NOVEMBER 2021 • ISSUE NO. 1924
EXCLUSIVE The Football Black 2021 List revealed See inside
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+++ Black Business Special +++ Black Business Special +++
BLACK POUND
MOVEMENT Support for black business on the rise The Voice launches Black Biz Guide Pressure on banks to lend fairly
O
NE SILVER lining in the Covid-19 pandemic is that black families are spending more with blackowned businesses. This is encouraging, but there is a lot more we can do to keep the black pound circulating within
the community. Our collective spending power is at least £4 billion a year. In this special edition, we explore the successes - and challenges - facing the black entrepreneurs. The Voice does not only report - we support.
Read more in our Black Business special edition see pages 3, 6, 8, 12, 18, 20, 23-26
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Inside
ROUNDUP
THIS MONTH
NEWSPAPER
News, views, stories & videos
From humble roots, she is now one of the world’s most influential tech leaders p6 Twenty years behind the mic – and BBC’s Dotun is still going strong
1. Strawberry slavery
An investigation into Barbados migrant workers who say they are exploited on British fruit farms.
2. Caribbeans Quit the Queen
Barbados again… this time the move to become a Republic and ditch Queen Elizabeth as Head of State.
3. The most disrespected workers are black women, aged over 45, in local councils
p10-11
A new survey finds that older black women face a "triple assault" of racism, sexism and ageism.
Bob Marley’s photographer on his friendship with reggae legend p14-15
4. Microsoft tech pioneer Jacky Wright tops list of most powerful black Britons Breaking news about this year's Powerlist winners.
5. In an ideal world we wouldn’t need a Black History Month, but we do, and more than ever
Our history before slavery: Terence Channer delves into the glorious past p30
An opinion piece by Richard Sudan.
6. The rise of home-schooling in the black community A feature looking into the increase in home-schooling.
7. Black Tories heading for the top
This is BrukOut: The night that brought a tear to Swizz Beat’s eye p41 Profile on the next big thing in British boxing – Joshua Buatsi p45
THE 10 MOST POPULAR STORIES ON VOICE-ONLINE.CO.UK
We spoke to the rising young black stars of the Conservative Party during their party conference.
8. It's official: Uni of West Indies ranked in top one per cent in the world
We ask if the Caribbean education system is the best there is.
9. If it’s fit for His Majesty, it’ll do for our wedding! Reggae singer becomes the first ever to marry at UK’s most sacred Rastafari venue.
10. Black British Voices
Our section on this unique and large-scale survey.
This issue is 48 pages
Spotlight Solomon Smith
MY NAME is Solomon Smith and I attend the University College London (UCL) studying a PGDE in Business Studies. My undergraduate was at the University of Sheffield where I graduated in Economics and Philosophy. Growing up in Edmonton, north London, to parents of Jamaican heritage, it was amazing, but it had its hurdles. Edmonton is one of the most deprived wards within London and my parents strived to give me the best education and extracurricular activities they could afford. Their morals and Jamaican influence inspired me to work hard and achieve academic excellence alongside sporting success. Sporting Achievements: From my performances at club level, I was picked for Team Great Britain in ice hockey at the Winter Universiade in 2019. Additionally, I played for Team Jamaica in the LATAM Cup where we won gold. Being one of the few members of colour at the semi-professional and professional level of ice hockey, it is amazing to help young players achieve more than I have and share my experience. Academic Achievements: I am a part of the Teach First programme where I am a full-time teacher as well as a full-time university student. This experience has elevated my academic potential and teaching abilities so much so that Don Anderson (former Vice President of Jamaica Olympic Team, including the famous Jamaican bobsleigh team) asked me to lead a grassroots programme at the GC Forster College of Physical Education & Sport in Jamaica. Now in the final year of my PGDE, I aim to apply to an Oxbridge university to study a Masters in Education. Within my school, within my sport and within the country I live for change. When I first joined Kingsmead School, I actively sought out to change the lives of students of colour after a local supermarket was subjecting young black boys to remove their belongings before they entered the store. Being a new teacher, I tried to seek help from the school and got instant support from Peter Plowman (Senior Deputy Headteacher) who helped me bring that change. Separately to this, I run a club within the school on "How to buy Property" to assist in the lack of cultural capital in my community as often this is something students don’t know.
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NEWSPAPER
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NOVEMBER 2021 THE VOICE |
Black business focus
3
POWERING OUT OF THE PANDEMIC
TOUGH TIMES: Businesses across Britain are currently facing the worst economic crisis in decades (photo: Klaus Vedfelt/ Getty); inset below left, Ismael Lea South is an entrepreneur with The Salem Project
The past 18 months have been disastrous for the UK economy, and black-owned business are bearing the brunt of the impact of COVID-19, says Lester Holloway
T
HE YEAR 2020 was a disastrous one for many black-owned businesses. Many thousands were forced to shut their doors, some permanently. Before COVID-19, black entrepreneurs were under-represented with just 5.4 per cent of small and medium enterprises run by a majority black and minority ethnic leadership, according to government figures. Experts say that the proportion may well have declined further because of the pandemic. Any reduction in black businesses will further pull down the overall community wealth, in addition to the negative economic impact on jobs, with the TUC reporting that black and Asian unemployment rose three times as fast during the COVID downturn. Entrepreneurs across Britain are currently facing the worst economic crisis in decades, with suggestions that black-owned businesses have declined by twice the rate of
Black firms have struggled to get started and stay afloat, not least due to restricted access to bank loans white-owned businesses. Black firms have historically struggled to get started and stay afloat, not least because of restricted access to bank loans and other seed capital. A report by Warwick Business School, in 2012, found that even when black-owned businesses had an overdraft, the interest rate was 2.12 per cent higher than for whiteowned businesses, and that black-owned businesses were 14.4 per cent more likely to be rejected for a long-term loan. The London Development
Agency found that a quarter of black-owned businesses faced “significant problems” accessing business loans and overdrafts, compared with 10 per cent of white-owned businesses. A 2011 government report during the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition effectively absolved high street banks for any biases in lending on grounds that black business applicants had lower credit ratings.
TRUST
Unfortunately, the Black Business Network has found that less than half of Britain’s black business owners — 43 per cent — trust banks to support their interests. Their survey, sponsored by Lloyds Bank and undertaken by Savanta, found that fraught relationships are influencing borrowing habits among this cohort; they are far more likely to be self-financed (34 per cent) than use financing from banks (13 per cent). Social entrepreneur Claudine Reid MBE, who was in-
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volved in the Black Business Network survey, said that the pandemic had forced many black-owned businesses to change their framework but that banks had to work harder to build confidence in black communities. Mrs Reid, who chaired the
ing improving cultural awareness and black representation in the banking sector; ensuring black voices within the banking system; and partnering with grassroots organisations in order to gain trust.” More recently, there is evidence that interest in black
People just don’t feel that banks have black business owners’ interests at heart black entrepreneurs and business owners committee for Lloyds Banking Group, told The Voice: “One of those big barriers was around lack of trust within the banking sector, and government as well. “People just don’t feel that banks have black business owners’ interests at heart. It comes from years of experience in terms of documented discrimination, links to colonialism and imperialism. “We’ve come up with a list of 10 recommendations; includ-
businesses increased in the wake of worldwide Black Lives Matter protests following the brutal murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis in the US. Swiss, of So Solid Crew fame, founded Black Pound Day, calling on consumers to spend money with black-owned businesses on the first Saturday of the month. Last month, dozens of black entrepreneurs took over a section of one of Europe’s biggest shopping centre — Westfield in Shepherd’s Bush, west
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London — to showcase their stunning products. A report by Jamii — a shopping discovery platform for black-owned brands — and Translate Culture found that black-owned businesses saw a boost of up to 124 per cent compared to their previous month’s revenue as a result of Black Pound Day. Ismael Lea South, an entrepreneur with the Salem Project and a rapper, told The Voice: “What happened during the pandemic is that it has galvanised black communities to support black businesses more like never seen before. “In my opinion, what the Government can do is that they need to appoint black business advisers and mentors to help black business owners with the infrastructure and help them with marketing and promotion.” The issue for many black business owners is keeping the momentum going all year round. It can be difficult for any Continued on page 25
16 | THE VOICE
NOVEMBER 2021
Opinion
Harsh economics of COVID-19
PROTECTED: Paul Jinadu, aged 79, gets his second dose of the Oxford/ AstraZeneca COVID vaccine at Copes Pharmacy and Travel Clinic in Streatham, south London
Facts suggest vaccination is about developed nations returning to normal and not saving lives. By Lyndon Mukasa
T
HE DEVELOPMENT of the many COVID-19 vaccines is unprecedented in history. Not only were they developed quickly in response to the global pandemic, but multiple vaccines were developed around the world in order to try and cut off the chain of transmission, hospitalisation and deaths. More than 21 COVID vaccines have been developed, including a further 194 that are currently undergoing clinical trials. In light of this, some have asked why there has been such a rapid development of vaccines in response to the pandemic when other lethal diseases haven’t received the same amount of attention and urgency. The answer to this question lies in the economic inequalities embedded in our capital-
ist system that was cultivated through colonialism. Disregard any false notions that the vaccines are designed to destroy black people, because the stark reality is that the majority of people in Africa and parts of the Caribbean don’t have access to any vaccines, and probably won’t for years to come. Vaccines as a priority for getting Western countries ‘back to normal’: The vaccine development was spurred on by rapid investment by Western countries (and China) to end the cycle of lockdowns that largely hurt the economy. From the perspective of Western policymakers, the vaccines had to be developed because it would have been difficult for Western politicians to justify
opening up and exposing significant parts of the population to a disease that we have yet to develop natural immunity to. Unequal distribution: Despite the global nature of a pandemic, this has led to an over-supply of vaccines that has led to a delay in providing for many developing countries, particularly those in Africa. The UK, for example, ordered over 540 million doses in vaccines despite having a population of 68 million. This vaccine hoarding has left Africa unable to vaccinate much of its population of one billion people, with 2.5 per cent of people vaccinated, while the Caribbean has only six million out of 43.7 million people fully vaccinated. Currently, many countries in both regions are seeing a surge in infections and hospitalisations as the Delta
variant infects more people. This is all while up to 100 million vaccine doses in the West are set to go to waste by the end of 2021. Calls for lifting intellectual property laws on COVID vaccines: The capacity for developing countries to create their own vaccines is there. Most countries in Africa and the Caribbean have launched
Why is there so much vaccine hesitancy? THROUGHOUT 2020, COVID-19 ripped across the world, devastating communities and disrupting livelihoods at an exceptional rate. In the Western world, one of the worst affected groups were black communities. With the development of several vaccines around the world, it is hoped that aspects of this pandemic can be managed. However, concerns are growing about the lower rates around vaccine coverage in black communities. Vaccine hesitancy is a feature present across sections of the black world, and it raises many questions about the impact of marginalisation, poverty and the historical relationship of black communities with the modern world created by Western imperialism. The reasons: Among many black people in the Western world, there is a certain degree of distrust in Western governments that many argue don’t have any interest in the concerns of black communities and are, in fact, very harmful at times. This distrust feeds in to government institutions such as the healthcare system. There have been reports of many black people not having their medical concerns taken seriously by medical personnel. This drives many people away from engaging with medical treatment which was an issue prior to
the pandemic. Additionally, misinformation campaigns reveal the extent to which unscientific, unsourced statements and information can be taken and used as legitimate sources. Some of this can be linked to the general distrust that many black people hold towards institutions in the West, including educational establishments which have had a history of neglect, miseducation and disproportionate exclusions from the system.
PERCEPTION
Even before the pandemic, the lack of black participation and engagement in subjects such as science was evident and the false perception of science as a predominantly white male bourgeoisie profession is something that still needs to be addressed. In Africa and the Caribbean, this perception has been amplified by historical and colonial legacies in which African contributions and achievements in science had been driven out of the histories of those societies during the colonial era. However, in regions with fragile social security systems people are forced to make difficult choices about working against taking time off to vaccinate. In other cases, a legacy of medical experiments and scientific exploitation by white scientists has implanted a degree of distrust. This has culti-
successful vaccination programmes against diseases such as Ebola and smallpox with their own resources. However, much of the COVID vaccines developed have been patented by pharmaceutical companies which have prioritised the sale of those vaccines to the West. Companies like Pfizer have refused to partner with the World Health Organisation (WHO) to supply the technol-
ogy and knowledge through vaccine hubs, enabling countries in Africa and the Caribbean to manufacture their own vaccines. Instead, what we are seeing unfolding is a potential repeat of the 1990s AIDs crisis in Africa which was generated in part because pharmaceutical companies refused to share retroviral drug technology with African nations that struggled to afford to buy from them.
Black vaccinations: The figures
vated a receptivity towards pseudoscience and conspiracy theories that prey on the weaknesses and vulnerabilities within sections of the black world.
United Kingdom
% fully vaccinated
African nations*
% fully vaccinated
58.8%
Ghana
2.6%
The white supremacist misinformation agenda: In recent months it has emerged that social media has been a key platform for the spread and distribution of false information. Some white supremacist groups have set out to sow distrust in black communities around the world in order to increase the death rate and vulnerabilities to COVID-19. In 2020, the ongoing #vaxtheblacks movement was created by white supremacist groups who noticed the disproportionate death rates and hospitalisations of black people around the world as a result of the pandemic. In order to continue this trend they created various memes, videos and social media posts targeted at black forums, claiming that the vaccines were detrimental to their health and communities. Many black people have unknowingly distributed white supremacist material. As a result, it is clear there is a need to break the links between white supremacy and misinformation that feeds in to the vulnerabilities created by colonialism and marginalisation of significant sections of black communities worldwide.
Black African Black Caribbean
68.7%
Nigeria
1.1%
United States
% fully vaccinated
Rep. of Sudan 1.3%
Black American
10%
Somalia
1.5%
Kenya
1.9%
Country
% fully vaccinated
Uganda
0.9%
Tanzania
0.9%
Dominica
27.7%
Botswana
10.4%
Grenada
23.4%
Zimbabwe
16.3%
Barbados
38.2%
Zambia
1.6%
Trinidad
39.1%
Malawi
2.7%
St Lucia
19.1%
South Africa 16.7%
St Vincent
12.2%
Lesotho
15.8%
Jamaica
10.2%
Eswatini
18.1%
The Bahamas
25.5%
Guyana
28%
Belize
36.3%
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The Gambia 7.1% Sierra Leone 0.6%
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South Sudan 0.3%
* Please note that low numbers can be attributed to limited access to vaccines due to vaccine hoarding by richer Western countries. This list only includes countries in Africa which has a significant presence in the UK. Figures correct at time of going to press.
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Made with spices, flour and sustainable power. WADE CBE, FOUNDER, ISLAND DELIGHT, BIRMINGHAM
With our continued support, Island Delight were able to install solar panels, switch to LED lighting and convert to recyclable packaging. So now they can keep producing 55,000 spicy patties every day, just more sustainably.
By the side of business
SEPTEMBER 2021
THE VOICE| 17
32 | THE VOICE NOVEMBER 2021
Special investigation BITTER TASTE: Workers say they have been sold a lie, with all wishing they had never left Barbados (photo: Marcus Obal; Anna Tarezevich/Pexels)
Continued from page 4
The agency stated if workers report an incident to them or their agent an investigation would begin immediately. They added: “In the case of serious complaints, we transfer the participants to another farm, or support them to travel home if they prefer. “This process has been followed with a small number of participants placed in Scotland, where the participants concerned were transferred to another farm. “Our investigation of the participants’ experiences is ongoing.”
UNTRUE
However, the farm workers heavily criticised the statement, calling it “untrue”. Mr Bryan says his complaints were routinely ignored
NIGHTMARE: Kamal Boodhoo, spoke to The Voice about his bitter experience
by Concordia and by CJNM Consulting Associates Ltd, the representative from Barbados who recruited him for the programme. CJNM Consulting Associates Ltd was formed by Cristopher Griffith, who supplies seasonal farm workers from the island to the UK. He started the UK Farm Labour Programme in 2019 and assisted the workers in securing work at the farms in Scotland and England. Mr Griffith dismissed all claims of slavery, mistreatment and wrongdoings. Speaking to The Voice, he said: “It is very unfortunate some of the workers feel this way, but they are a very small minority. The claims of slavery are false, I have over 100 workers across UK farms and have not had any complaints.” Mr Bryan claims while he was picking strawberries on a farm
in Scotland, an Eastern European worker spat at him. He said: “I was so shocked and I reported it to the representative for Barbados but nothing happened. “I don’t feel like my complaint was taken seriously.” The Barbadian workers say that Eastern European super-
But the workers said the second farm, also in Scotland, which they moved to, was just as bad as the first one. Mr Bryan added: “You have four people living in a three-bedroom caravan and three people living in a two-bedroom caravan. “Some people have to sleep on a chair and they have to pay
The working conditions were appalling. My break times were cut short and I don’t think I ever made more than £150 per week visors ordered them to pick strawberries from the lines with the fewest fruit, causing them to earn less than the European pickers because their wages were often calculated by the volume of strawberries picked. The workers were promised a flat hourly wage when they agreed to travel from the Caribbean but pocketed far less. Mr Griffith said the aim of the programme was to provide his fellow Barbadians with an opportunity and to assist in filling a labour shortage in the agricultural sector because of Brexit. He did acknowledge some Barbadian workers had issues upon their arrival but described these as “cultural differences” rather than experiences of racism.
COMPLAINTS
He claims complaints were dealt with in a reasonable manner and, as a result, some were moved to a different farm.
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the same rent, every week. A spokesperson for the second farm said: “They worked well and we appreciate the contribution they made to harvest our fruit. “This group of workers were offered more work than they had an appetite to do. “We recently had an independent ethical audit, including interviews with our workers, and received positive feedback on the working conditions. “Unfortunately due to a drop in production, due to unseasonal weather, we had to end their contract. Concordia, the agency the workers came through, has no issues with working practices at the farm.” Mr Griffith also insisted he regularly inspects the farms where he sends his workers to ensure their working and living conditions are up to the required standard. A number of workers from Barbados say they were coerced
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into coming to the UK on a oneway ticket, which has left them stranded and unable to afford to buy a ticket to return to their native country. Mr Griffith disputes their claims and said: “No one was coerced into buying an open ticket. “They are told at the very beginning before they get involved in the programme that they have to pay their way. “They are advised they only need a one-way ticket to travel into the UK for the programme and if they can afford to buy a two-way ticket, they can buy one. But a text message seen by The Voice, allegedly from Mr Griffith to one of the workers, states “purchase a one-way ticket”. Mr Griffith said “some people are earning money that they have never earned in their life on the programme”. Mr Bryan travelled to the UK with his girlfriend, Shamere Pinder, 25, and 13 other Barbadian workers. Ms Pinder said she felt trapped in a nightmare on the farm and reached breaking point on the third farm in England and decided to leave. Ms Pinder has a young daughter back in Barbados and says she regrets coming to the UK and is adamant she should have stayed in the Caribbean and continued with the parttime job she had in a bank. She said: “I decided to leave because we were sold a whole bunch of lies by the agent and we were treated poorly.”
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Ms Pinder said she noticed a difference in the treatment the workers from Barbados received in comparison to the workers from Eastern European countries. She said: “When the women are lifting the crates of strawberries to take them to the weighing station, no one comes to help and assist the black workers but they would help all the other races.” She added: “We are paying National Insurance and pension, plus buying food and paying for our caravan. “Sometimes we are left with nothing. How will we be able to get back home?”
BREAKING
Another worker, Kamal Boodhoo, 28, spoke to The Voice and said when he was transferred to the third farm in England that was his breaking point. He said: “There was blood in my caravan and the working conditions were appalling. “My break times were always cut short and I don’t think I have made anything more than £150 per week.” Mr Boodhoo said the third farm had “disgusting outside toilet facilities.” The demand for workers outside of the European Union (EU) has increased since Brexit. In March 2019, the government announced the commencement of the Seasonal Workers Pilot for 2019 and 2020. Concordia made profits of £1.6 million according to its last accounts filed at Companies House.
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