colston, that had stood in the centre of Bristol for
Our society’s capacity to recognise the realities of racism expanded 125 years, would be toppled, I would have reminded them that in 2019 campaigners were unable to persuade the defenders of that trader in human flesh to even agree to a plaque, acknowledging the existence of his victims, being attached to the pedestal of which the statue stood. The events of 2020, the conversations that have taken place between friends and co-workers about the realities of racism in modern Britain, the decisions taken by thousands of institutions and companies, to examine their practices and cultures and, in some cases, commit to becoming actively anti-racist organisations – none of that was predictable or predicted at the beginning of this year. There is still a long way to go, but 2020 has been a year of unexpected progress. While it is useful to think back to our expectations of January 2020 it is
equally instructive to cast or minds back to the days immediately after the murder of George Floyd. The task of explaining these issues, and making sense of a summer of change, fell to the British news media. But in the immediate aftermath of George Floyd’s murder, as millions gathered to protest under the banner of Black Lives Matter, newspapers and television programmes repeated the same message that has been delivered to black Britons whenever they have seen parallels between their life experiences and those of African Americans.
INSPIRED
Black Britons inspired by the rise of Black Lives Matter and horrified by the murder of Floyd were told that the situation in the United States was unique and that any comparisons between British racism and American racism was both far-fetched and ill judged. “You’re not putting America and the UK on the same footing,” George The Poet, pictured left, was asked on Newsnight, a week after Derek Chauvin had killed Floyd. “Our police aren’t armed, they don’t have guns, the legacy of slavery is not the same,” he was assured. The fact that Floyd’s murder did not involve firearms and that slavery was planted in the United States by Britain, and sustained long after American Independence by British cotton traders and bankers, were facts not allowed to get in the way of the British media’s traditional gaslighting the black community. Another way the broadcast industry failed was the controversy that surrounded the BBC’s use of the ‘N’ word in two programs. Decisions that led to thou-
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sands of complaints. The producers of both programs decided that the use of the ‘N’ word was justified. That the presenters and the production teams were white, was not seen as a problem.
It matters how it’s said, why saying it is deemed necessary and who is doing the saying. We need to drive casual racist language out of public discourse, but the function of history is to remind ourselves
I do not believe there is ever a case for broadcasting historical racial language, no matter how offensive For the record I do not believe there is never a case for broadcasting historic racial language, no matter how shocking and offensive. The brutal facts of black history – of slavery and the violence of Empire – are, in my view, even more offensive. With proper warnings and framings the use of historic racial language, even the ‘N’ word can be appropriate.
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that such language was once a ubiquitous tool, used daily in the oppression and dehumanisation of black people. The ‘N’ word comes with a toxic legacy but its use and misuse by journalists and broadcasters has a history of its own. One of the ironies of 2020 was that 80 years earlier the BBC was involved in an almost identical scandal, again con-
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cerning the use of the ‘N’ word by a white presenter. In the summer of 1940 Harold Moody, the Jamaican doctor who founded the League of Coloured Peoples, complained to the BBC about the inclusion of that slur in a radio broadcast. In his letter to the corporation Moody condemned the ‘N’ word as ‘one of the unfortunate relics of the days of slavery’, describing it as ‘vexatious to present-day Africans and West Indians’. Just two days later the BBC responded. The letter read: ‘I find that our announcer was at fault. “The points raised in your letter is fully appreciated, and is one that the BBC is at pains to keep constantly in mind. “It was unfortunately overlooked on this occasion, and a reminder on the subject is being given to all announcers.” Sadly the reminder issued in 1940 was not consulted by the producers of 2020.
www.voice-online.co.uk
MARCH 2020
THE VOICE| 9
28 | THE VOICE MARCH 2020
SIMPLY THE BEST
Record breaker Lewis Hamilton: 8-page tribute edition
• Focus on the Next Racing Generation Academy • Hamilton Commission: Driving for change • Sporting Equals pay homage to the greatest of all time • The Voice: There from the start
30 | THE VOICE
NOVEMBER 2020
Northern Lewis Hamilton: News #92 special tribute
A place in history
DESTINED FOR GREATNESS: Lewis Hamilton caught the attention of peers and the media from the beginning of his career
Game-changer never doubted his dreams By Rodney Hinds
E
VEN WITHOUT breaking records, Lewis Hamilton had earned his place in history. After all, he is the chief reason that our community tune into Formula One coverage most weekends. Hamilton is a game-changer in the same way as Tiger Woods and Venus and Serena Williams. The fact that we can mention the Stevenage-born racer in the same breath as those luminaries confirms his status. I knew he had something about him even before he started accumulating multiple world titles. I first came across him at Springfield Youth Centre in the heart of east London where he visited to hand young people their annual sports prizes. He was charismatic, humble and encouraging. He left the
He was charismatic, humble and encouraging
background, can put down as a future agenda item. And he’s done all this with negative headlines and cynicism to the fore. I remember attending the British Grand Prix at Silverstone and hearing some of the barbs that came out of the mouths of some of Fleet Street’s finest.
youngsters energised, focused and starry-eyed. Trust me – they were not alone! Hamilton has since gone on to become the greatest driver of all time and no doubt he will record his 100th win sometime in 2021. But it is not just about track success. His has been a triumph over adversity, after all a black man participating, never mind winning, in an elite sport is rare. What he has done, and not just for his own community, is make Formula One an item that a young person, from any
CRITICS
I can tell you now that some of his critics have had problems with his roster of achievements but even more of a challenge with his skin. I scratch my head daily as to why Hamilton has not been the subject of a knighthood as yet. No doubt it will come, but for me, the glaring omission has been disrespectful. Many have arguably achieved a whole lot less but have been bestowed the honour. That lack of respect has not taken him off track, rather
fuelled his fire, to so speak. He has curtailed the careers of the likes Sebastien Vettel, Nico Rosberg et al as he has done the business around the world. His winning and tough-asteak mentality has seen Hamilton earn begrudging praise from the aforementioned critics to not only become the ultimate Formula One driver but also
see him establish the innovative Hamilton Commission, which seeks to give young people a leg up into the world of motorsport. I recently recorded two decades as sports editor at The Voice. Hamilton has been an essential part of those years. He and his father, Anthony, would hold press conferences
in central London often and not one would go by without The Voice getting their time and access to the champion-elect. Many of today’s sports stars start humble before their success brings on amnesia. But Lewis Hamilton has proved that he is a GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) that simply won’t be tied down!
Sporting Equals chair pays tribute to a champion as he cements win #92 Here, Densign White congratulates record-breaking Lewis STEVENAGE-BORN Lewis Hamilton won the Portuguese Grand Prix to create history. In doing so, the six-time world champion broke Michael Schumacher’s race win record with a 92nd success. The chair of Sporting Equals gives his view on Hamilton’s achievement… “Lewis Hamilton is without a doubt the greatest talent we have seen in motor racing and he is so incredibly deserving of this mantle. A true trailblazer, he has entered the history books as a record-breaker – that too during Black History Month. The significance of this victory is not lost upon myself nor I’m sure the wider black community, and while we will all celebrate this triumph, we should also take time to reflect.
FEAT
“Lewis is the first black man to achieve this feat, we should all now work together as allies to ensure he is not the last. “Racism in sport is an open secret which periodically is revisited as a topic. In light of the tragic events that occurred this summer with George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and countless others we should not let the current passion, momentum and appetite for change so quickly slide. “As chair of Sporting Equals and a gold Commonwealth Games champion for judo, I know the struggles Lewis would have faced all too well. “I commend him on his efforts to change the current state of play and improve conditions with his diversity commission, his passion for racial equality is one of the reasons why he was recognised as one of Sporting Equals’ British Ethnic Diversity Sports Awards (BEDSA) as a recipient
ROAD TO CHANGE: Lewis Hamilton on track for the Sportsman of the Year award. However, if true change is to be delivered we cannot simply rely on individual actions, we must all as a collective, as a community and its allies come together and demand change. “On June 12, 2020 I joined Sporting Equals in their call for a 20 per cent target for ethnic representation on sports boards. “We need direct and decisive action which will lead to diversity in a literal sense but also allow for the growth and development of diversity of thought. “I would like to send my heartiest of congratulations to Lewis while also asking everyone to remember none of us win, unless we all win.” Visit www.sportingequals.org.uk
NOVEMBER 2020 THE VOICE | 31
Lewis Hamilton: #92 special tribute
THERE FROM THE START
The Voice’s Joel Campbell has followed Lewis Hamilton from his early karting days – and feels privileged to have witnessed one of the best coming of age stories in the world of motorsport
I
CAN still remember walking into the fantastic McLaren Technology Centre in Woking 14 years ago, waiting to be taken to a brilliant white room where I sat waiting for the next big thing in Formula 1. In came Lewis Hamilton and the first thing I wanted to talk to him about was his love for Sizzla Kolanji. We got that out of the way and then it was onto the obvious touch points such as ambitions in the sport, how he expected his brand to transition beyond just racing, how important his dad was to his journey, etc etc. I left there in no uncertain terms about the burning desire he had to be considered a great in the sport and whenever I interviewed him again throughout the 14 years, that steely resolve and oh so firm handshake, have never wavered. Fast forward to 2020 and he is the best to ever do it. In a sport that is all about the numbers and fine margins, from the millions of pounds of investment required to run an F1 team to the hundredths of a second that can separate the drivers in a race, it was interesting to hear Hamilton dismiss them all together when asked about his mindset approaching each race. His attitude centres on the pursuit of greatness, always has done. Yet, it is the numbers which make him great and a look at them over the course of his career to date make for wonderful reading. Hamilton’s win in Portugal marked his 92nd victory in Formula One - his eighth win of the 2020 season and his first at the
He’s handled it all like a champion Autodromo Internacional do Algarve, in the debut race at the course. Of the 262 F1 races he’s been in, Hamilton has reached the podium 161 times. He is six time-world champion and if the season goes as it has, he will equal the great Michael Schumacher who finished his career having bagged seven F1 titles.
ENDEAVOURS
Hamilton’s stock this year hasn’t only risen because of his sporting endeavours, his work away from F1 in shining a light on the inequalities that blight the world, be they racism, sea pollution and most recently the police brutality in Nigeria, have all added value. It’s safe to say we’re now watching a living legend. That’s safe to say because it would be difficult for you to point towards another present day sports person doing what he’s doing and using their platform to right the world’s wrongs. Safe to say who ever is in your mind right now, has a long way to go before they are considered the best in their respective sport to ever do it. Hence why I say he is a living legend. I genuinely cherish the fact I have witnessed this period of sporting history from as close
up as I have done and nothing will stay with me more than his win in the wet and rain at Silverstone in 2008, on his way to his first title. For me that was and is the most epic race in British F1 history. I could have been at Wimbledon that day, witnessing another epic moment in sporting history, but I wouldn’t have swapped experiences for the world (and trust me, I love Wimbledon). Fans of the young driver back then will never forget the awesome rookie year Hamilton experienced and to this day there are those who believe he should of won it. Oh the thought. Maybe it’s something another rookie driver should seriously consider shooting for because only the gods know if the benchmarks Hamilton are setting now will ever be reached. Will there ever be another driver as good? Critics will point to him being in the best cars in order to amass the records he has done. I say, the best driver should be in the best car. Show me one better in his era? With the ups there have been downs. Show me another driver in the sport that has ever been racially abused? He handled that black face saga in Spain back in 2008, where he was called a “black sh*t”, in the same way he’s done everything in his career, like a champion. For me and for many, Hamilton has been a legend for some time. Nothing about this season has seen him relegated from that lofty status, if anything, still he rises.
How Hamilton passed Schumacher PORTIMAO WAS all about Lewis Hamilton, as he moved clear of Michael Schumacher on a record 92 F1 wins. But there was so much more to Hamilton’s victory, and to the very first Grand Prix at the Algarve International Circuit... • The all-time wins record was broken in Portugal for the second time – Alain Prost surpassed Sir Jackie Stewart’s 27 wins at Estoril in 1987. • Speaking of Prost, Hamilton’s win tally is now the same as Prost’s (51) and Ayrton Senna’s (41) combined. • Even before his record, Hamilton had more wins (91) than 2nds, 3rds and 4ths combined (90). Hamilton won on the 28th different circuit in his F1 career, extending a record he already held.
• Hamilton now holds the all-time records for most wins, podiums, points, races led and pole positions. • Hamilton extended his streak of points finishes to 45 in a row – no other driver has scored in more than 27 in a row. • Hamilton won by the largest margin in 2020 – 25.592 seconds. • Hamilton, Bottas and Max Verstappen shared the podium for the 7th time in 12 races this season. • Hamilton ended in P1 / Bottas P2 / Verstappen P3 for the sixth time... making it the second-most common finishing order in F1 history. • Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel finished 10th for a 4th time this season, having never done so prior to 2020.
PART OF THE FAMILY: Joel Campbell has been on the scene with the Hamiltons since their early rise to fame, as seen with, from main, dad Anthony, a young Lewis and brother Nicolas
MARCH 2020
THE VOICE| 43
Lifestyle Book some time for reading p52-53
Retired Met officer: Leroy Logan p54
African-born DSP on the rise
MICHAEL, MATTHEW AND MEPLAYLIST
Room for two at the Tate
p61
52 | THE VOICE NOVEMBER 2020
Lifestyle
Books
Book some time off Lifestyle editor Joel Campbell loves a good read, and this month he has some suggestions for your perusal. Whether it’s an early Christmas gift, something to get you through your day or that self help title a friend really needs, there’s something here for everyone... The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X Written by Les Payne and Tamara Payne
An epic biography of Malcolm X finally emerges, drawing on hundreds of hours of the author’s interviews, rewriting much of the known narrative. Les Payne, the renowned Pulitzer Prize–winning investigative journalist, embarked in 1990 on a nearly 30-year-long quest to interview anyone he could find who had actually known Malcolm X – all living siblings of the Malcolm Little family, classmates, street friends, cellmates, Nation of Islam figures, FBI moles and cops, and political leaders around the world. His goal was ambitious: to transform what would become over a hundred hours of interviews into an unprecedented portrait of Malcolm X, one that would separate fact from fiction.
Emily Knight: I Am Becoming Written by A. Bello Homecoming. Sacrifice. Family. Fire. The Knights are finally reunited and ready to defeat Neci once and for all. But Neci is one step ahead and is targeting them one by one. When one of Emily’s best friends is kidnapped, Emily leads the elite team on a rescue mission but nothing can prepare them for what Neci has planned. The eagerly anticipated third book follows the incredible success of Emily Knight I Am... Awakened, which received a prestigious Carnegie nomination and enjoyed first place in the London’s BIG Read 2019.
tion and a strong moral compass into this young Jamaican girl. And she works incredibly hard for her academic success. Will this be enough for Rowna to escape a life of poverty? Will she create her own rags-toriches? Or will she succumb to the poverty default mode, like many other Kingston girls have? I’m Still Here: Black Dignity In A World Made For Whiteness Written by Austin Channing Brown her friends and cousins are all desperate for her to conform, but Kirabo is inquisitive, headstrong and determined. Up until now, she has been perfectly content with her life at the heart of this prosperous extended family, but as she enters her teenage years, she begins to feel the absence of the mother she has never known. The First Woman follows Kirabo on her journey to becoming a young woman and finding her place in the world, as her country is transformed by the bloody dictatorship of Idi Amin
A Journey For Rowna The Loner Written by Sherene Whyte
Fatherless and abandoned by her mother, young Rowna is left with her maternal grandparents in Jamaica with nothing to her name. Grandma Pearle is the poverty-stricken but kindly soul who raises Rowna and she has big plans for her granddaughter from day one. Rowna’s life isn’t easy, though. Growing up in Kingston means a childhood full of ups and downs. Emotionally traumatised from being abandoned, her darkest hours would be enough to lead any ordinary girl down the wrong path as she grows older. But her beloved grandma has instilled discipline, love, ambi-
Austin Channing Brown’s first encounter with a racialised America came at age seven, when she discovered her parents named her Austin to deceive future employers into thinking she was a white man. Growing up in majority-white schools and churches, Austin writes, “I had to learn what it means to love blackness”, a journey that led to a lifetime spent navigating America’s racial divide as a writer, speaker and expert helping organisations practice genuine inclusion.
How The One Armed Sister Sweeps Her House Written by Cherie Jones
locals who often end up serving them: braiding their hair, minding their children, and selling them drugs. Lala lives on the beach with her husband, Adan, a petty criminal with endless charisma whose thwarted burglary of one of the Baxter Beach mansions sets off a chain of events with terrible consequences. A gunshot no one was meant to witness. A new mother whose baby is found lifeless on the beach. A woman torn between two worlds and incapacitated by grief. And two men driven by desperation and greed who attempt a crime that will risk their freedom -- and their lives. Skin: It Takes Blood And Guts Written by Lucy O’Brien Lead singer of multi-million-selling rock band Skunk Anansie, solo artist, LGBTQIA+ activist and all around trail blazer, Skin, is a global icon, and she has been smashing stereotypes for over 25 years. Her journey from Brixton to one of the most influential women in British rock is nothing short of extraordinary. “It’s been a very difficult thing being a lead singer of a rock
The First Woman Written by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi For one young girl, discovering what it means to become a woman in a family, a community and a country determined to silence her will take all the courage she has. Growing up in a small Ugandan village, Kirabo is surrounded by powerful women. Her grandmother, her aunts,
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A debut novel from a brilliant Caribbean writer, set in Barbados, about four people each desperate to escape their legacy of violence in a socalled ‘paradise’. In Baxter Beach, Barbados, moneyed ex-pats clash with the
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band looking like me and it still is. I have to say it’s been a fight and it will always be a fight. “That fight drives you and makes you want to work harder… It’s not supposed to be easy, particularly if you’re a woman, you’re black or you are gay like me. You’ve got to keep moving forward, keep striving for everything you want to be.” Born to Jamaican parents, Skin grew up in Brixton in the 1970s. Her career as an artist began in the ‘90s, when Skunk Anansie was formed in the sweat-drenched backrooms of London’s pubs. Since then she has headlined Glastonbury and toured the world, both as lead singer of Skunk Anansie and as a solo artist. Her success has been groundbreaking in every way, which has come at a personal cost. She has always been vocal about social and cultural issues, and was championing LGBTQIA+ rights at a time when few artists were out and gay. Told with honesty and passion, this is the story of how a gay, black, working-class girl with a vision fought poverty and prejudice to write songs, produce and front her own band, and become one of the Britain’s most influential women.
www.voice-online.co.uk
NOVEMBER 2020
THE VOICE | 53
Lifestyle Fixing Our Broken Immigration System: Welcome To Britain Written by Colin Yeo
How would we treat Paddington Bear if he came to the UK today? Perhaps he would be made destitute as a result of extortionate visa application fees; perhaps he would experience a cruel term of imprisonment in a detention centre; or perhaps his entire identity would be torn apart at the hands of a hostile environment that seems to delight in the humiliation of its victims. In this vital and alarming book, campaigner and immigration barrister Colin Yeo tackles the subject with dexterity and rigour, offering a roadmap of where we should go from here as he exposes the iniquities of an immigration system that is unforgiving, unfeeling and, ultimately, failing. Reproduction Written by Ian Williams Reproduction tells a crooked love story which takes strange, winding paths shaped by community, family and fleeting interactions that leave an inedible imprint.
Felicia, a 19-year-old West Indian student, and Edgar, an impetuous heir of a wealthy German family, meet when their ailing mothers are assigned the same hospital room. An odd-couple relationship blooms between Edgar and Felicia, ripe with miscommunications and reprisals for perceived and real offences that have some unexpected results. Fast-forward, their son Armistice is a teenager fixated on a variety of get-rich-quick schemes that are as comic as they are indicative of the immigrant son’s fear of falling through the cracks. When Edgar re-enters Felicia’s life at a typically inopportune moment, the book’s exhilarating final act is set in the motion and Reproduction is revealed. The Tapestry Of My Life Written by Pauline Hanson Gilman
GET STUCK IN: Whether you’re looking to escape reality or delve deeper into the real world, this collection has you covered
This book represents a tapestry of Gilman’s life and the raw profound emotions of each situation that she was dealing with at each point of her life. Putting words down on paper made her acquire a sense of solace which in turn, came with a freedom of comfort. This collection of poems will resonate with someone. Our voices were not made to be stifled and quieten down. They are made to be heard. Let us not be afraid of the dark to come into the light, let our dreams become reality, break our shackles, let us all rise like the phoenix from the ashes. This book is about the awareness of emotions in all aspects of our lives and learning how to find and explore our coping mechanisms.
Life Inna Lockdown 2020: Behind Closed Doors Written by Dee Bailey
had not planned to capture a snapshot in print in an anthology of personal stories of a global experience. Read, enjoy and relate. Passport To Here And There Written by Grace Nichols
embraces connections and reconnections, with the ability to turn the ordinary into something vivid and memorable whether personal or public, contemporary or historical, most notably in a sonnet-sequence which grew out of a recent return trip to Guyana. Her ninth collection of adult poems and her fourth book with Bloodaxe, Passport to Here and There makes a significant contribution both to Caribbean and to British poetry. Soul Of A Woman: A Journey To Self Love Written by Neusa Catoja
This is an important book for many reasons, but mainly because it has recorded history, an unprecedented event called ‘lockdown’. Never in our wildest dreams or imaginations would any one of these 22 authors, have anticipated what was ahead as Big Ben’s long-arm struck midnight on January 31, 2019. We wished our loved ones and friends a happy new year. This collective of authors
In Passport to Here and There, Grace Nichols traces a journey that moves from the coastal memories of a Guyana childhood to life in Britain and her adoptive Sussex landscape. In these movingly redemptive and celebratory poems, she
We are all faced with different challenges in our lives: some we have the strength to overcome, some we stay stuck and, some pains in life become unbearable. Soul Of A Woman shows us how we can redefine ourselves, working through the universal principals around our identity; responsibility; vulnerability; and what ‘perfection’ means to us. This guide, told through the lens of one transformational coach Neusa, hones in on her journey of success and self-discovery, she demonstrates how
our fulfilled dreams can still fall victim to destructive behaviours. These issues have plagued almost every woman and young girl in our society, we battled daily with lack of confidence; body dysmorphia; self-doubt; depression; anxiety; addictive tendencies; eating disorders; and suicidal thoughts. You will learn how to overcome these personal demons by embracing the principles of this book and focusing on personal responsibility you are better equipped to forge a new beginning at the feet of your destiny.
54 | THE VOICE NOVEMBER 2020
Lifestyle
Books
Leroy’s telling his story After 30 years in the Met, ex-superintendent Leroy Logan has witnessed his fair share of inequality. And now his experiences are in writing for all of us BY ALANNAH FRANCIS
L
EROY LOGAN’S autobiography, Closing Ranks: My Life as a Cop, has been 10 years in the making. But with the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement, the issue of the relationship black communities have with the police making headlines around the world, and his story being told as part of Steve McQueen’s Small Axe series, it seems right on time. “Good things take time as they say,” he told Lifestyle. While the retired Metropolitan Police superintendent remains one of the most highly decorated and recognisable black policemen in British history, it didn’t always appear as though he was destined for a career in the force.
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His journey to become a police officer followed several years working in science and research, which could have led him into medicine, and more poignantly, a horrific encounter his father had with police in which the senior Logan was badly beaten. His father later successfully sued the Met over the incident. “Policing wasn’t on my radar at all,” he said. Despite positive encounters with police officers through his work at The Royal Free Hospital, Logan’s initial thoughts when his boss at the hospital asked if he’d thought about becoming a policeman were, “Do I look like a racist thug?” The response was generated from his negative experiences. After taking some time to contemplate the career change, Logan decided he would join the Met. His faith is a central element of his
“We’re only as strong as the weakest and only as fast as the slowest” story. It’s what he credits his resolve to remain as a policeman against the odds in a hostile environment. “It wasn’t just a job, it was a vocation, it was like I was commissioned to do something, and I would do it to the best of my ability, and I suppose do it until the Lord takes me type thing,” he said. A founding member and former chairman of the National Black Police Association (NBPA), Logan’s career is full of examples of his ambition to change policing from the inside. Following the murder of 10-year-old Damilola Taylor in November 2000, Logan was involved in the operational side of the investigation. On observing the reluctance black residents had in opening up to white officers, he had an idea. “I brought in a cadre of black officers to assist with the house to house inquiries because the
white officers were going to the houses that overlooked where Damilola was stabbed in Peckham and people weren’t even opening their doors. “I got a team together, a lot of them from the Black Police Association, and they had an instant response people within the households were opening up their doors, allowing the officers to go in, actually telling them what they saw, giving a good profile of how to identify the witnesses and the suspects which eventually contributed to securing the convictions.” He refers to it as an example of diversity in action. “Let my people use their life skills, their culture, their experience to build bridges with the community,” he said. His 30 years of service in the police has given him tremendous insight into the challenges black officers face within the profession. He highlights disproportionalities black and minority ethnic (BAME) officers face in terms of disciplinary action and the unequal obstacles they often experience when it comes to rising through the ranks. “I’d like to think that the more reflective the organisation, the more fit it is for the 21st century,” he said. “The Met police and other police services have to realise there is an inextricable link in how you nurture your BAME staff so that you’re better equipped to deal with the needs of a diverse community.” Since retiring in 2013, Logan has remained committed to using his skills, experience and expertise to improve the relationship the police have with black communities. “Even in retirement I’m still working to address the inequalities and injustices and not just in policing but other agencies to make sustainable and irreversible improvements,” he said. One of the ways he demonstrates this dedication to addressing inequalities within the criminal justice system is
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TOP COP: Leroy Logan, pictured inset during his time in the Met, details his experiences in his new book (photos: Mark Harrison) through his work with Voyage Youth, a social justice charity that aims to empower marginalised black young people. “I know the importance of giv-
Lord Macpherson inquiry sense of policing because all the recommendations that came out of it improved policing. Unfortunately, a lot of that’s been erod-
“Even in retirement I’m still working to address inequalities and injustices” ing back because we’re only as strong as the weakest and only as fast as the slowest,” he said. While Logan wants things to improve so his grandchildren’s generation don’t have to experience the same things his parents’, his and even his children’s generation have with the police, he argues things have gone backward since the Macpherson report. “The whole look and feel of policing reminds me of a pre-
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ed and it’s gone back to a preMacpherson era,” Logan said. He added: “I would have never thought in 2020 that relationships between the police and the black community would have been as bad as this. I think it’s the worst it’s been for decades.” In Closing Ranks: My Life as a Cop, Logan tells his story in his own words. His life will also get the small screen treatment in Steve McQueen’s Red, White
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and Blue, one of five films in the director’s Small Axe anthology series. John Boyega will play Logan. “When I finally heard it was Steve McQueen and I had my first meeting with him in late 2016, I was amazed,” Logan said. “I was so impressed when I heard John Boyega wanted to play me. I think he really wanted to work with Steve McQueen and he liked the character that he was playing. “And I couldn’t think of anything better.” He added: “It’s timely, it’s beyond my wildest dreams, and again it reinforces the book. “I always say though that the film is a taster, but the book is the main course.” In Closing Ranks: My Life as a Cop by Leroy Logan is out now
www.voice-online.co.uk
MARCH 2020
THE VOICE| 55
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