Xcellence Magazine Nov Issue 2 - The Eve Gene

NOV 2022

XCELLENCE M A G A Z I N E

THE EVE GENE

ISSUE 2

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XCELLENCE NOVEMBER

"X" stands for the unknown names, untold histories, and unacknowledged. contributions.

This magazine is a dedication to the ancestors

What's inside: 3-5: People in Power Vaughan Gething - On Representation

69-74: Health and Wellbeing Keep Wales Tidy, Cost of Living

7-24: Education Launch of DARPL and more...

Other Features:

25-26: History Visa Versa Jamaica's Independence 27-32: BOMB Black Owned Minority Business 34-38: I AM Interview with Dionne Bennett 39- 49: How Great Thou Art

Poetic Justice Back Page - Art provided, by Chris Ebun Taylor

For advertising, sponsorship or event spotlight enquiries contact: info@bexcellence.co.uk To view pervious issues, visit www.bexcellence.co.uk

51-53: Stars are Born in Wales Interview with Lloyd Germain 54-63: Youth Matters Black History Wales, and more...

Legal Disclaimer Xcellence Magazine, all information, interviews and events, were accurate at the time of print. We do not accept liability for any distorted, content in relation to the people and places outside of this publication

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Editor's Note

Welcome to the first printed issue of Xcellence Magazine. My heart is so full, to be able to bring you so much content that is both inspirational and aspirational. The wonderful human beings featured in this edition, will no doubt, make you burst with pride too, knowing they are living here, in our beautiful home of Wales. How blessed are we?

I am so, pleased that throughout this issue, we have been able to share the love with so many creatives that have contributed, be it through their art, poetry or writing. We have had the absolute pleasure of providing a space for young people to take ownership of the artistry on the front cover, which is a beautiful illustration designed to evoke a 'conversation' around our collective humanity. Issue 2, explores, all that is new in education, the arts, business and so much more.

My hope is that you will see the beauty of diversity through the pages and want to keep this little bit of history in the making as a keep-sake, to share with others and maybe adorn your coffee table with.

Either way, we have enjoyed every minute of putting Issue 2, together. If you missed Issue 1, you can find it online at: www.bexcellence.co.uk I hope you enjoy!

Love Donna Ali x Founder & Editor-in-Chief

Hi, I'm Tia. I am a media research assistant at BE.xcellence CIC, running the feature 'Youth Matters'. I have been attending lots of events celebrating the young people of Wales to bring you some great content. As a 18 year old myself, I feel that is important that we give young people full and positive representation, because often young people get a bad press. However, Youth Matters, is here to change that, by highlighting, some of the positive contributions young people are making to Wales, after all we are the future generation.

I am fortunate to be involved in Xcellence Magazine and mentored by the editorin- chief, who believes in succession planning and making space for young people for their voice to be heard. I had full artistic licence to bring to life the vision of our first printed front cover. Isn't it beautiful?

My hope is that you enjoy issue 2, and tell everyone about it!

Love Tia-Zakura Camilleri

We would like to say a huge, thank you to Ping it News & Books Council Wales, for supporting our vision of bringing something a little different to the FREE community news public space.

Media Research Assistant

All content, unless otherwise stated is a copyright of BE.Xcellence CIC. All rights reserved. No parts of this independently published magazine may be reproduced without permission. BE.Xcellence CIC is a community interest company registered in Wales 13277970. Any enquiries, comments or complaints, get in touch via:info@bexcellence.co.uk

Team Work Makes the Dream Work A huge thank you to our contributing writers: Tia Zukura Camilleri Mo Jannah Jessie Grace Natalie Jones Joy Price Mohammed Hersi Farah Luchia Ellul-Alimkihena Krystal S. Lowe Shav Taj

Poetry Taylor Edmunds The Diaspora Radio International Amaris Powell Art Chris Ebun Taylor - Back Cover

Front Cover Design - Donna Ali Artistic Director - Tia Zukura Camilleri Model - Dionne Bennett Photography - Zaid Djerdi Hair & Makeup - Shanice Wright

Photography Rueben Mulenga - Black History Wales pages.

Essay Abu Bakr Madden Al Shabbaz The Eve-olution of HumaniTree Proof Reader Sian Hopkins

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People in Power

Interview

Vaughan Gething These are the famous words of the poet, author and activist, Maya Angelou, taken from her book Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now. These words resonate when I hear people complain about politics. I know it sounds a bit harsh, because there are some things we can change and others we can’t. However, many of us as Welsh citizens, fail to take full responsibility for our civic rights, when it comes to how we would like to see society change, instead we spend far too much time complaining rather than participating. I know that for many who attend ‘normal’ schools, we are not taught politics, how it works, why it works and who best to align our values and allegiance with.

Many of us, if we do vote, follow our parents’ party of choice, without the full understanding of why. I hear many people say, well the people in government don’t represent me!

You could argue that maybe the elitists of this world, the 1% want us, the 99%, to remain ignorant. But I do believe that when people speak up, things do and can change! We have seen evidence of this during the past two years, with moments like the BLM movement and other protests, in the fight against some of the conditions concerning the dreaded C word #covid. In response to these events, the Welsh government at least has now introduced the AntiRacism Action Plan.

Economy Minister for Wales Vaughan Gething

‘What you're supposed to do when you don't like a thing is change it. If you can't change it, change the way you think about it. Don't complain.’

Maya Angelou.

Power to the People!

I believe that when one becomes interested in Welsh civic duty, then civic duty becomes a part of ‘being’ Welsh. An example of this can be seen in the journey of Economy Minister for Wales, Vaughan Gething who, as a child, realised that life was just not fair.

Vaughan’s journey into politics is evident in that we can all take accountability and ownership of our citizenship, yes there are systematic barriers, often determined by race and class, but I believe times are changing and more diverse voices are being heard. I want to echo, Black History Wales’s message – Young people, the time is now!

Whichever party you align your values with, you must show up and be proactive to take part in democracy. One thing that is looked at is not how you vote, but if you vote.

Whichever party you align your values with, you must show up and be proactive to take part in democracy. One thing that is looked at is not how you vote, but if you vote.

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People in Power

‘You Can’t Be What You Can’t See’

I asked members of the public to pose questions that they would like me to ask Vaughan during our time together.

Sarah Bowen asked;

How does political tribalism influence the decision-making process?

Just to clarify, political tribalism, has been defined as where loyalty to the political tribe becomes more important than loyalty to anything else, it is about identity and belonging, rather than supporting what is right. www.whiteeaglesvision.com.

Vaughan states it is important to first be clear about who we are and what we believe in. Yes, in some parties, we share the same values, but recognising that we do not always agree with everyone, is OK. But when it comes to the environment, such as being at the Senedd, we do have cross-party consensus, and we manage that by voting on what we think is the right thing to do. There are times when we all must debate about what the right thing to do is but ultimately, as a politician, it does come down to listening to the people, weighing up the facts and hopefully making the right decision.

This is not just a Labour issue, it is an issue across all parties.

Ali Ahmed asked;

Is getting more Black and ethnic minority people in the Senedd a priority to him?

Just a bit of background here. In 1999-2001, Vaughan worked as a researcher for former AMs Val Feld and Lorraine Barrett and was the chair of the Right to Vote, which was a cross-party project to encourage more participation from Black and minority ethnic communities, in Welsh public life. www.gov.wales I expanded on Ali’s question and asked;

What did that research find and has anything changed as a result?

Vaughan replies, that when working as chair on the Right to Vote project, we first thought that because of the low population of people of colour, this was the reason for few participating but, actually, we found that that was not the reason at all. We found that there has been a consistent lack of representation in all the cities across Wales. So, in response to Ali’s question, we have to look at the number of things required to become a councillor, such as being involved in gaining the parties' structures and supporting those structures. are you a school governor, or active in any way in your community? All of those things are a part of public life, people have to participate, and this is not just a Labour issue, this is across all parties.

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People in Power

We may not always agree with those decisions, but instead of sitting out of the game, engage, participate and become a change maker too, if you don't, in the words of Maya Angelou, don't complain!

The important thing to remember is that the areas where people are less likely to vote, the less political attention they receive, because when it comes to election time you are more likely going to spend more time in the areas that vote. The engagement in Cardiff South varies, it is not a secret that more affluent areas vote, which becomes a problem from a social justice point of view because the people who are most likely to need their government, do not vote. Furthermore, democratic engagement is not a one-off event, there are a lot of things people can do.

Xcellence magazine, is about representation, so we support the phrase, ‘you can’t be what you can’t see’, in the context of empowering, encouraging, redefining, and highlighting the systematic racism that affects the social mobility of people of colour. But what is important is not just that Vaughan is the first, but he wont be the last.

The Senedd Home of Democracy

In my experience, I have witnessed this in many organisations, I suggest that it is down to fear of others not wanting to get things wrong, or not knowing enough.

Vaughan claims that it can get frustrating, but does agree that his visibility is very positive, an example he gives was when a White lady approached him and said that her stepson got very excited to see someone who looked like him in a powerful position, making decisions on TV. However, Vaughan says that although his visibility is a good thing, it can’t just be the only thing.

Vaughan states that, although there are still many disproportionate areas, one area where there is an overrepresentation of Black, Asian ethnic minorities is entrepreneurship. He states that this is something to shout about and as Economy Minister, he hopes to support the UK Black Business Show to bring an event to Wales.

If you look up Vaughan's bio on www.gov.wales, you will be blown away by the endless list of responsibilities he has as Economy Minister, but what strikes me is his unwavering commitment to be a change maker. He didn’t like what he saw in society and decided to be the one making the decisions. We may not always agree with those decisions, but instead of sitting out of the game, engage, participate and become a change maker too, if you don’t, in the words of Maya Angelou, don’t complain.

So, I was interested to find out what Vaughan’s experience as a Black politician has been like, and I was not surprised to hear that his visibility comes with pressures that other politicians don’t understand. Despite Vaughan having many responsibilities for the whole country, during times such as Black History Month, the expectations that he would lead it, because of the colour of his skin, limits him to a Black politician, rather than a politician who is Black.

Written by: Donna Ali

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Teach them young!

It s never too early to understand your citizenship. Here are two great resources available for schools, youth organisations or home schooling. Each can be altered to students level of teaching and learning.

Level Up is a life skills programme, designed to inform and empower 16 + about their citizenship and how to take responsibility for their social mobility, by understanding the current MatRix of society.

Available @www.bexcellence.co.uk

The Super Citizens is a life skills school resource for 8–11-year-olds. Designed to help them to understand what citizenship means, so that they become ethical informed global citizens.

Available @www.darpl.org

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Education

News Education and Welsh Language Minister Jeremey Miles, with students and staff at LLanwern High School Newport

On the 13th October 2022, Education and Welsh language minister, Jeremy Miles, launched the DARPL project at Llanwern High School in Newport. Llanwern, was the first school to receive a Betty Campbell MBE Award for their progressive work in creating diversity and anti-racist lesson plans and adopting both within their practice throughout the school.

The DARPL project is the brainchild of Chantelle Haughton, who was taught by Mrs Campbell MBE, whose impressionable, bold and tenacious teaching style, broke barriers by raising awareness around Black and Ethnic minority cultures and contributions. Mrs Campbell was a pioneer of her time, being the first Black head teacher in Wales. Sadly, Mrs Campbell, passed away on the 13th of October 2017, exactly 5 years before the launch of DARPL, which falls on the anniversary of her death. However, Mrs Campbell’s legacy still lives on in spirit through DARPL and her presence can be seen in Central Square, Cardiff city centre, where she is still breaking down barriers by being the first female statue to ever adorn the Welsh capital.

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At the launch was Mrs Campbell’s granddaughter, Rachel Clarke, who is Deputy Headteacher of Mitchell Brooke Primary School in London. Rachel said, “my grandmother would have been so proud of DARPL, but also frustrated that we are still having these conversations and not enough has been done”. Rachel, is a chip off the old block, forging a career as an anti-racist educator, offering her consultancy service to schools in Wales, through DARPL and her private company, Promote Equality.

Launch of DARPL ‘For there is always light if only we’re brave enough to see it, if only we’re brave enough to be it’ -Amanda Gorman Chantelle’s heart for education is demonstrated, not only in her illustrious career as an early year’s lecturer at Cardiff Met, but also in following Mrs Campbell’s footsteps in being bold, by pioneering DARPL, which is funded by Welsh Government. DARPL is an acronym for Diversity and AntiRacism Professional Learning, which is now available to all schools across Wales, via the website www.darpl.org.

DARPL Project Director: Chantelle Haughton

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Education

News

Launch of DARPL 'It all comes down to seeing more educators confident in teaching this material and, most importantly, how our young people are impacted by it'.

Jeremy Miles

Statue of Mrs Betty Campbell MBE and Rachel Clark, being interviewed by ITV for the launch of DARPL

What's on offer?

Through the DARPL website, schools can find blogs, lesson plans, live workshops, and have access to key stake holders, who are championing this work, by creating content. They are also available as consultants, offering advice for schools to support their journey in Anti-Racist Professional Learning.

The feedback, so far, has been that some schools were nervous about approaching these subjects, owing to a lack of cultural competency and, possibly, fearful of ‘getting it wrong’. DARPL, was created to combat these fears to help schools go boldly where very few were willing to go before.

Jeremy Miles said, ‘Wales is the first part of the UK to make the teaching and contribution of Black, Asian and minority ethnic curriculum mandatory. He said the most important part of DARPL is to support our education workforce to gain confidence, knowledge, skills and experiences and to be able to do that properly, and to also help us meet our objective of being an Anti-racist nation by 2030’. So, what we are launching today is an exciting set of free highquality resources.

Xcellence asked the minister. Since the Anti-Racism action plan is aimed at eradicated racism in Wales by, 2030. What will happen to the plan if we have a new government elected in 2026 who may not priorities this important work?

He replied, I think it is unlikely that a new government would not support the plan, but it will be up to them to decide that.

Not all governments, believe in the same thing, but I would be extremely disappointing if we did have a new party in place that did not continue to support the objective of the Anti- Racism action plan.

We also asked, how is the current government going to measure the positive impact this work is going to do to impact our society? Jeremy Miles, said that it all comes down to seeing more educators confident in teaching this material and, most importantly, how our young people are impacted by it. He went on to explain that he had been struck by how young people at the launch were keen to talk about their stories. Teachers, at Llanwern, have been on a journey, and open to listening to what the young people are telling them, and then teachers adjusting their practice to fit the pupils and I would like to see the same work being done all over Wales.

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Education

News

Launch of DARPL

Left to right: Education and Welsh Language Minister, Jeremy Miles, Leon Andrews Head of Yr10, Sian Smith, Deputy Headteacher, Tracey Jarvis Headteacher, Beth Ford Head of Yr9 and Professor Charlotte Williams - receiving the 1st Betty Campbell Award

Hosts of the launch were Deputy Headteacher, Sian Smith, and Leon Andrews, Curriculum Engagement Officer and Head of Year 10. They talked about their delight in receiving the Betty Campbell, MBE, Award at the Coal Exchange during the Professional Teaching Awards Cymru back in July. The school have been leading the way, by creating a diversity club, where students are able to discuss their experiences of discrimination, they have also put on a food festival day, where students could explore their taste palates, by researching and preparing diverse food from around the World.

In the classroom, the focus has been on re-visiting history by learning about inspirational people from the past. Leon Andrews said that it is equally important to learn about people in the present. The students have also explored the global history of mathematics, to illustrate the contributions the global minority has made to the development of the world.

Collaboration is key and another thing that LLanwern High have done is to work closely with another school. At the event were students from Ysgol Glantaf, a Welsh medium school in Cardiff. Deputy Headteacher, Dyfrig Rees, brought along some of the student who have worked alongside students from Llanwern, to share content and ideas.

DARPL Project Director, Chantelle, said, “we advocate that children and all citizens of Wales need to access opportunities to learn about anti-racism. Through policy development, action-for-change, play and learning resources, opportunities, conversation space and stories education practitioners can creatively, support, challenge and debunk myths”.

The students have also explored the global history of mathematics, to illustrate the contributions the global minority has made to the development of the world.

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News

Education Newport to Nigeria The British Council Connecting Classrooms

Zuma Rock Monolith in Nigeria

"The pupils have been energised to a new way of critical thinking" For the past year, Llanwern High School has been a part of an exciting collaboration organised by the British Council Connecting Classrooms Programme. This learning programme connects schools from the UK to other parts of the world, in this instance, Newport to Nigeria.

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After attending the launch of DARPL at Llanwern High, we got to see first hand the connection between the classroom at government secondary school, Jiwa in Abuja, Nigeria and the pupils of the award-winning school in action and got to say hi. This was right up our street, so we wanted to learn more and asked if we could meet with Obaje Chogo Ekele, who is a senior education officer, to find out how the exchange has enriched the school’s teaching and learning.

The school is a government funded school with over 2,300 students, located near the Zuma Rock, a famous landmark, outside of the capital of Abuja. During our zoom conversation, Obaje was able to virtually show me around the school, as well as the view of the famous rock in the distance. Just like some schools in Wales have breathtaking views of the Welsh hills and countryside, the view from the government school was equally beautiful.

Newport to Nigeria

Obaje explains that the partnership has afforded the students a better understanding of Wales, and the UK. They, like many other countries, did not realise Wales was a separate nation with its own language. They were also surprised to learn that Wales was a very diverse country and enjoyed connecting online to see the many different skin shades of the pupils.

The interaction between the schools have allowed them to co-exist and replicate the same projects, Llanwern shared their hydrophonics science project and the government school shares their project on biogas. Obaje said that the exchange has afforded them not just the technical aspects of teaching and learning material, such as lesson plans, scheme of works and curriculum, but the teachers and pupils have been energised to a new way of critical thinking and problem solving. He said that, often, the graduates of the school, whose ages range from 12 to 18, sometimes lack critical thinking skills and are lost as to know what to do when they leave. But, he said that this opportunity has helped with personal, social and emotional development of the students.

Developing

Global Citizens X 10

Education

News

Newport to Nigeria The British Council Connecting Classrooms .

Furthermore, Obaje describes the benefits as a teacher, stating that the partnership with Llanwern school has exposed him to the cultural diversity that exists around the world, thereby affording him a more balanced and welladjusted perspective to other cultures, which has also taught him to give a good account of his ambassadorial loyalty to his country, Nigeria. He has also been exposed to some aspects of digital literacy skills where he saw how Padlet was used for the first time. The knowledge alone that his school is on the international global learning map has ignited a new fire, amongst the students, teachers and the parents, in terms of behavioural changes in their attitude and commitment to learning and their performance this term. The support the parents deploy in meeting their educational needs, like textbooks, which has taken a new turn positively. The school administrator is so proud of this partnership and has lent his support in so many ways, to make sure it adds to his credit administratively. My fellow colleagues have shown their solidarity as well, in so many ways, and have lent their support, where necessary.

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Deputy Headteacher, Sian Smith Explained; Our engagement with programme not only allowed our pupils to research the country, it allowed us to engage with the Nigerian pupils through live online meetings to talk about similarities and differences in terms of their journeys to school, where they learn best and what makes them happy.

The pupils then worked together on a joint hydroponics project, towards one of the sustainable development goals (global goals) and one of our pupils insisted that there be a President of our STEAM club because there was one in Nigeria!

Our teachers have met online to discuss and share resources on numerous occasions and we have sent videos to each other of assemblies, lessons and the school building. Sometimes the technology is a challenge (in both countries!) but because we both value the connection and opportunity, we make it work.

Written by: Donna Ali

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Education

Opinion

Why We Need to Decolonise the Curriculum Wales has a new curriculum. It promises to deliver a sense ‘Cynefin’ and real belonging for our children. It promises to nurture ‘healthy’, ‘confident’ children. It promises to develop ‘ethical informed citizens’, who as adults will be ‘ready to be citizens of Wales and the world’. The question is, how can this be achieved when generation after generation of teachers in Wales have been immersed in the British Empire narrative?

How can it be achieved when most teachers in Wales don’t even realise that they teach from a colonial perspective?

Welsh Government has commissioned studies which have informed, not only the new education curriculum but also The Anti-Racist Wales Plan. The summary of findings?

"The facts of racial inequality in the Welsh education system are now well evidenced and documented. The attainment of children and young people from some Minority communities is being hampered by a curriculum that has failed to represent their histories, and the contributions of their communities, past and present. They are hampered by the lack of positive role models in an education workforce that does not adequately reflect the ethnically diverse profile of Wales; and they are hampered by experiences of racism in their everyday school life."

Professor Charlotte Williams.

"The facts of racial inequality in the Welsh education system are now well evidenced and documented. The attainment of children and young people from some Minority communities is being hampered by a curriculum that has failed to represent their histories, and the contributions of their communities, past and present. They are hampered by the lack of positive role models in an education workforce that does not adequately reflect the ethnically diverse profile of Wales; and they are hampered by experiences of racism in their everyday school life."

X Prof. Charlotte Williams.

In a well-intended effort to include ‘Black History’ in lessons, it has become commonplace to talk about and show images of black men being lynched, detail the torture practices of slavery, and praise the sports prowess of successful Black athletes. Here are the problems for this for Black and Brown children: Black children are being confronted with traumatic imaging that portrays them as de-humanised victims. White children are not as deeply affected by it and can make matter-offact statements as they become de-sensitised to the suffering of other human beings that don’t look like them.

Would the same teachers present images of white children who have been beaten up and murdered on the classroom screen?

Slavery is not ‘Black’ History.

Black people have a rich and positive history before and after the Transatlantic Slave Trade period.

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Slavery is not ‘Black’ History. Black people have a rich and positive history before and after the Transatlantic Slave Trade period. Also, this subject is taught without any mention of the rebellions that occurred, and how it was deemed illegal only when it was no longer financially viable for the British Government.

Black people are capable and have excelled in Science, Literature, Business and Finance, Information Technology, and the Arts, but often these successes are rarely, if ever, mentioned in Welsh education. This means that we are actually teaching an inaccurate account, in many cases.

Students are told inside and outside of school that Robert Peel, Sir Winston Churchill and Napoleon Bonaparte, to name a few, are men with attributes to admire. All of them have been overtly racist and even responsible for the deaths of millions of Black and Brown people. Facts omitted from the narrative in Welsh education.

Of course, these things should not be omitted from education either, the problem is how they are being delivered and that balance is missing. If we hope to develop children who will leave school with a healthy mind and confident attitude, how can we do this when some are being bombarded with both subliminal and overt messages that they are weak and inferior. How we can we nurture children to become citizens of the world when they have been told their whole lives, that Black and Brown people are other, and that they are the ‘majority’ race?

It is clear we need to change our mindset. Black History and Welsh History are one and the same. As Welsh people it is time to recognise the diverse and culturally rich nation that we are and that starts in education. If we don’t, the objectives of the new curriculum will not be met, and our children will be disadvantaged.

Black History and Welsh History are one and the same.

‘Wales is the first part of the UK to make the teaching and contribution of Black, Asian and minority ethnic curriculum mandatory. He said the most important part of DARPL is to support our education workforce to gain confidence, knowledge, skills and experiences and to be able to do that properly, and to also help us meet our objective of being an Antiracist nation by 2030' Education and Welsh Language Minister, Jeremy Miles.

Written by: Natalie Jones

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Addysg

Barn

Pam Wae Nngen i ni Ddadelfennu'r Cwricwlwm Mae gan Gymru gwricwlwm newydd. Mae’n addo rhoi ymdeimlad o ‘Cynefin’ a pherthyn go iawn i ein plant. Mae’n addo magu plant ‘iach’, ‘hyderus’. Mae’n addo datblygu ‘dinasyddion moesegol gwybodus’ pwy fydd, fel oedolion, yn ‘barod i fod yn ddinasyddion Cymru a’r byd’. Y cwestiwn yw, sut y gellir cyflawni hyn pan fo cenhedlaeth ar ôl cenhedlaeth o athrawon yng Nghymru wedi cael eu trwytho yn naratif yr Ymerodraeth Brydeinig? Sut y gellir ei gyflawni pan nad yw’r rhan fwyaf o athrawon yng Nghymru hyd yn oed yn sylweddoli eu bod yn addysgu o safbwynt gwladychwyr?

Mae Llywodraeth Cymru wedi comisiynu astudiaethau sydd wedi llywio, nid yn unig y cwricwlwm addysg newydd ond hefyd Gynllun

X Gwrth-hiliol Cymru. Y crynodeb o'r canfyddiadau?

"Mae ffeithiau anghydraddoldeb hiliol yn system

addysg Cymru bellach wedi'u tystiolaethu a'u dogfennu'n dda. Mae cyrhaeddiad plant a phobl ifanc o rai cymunedau Lleiafrifol yn cael ei rwystro gan gwricwlwm sydd wedi methu â chynrychioli eu hanes, a chyfraniadau eu cymunedau, gorffennol a phresennol. Cânt eu rhwystro gan ddiffyg modelau rôl gadarnhaol mewn gweithlu addysg nad yw'n adlewyrchu'n ddigonol broffil ethnig amrywiol Cymru; ac maent yn cael eu rhwystro gan brofiadau o hiliaeth yn eu bywyd ysgol bob dydd."

Yr Athro Charlotte Williams.

Mae Llywodraeth Cymru wedi comisiynu astudiaethau sydd wedi llywio, nid yn unig y cwricwlwm addysg newydd ond hefyd Gynllun Gwrth-hiliol Cymru. Y crynodeb o'r canfyddiadau?

"Mae ffeithiau anghydraddoldeb hiliol yn system addysg Cymru bellach wedi'u tystiolaethu a'u dogfennu'n dda. Mae cyrhaeddiad plant a phobl ifanc o rai cymunedau Lleiafrifol yn cael ei rwystro gan gwricwlwm sydd wedi methu â chynrychioli eu hanes, a chyfraniadau eu cymunedau, gorffennol a phresennol. Cânt eu rhwystro gan ddiffyg modelau rôl gadarnhaol mewn gweithlu addysg nad yw'n adlewyrchu'n ddigonol broffil ethnig amrywiol Cymru; ac maent yn cael eu rhwystro gan brofiadau o hiliaeth yn eu bywyd ysgol bob dydd." Yr Athro Charlotte Williams.

Mewn ymdrech a fwriadwyd da i gynnwys ‘Hanes Du’ mewn gwersi, mae wedi dod yn beth cyffredin i siarad am a dangos delweddau o ddynion du yn cael eu lynsio, manylu ar arferion artaith caethwasiaeth a chanmol dawn chwaraeon athletwyr Du llwyddiannus. Dyma’r problemau ar gyfer hyn i blant Du a Brown: Mae plant du yn wynebu delweddau trawmatig sy'n eu portreadu fel dioddefwyr sydd wedi'u dad-ddynoli. Nid yw plant gwyn yn cael eu heffeithio mor ddwfn ganddo a gallant wneud datganiadau oeraidd wrth iddynt cael eu ddadsensiteiddio i ddioddefaint bodau dynol eraill nad ydynt yn edrych fel nhw. A fyddai’r un athrawon yn cyflwyno delweddau o blant gwyn sydd wedi cael eu curo a’u llofruddio ar sgrin y dosbarth?

Nid Hanes 'Du' yw caethwasiaeth.

Mae gan bobl ddu hanes cyfoethog a chadarnhaol cyn ac ar ôl cyfnod y Fasnach Gaethweision Trawsiwerydd.

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Nid Hanes ‘Du’ yw caethwasiaeth. Mae gan bobl ddu hanes cyfoethog a chadarnhaol cyn ac ar ôl cyfnod y Fasnach Gaethwasiaeth Drawsatlantig. Hefyd, mae'r pwnc hwn yn tueddu cael ei dysgu heb unrhyw sôn am y gwrthryfeloedd a ddigwyddodd, a sut y barnwyd ei fod yn anghyfreithlon dim ond pan nad oedd bellach yn hyfyw yn ariannol i Lywodraeth Prydain.

Mae pobl dduon yn alluog ac wedi rhagori mewn Gwyddoniaeth, Llenyddiaeth, Busnes a Chyllid, Technoleg Gwybodaeth a’r Celfyddydau, ond, ni sonnir llawer, os o gwbl, am y llwyddiannau hyn yn addysg Cymru. Mae hyn yn golygu ein bod mewn gwirionedd yn addysgu cyfrif anghywir mewn llawer o achosion.

Mae myfyrwyr y tu mewn a'r tu allan i'r ysgol yn cael y neges fod Robert Peel, Syr Winston Churchill a Napoleon Bonaparte, i enwi ond ychydig, yn ddynion â nodweddion i'w hedmygu.

Mae pob un ohonynt wedi bod yn agored hiliol a hyd yn oed yn gyfrifol am farwolaethau miliynau o bobl Ddu a Brown.

Ffeithiau a adawyd allan o'r naratif mewn addysg Gymraeg.

Wrth gwrs, ni ddylid gadael y pethau hyn allan o addysg ychwaith, y broblem yw sut y maent yn cael eu darparu ac mae’r cydbwysedd hwnnw ar goll. Os ydym yn gobeithio datblygu plant a fydd yn gadael yr ysgol gyda meddwl iach ac agwedd hyderus, sut y gallwn wneud hyn pan fydd rhai yn cael eu peledu â negeseuon isganfyddol ac amlwg eu bod yn wan ac yn israddol. Sut gallwn ni magu plant i ddod yn ddinasyddion y byd pan da ni wedi dweud wrthynt dros hyd eu bywydau cyfan, bod pobl Ddu a Brown yn bobl eraill, ac mai nhw yw'r hil y ‘mwyafrif’?

Mae’n amlwg bod angen inni newid ein meddylfryd. Yr un peth yw Hanes Pobl Dduon a Hanes Cymru. Fel Cymry mae’n bryd cydnabod y genedl amrywiol a diwylliannol gyfoethog sydd gennym ac mae hyn yn ddechrau ym myd addysg. Os na wnawn ni, ni fydd amcanion y cwricwlwm newydd yn cael eu cyflawni a bydd ein plant dan anfantais.

Mae hanes du a hanes Cymru yn un yr un peth.

'Cymru yw'r rhan gyntaf o'r DU i wneud dysgu a chyfraniad cwricwlwm pobl dduon, Asiaidd a lleiafrifoedd ethnig yn orfodol.

Dywedodd mai'r rhan bwysicaf o DARPL yw cefnogi ein gweithlu addysg i fagu hyder, gwybodaeth, sgiliau a phrofiadau a gallu gwneud hynny'n iawn, a hefyd i'n helpu ni i gyflawni ein hamcan o fod yn genedl wrthhiliol erbyn 2030' Addysg a Gweinidog y Gymraeg, Jeremy Miles.

Ysgrifenwyd gan: Natlie Jones

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Education

Eve-olution of HumaniTree

Authors Bio

Abu Bakr Madden Al Shabbaz Abu-Bakr is a historian who specialises in the black and African past. He is also an educational consultant on the New Welsh Curriculum and provides professional learning in Anti-Racist sentiments around the world. Abu-Bakr was trained at Cardiff University’s School of Social Sciences as an anthropologist, sociologist, researcher, educationalist and psychologist, and has taught at the same university for about 30 years, for various departments, societies and faculties. He ran the first ever university accredited course in Wales in black and African history and was the first person in Wales to develop and deliver a course on Race and Genetics Science, from 2011 to 2013. During the academic year from 2020 to 2021, Abu-Bakr was asked to teach PhD students at Cardiff University at their annual doctoral conference on the methodical art of ‘interdisciplinarity’ – an approach he regularly uses in all his presentations or public lectures, to enhance the listeners or learners understanding of the topic or theme.

Today, Abu-Bakr is the managing director of ACAP Academy UK CIC, which is based in Cardiff, where he writes training materials and educational packages for schools and universities in multidisciplinary topics in both humanities and social studies. He also provides childhood development studies and 21st century parenting for parents and youth/social workers. He also practices psychotherapy for the African Community Centre (ACC) in Swansea and provides training in health and wellbeing for those from ethnic minority groups who lack a cultural centred approach by other practitioners.

Abu-Bakr has three degrees and has obtained sixteen professional or advanced diplomas from the Civil Rights Movement to Psychotherapy and Additional Learning Needs or (SEND) over the years he has provided his services. He is now writing his first book and hopes to get it published next year.

Abu-Bakr is a qualified professional chef in French Cuisine; and has been a high school psychologist, deputy head teacher, assistant head teacher, head of high school department, head of Key Stage 3&4, university teacher trainer and is a Welsh Assembly Government consultant in education and has appeared on ITV News and BBC’s documentary Wales, England’s Colony, as well as Wales Untold

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Education

Essay

The Eve-olution of HumaniTree Introduction In recent years, we have found to our amazement how people in the Western world have signed-up and spent large amount of money, to be involved in the scientific approach in genetics and DNA, in order to find out more about their ‘true’ or past ethnic and racial origins. DNA is a fascinating subject and although the vast majority of participants who send away their samples to genetic companies – their DNA, to find out more about their past migrations and what genetic markers they possess, it seems to be a way of satisfying their own curiosity in who or what they are or think they are. The unfortunate reality is when the findings are returned, there is a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding in comprehending what exactly do the findings mean, and how they should be understood and interpreted from a layperson’s position.

In this paper, I will attempt to lay out some of the basic research techniques, along with the findings, that have led us to this point in time, in us wanting to know more about our ancestral past and which group or region on the globe they came from. I will also look at some of the scientific conclusions that are sometimes hard for former colonial countries to accept, such as there were only dark or black populations that lived and inhabited the planet for hundreds and thousands of years, before the modern Europeans came into existence as we know them today – which has become a hard and uncomfortable pill for these nations to swallow. I will also share with you some of the relationships our prehistoric ancestors had with their environment and climate, which brought about psychological and physical changes to where we are today.

Science and Race In the journal Nature in January 1987, three extraordinary scientists collaborated at the University of Berkeley, California in the United States, to investigate the origins of humankind and their links to one another. Their names were Rebecca Cann, Allan Wilson and Mark Stoneking whose findings were eventually published in Newsweek in 1988, to the general public.

In this study, they decided they were going to examine what we now know as mitochondrial DNA which is passed from mother to daughter in each generation. In this study, they took specimens from the placentas of 147 women from various ethnic groups and analysed each’s mitochondrial DNA. By comparing these in order of affinity, they assembled a giant tree, a vast family network, a sort of chronological chart for mankind, which linked up all the various samples and, therefore, the world’s races, in a grand, global genealogy.[1] The reason why womens’ placentas were used for this study is because this usually discarded organ is ‘a rich source of mtDNA’[2] that can be examined easily owing to the large quantities that can be extracted and examined meticulously by scientists. The study went on to produce three conclusions which we are more familiar with in the 21st century. Firstly, it revealed that very few mutational differences exist between the mitochondrial DNA of human beings, be they Vietnamese, New Guineans, Scandinavians or Tongans. Secondly, when the researchers put their data in a computer and asked it to produce the most likely set of linkages between the different people, graded according to the similarity of their mitochondrial DNA, it created a tree with two main branches. One consisting solely of Africans. The other contained the remaining people of African origin and everyone else in the world. The limb that connected these two main branches must, therefore, have been rooted in Africa, the researchers concluded. Lastly, the study showed that African people had slightly more mitochondrial DNA mutations compared to non-Africans, implying their roots are a little older. In total these results seem to provide overwhelming support for the idea that mankind arose in Africa and, according to the researchers’ data, very recently. Their arithmetic placed the common ancestor as living between 142,500 and 285,000 years ago, probably about 200,000 years ago.[3] Based on the various genetic materials extracted from all the specimens collected and examined, it was concluded that everyone on the planet was related to one woman who they dubbed ‘Mitochondrial Eve’, who is the mother of humankind whose facial reconstruction was created to show she was certainly African phenotypically, with dark skin to match.

Prehistoric Phenotypes During and After Migration In the science of human biology, we are taught that our skin is the largest of all our organs, so naturally this phenotype has to be considered a crucial study from a prehistoric perspective, if we are to understand the type of relationship our skin colours have to do with the environment and the various climatic changes, which occurred during the prehistoric era.

During the last one hundred years or so; anthropologists and paleoanthropologists, just to name a few, have been researching skin colour and found out its importance to the sun, especially the molecule we now know has ‘melanin’ or the dark pigments our skin produces, which is a defence mechanism that shields us from the ultraviolet rays of the sun.

When Mitochondrial Eve’s children left Africa to populate the rest of the world, it is important for us to know how did they look and what type of colour complexion(s) they would have possessed back in those prehistoric environments? The reason why this question is important is because there is a notion that Europeans living during the prehistoric ages looked like how Europeans look today – but further examinations show they look very much African and still maintain large quantities of melanin, even if we are to take into consideration the last ice age.

[1] African Exodus: The origins of Modern Humanity, Chris Stringer & Robin Mckie, Page 118.

[2] DNA: The Secret Of Life, James Watson, page 241.

[3] African Exodus, page 118

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The Eve-olution of HumaniTree cont...

From the 1500s onwards, skin colour was being constructed under the paradigm of inferior and superior, not from a scientific perspective but, rather, from a political hegemonic colonial viewpoint, which went on to dominate all disciplines and sciences in the Western world we live in. Now known as pseudo-science, skin colour and so-called races has nothing to do with inferior or superior cognition of an individual – skin colour or the lack of melanin is related to an inherited trait, which is connected to the shades of colour we gain from our parents. Today, with DNA we are now being taught there is no such things as races – there is only one race and that is the human race, which makes humankind more closely related than being distant, which we can now categorise as the monogenetic group – whereby the polygenetic theories of the colonial past does not hold up, owing to scientific studies of genes and relatedness of various groups of people.

When Mitochondrial Eve’s children left Africa to populate the rest of the world, they would have had to have left the continent of Africa with their dark skin. The Aboriginal peoples of Australia are believed to have inhabited that continent from about 60,000 years ago, so between other continents, skin tones and shades of complexion would have been no different to those living in Africa, for hundreds and thousands of years. The first modern humans who migrated out of Africa almost certainly had dark skin, as do their descendants in Australia and the relict populations who still survive at points in between… it’s possible that for many thousands of years all modern humans outside Africa, as well as those inside, had black skin.[1] So, what research is telling us, when Mitochondrial Eve’s children left Africa and went into Arabia and Asia, they still retained their dark complexion. Even when they entered Europe some 45,000 years ago they would also have retained black skin and other African features[2].

Skin colour for our prehistoric ancestors had a biological significance, which has nothing to do with being superior if you are white, fair, or light complexion – unless it was to do with its relationship to the sun and its protection, which is related to the production of melanin. Dark skin is rich in the pigment, melanin, protecting deeper layers of skin from sunburn and skin cancer. In sunny places, it seems reasonable to assume that natural selection would act to conserve genes that make skin dark, as many mutations producing pale skin would be a disadvantage,[3] which shows the importance of climate and skin tones along with the production of vitamin D, which is necessary for bone development a protection from the sun rays.

[1] Before The Dawn: Recovering the Lost History Of Our Ancestors, Nicholas Wade, page 121.

[2] Ibid, page 95.

[3] The Incredible Human journey, Alice Roberts, page 98.

'Evolution is not about progression, it is about adaptation' Conclusion What we can ascertain from the research into mitochondrial DNA, is that we are one human family who have migrated around the world over the thousands of years we have lived on the planet. Some of you may ask the question, I have focused a lot on Africans, dark skin, and their descendants; but what must be concluded is that all universal ethnic groups are joined biologically and genetically, as one human family, and this is the most important part of this paper. Some of you may question if Black, dark, or brown people are the mothers and fathers of humanity, then where does white, fair or European skin tone come from? During the making of the film, Humanitree, in which I was one of the lead research consultants on this documentary project, we spoke to various doctors, professors and scientist from around the world in many different academic fields, who proclaimed through their own research techniques that Europeans and Caucasians, as a cluster group, with their present phenotypes are no older than 8,000 years on the planet, which shows us that the history of the world and prehistory in the upper palaeolithic period had only one type of people, which many Europeans are grudgingly accepting under the New World religion of science and technology. This does not mean, by any means, that dark skin people are more superior than whites – what it shows is that the darker races are older and created the oldest and earliest cultures and civilisations in world history, and this is why timelines and dates are important, to put things into a historical perspective owing to the deliberate falsification the colonists engaged in during the periods of enslavement, colonisation and imperialism. This is the beginning of de-colonisation for the New Welsh Curriculum in all the Areas of Learning and Experiences, which will now be mandatory.

When we, in the Urban Circle team, interviewed prospective scholars for the Humanitree documentary which went on for over one year, we mentioned the phenotype of Cheddar Man – the oldest Brit to be discovered, which showed him looking very much like an Australian Aborigine or Black Indian with blue eyes. We found, to our surprise, when they spoke about their prehistoric research in Europe, their data gave them the following: Cheddar Man’s descendants didn’t evolve to have lighter skin. Rather, the genetic line of Cheddar Man, and of a similarly dark-skinned continental European hunter-gatherer, fizzled out and was replaced by that of light-skinned descendants of the people of the Russian steppe, around 4,500 years ago. Less than 10 per cent of the DNA of modern Europeans comes from hunter-gatherers of that time… people from the Russian steppe had light skin and brown eyes, while Western European hunter-gatherers had dark skin and blue eyes. When it comes to skin colour, full genome DNA analysis suggests there were at least three variants in the Europe of 5,000-plusmyears ago: the dark skins, dark curly hair and blue eyes of the Western European hunter-gatherers, such as Cheddar man, the light skins, brown eyes and dark hair of the first farmers who migrated from Anatolia, and the pale skins, brown eyes and mainly dark (but also blond) hair of the pastoralists from the Russian steppe. The latter two groups largely replaced the dark-skinned hunter-gatherers, although blue eyes might be one huntergatherer genetic trait that has survived.[1] [1] Skin Deep: Journey in The Science of Race, Gavin Evans, Page 100

Written by: Abu Bakr Madden Al Shabbaz

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Education

Review

Review of the HumaniTREE documenary On the 28th October, Urban Circle an independent youth arts organisation based in Newport previewed it’s ground breaking documentary HumaniTREE. Urban Circle is a renowned charity which engage, support, and empower young people and communities. The HumaniTREE documentary is just one of the many projects that is youth lead, but this project focuses on young people gaining insight, skills, and ownership in media. Under the leadership of Nuakai Aru, who is a film maker, led the young creative team through the process of researching, filming and all other aspects of digital and technical skills required to creating a production.

The project consisted of a workshop with Nine Black Films.

Hosted at the University of South Wales, where the creative team, took part in a RnD week, learning research skills, the power of film, the impact of the media and stereotypes as well as the art of documentary making and how they can be used as powerful ways to share a message.

The documentary previewed at Cineworld Cinema, at Newport Retail Park, with a full audience, consisting of VIP’s invited to share in the unveiling of a year long project in the making.

As an introduction some of the young people, who were a part of the creative team, first described the benefits of the experience. They explained that taking part in the project helped them socially as well as professionally, to build on skills they already had, whilst developing new knowledge and understanding in areas of science, anthropology, and history.

They also touched on the importance of education and variable narratives, when exploring topics on race and history which, for them was missing during their experience of school.

The creative team, worked closely with academic researchers, who are in the field of genetics, human race and African migration. Such as Anthropologists, Dr Sarah Abel and John Hawks (USA), Turi King a Geneticist, Robin Walker a Historian aka The Black History man and Abu Bakr, supported the creative team throughout, to ensure there was balance and enough information for them to do a critical analysis of the existing migration theories.

The documentary begins, by highlighting the catastrophic effects of climate change and the relationship with the planet and humanity, as well as recent world affairs, like the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter Movement. Narrated

by Nuakai, who is also an actor, poses the question.

‘How did we get to where we are now? We live on a planet with so many social and environmental problems, what is our true history and what is our collective story’?

You can view HumaniTREE online FREE for 48 hrs, airing on the 3rd – 5th December.

Visit www.humanitreedocumentary.com

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A ground breaking documentary made by:

Urban Circle of Newport.

The HumaniTREE documentary, can be viewed for FREE on the 3rd -5th December. #Humanitreefilm

Advertisement

www.thehumanitreedocumentary.com

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Education

Interview

FACE Changing the FACE of Fashion There are talented people here in Wales who are changing the face of fashion, quite literally.

FACE, Fashion Academy Creating Equality, was launched in 2020, and is aimed at challenging higher education, further education, and the fashion industry to be more equal. The collective members who make up FACE are fashion academics, creating equality. They are passionate about seeing an industry that is worth an estimated $1.9 trillion by the end of 2022, which employs roughly, 430 million people worldwide, become a more equitable commodity.

Xcellence Magazine caught up with Nada Koreish, who is a fashions communications lecturer at UWE also a PHD scholar and casual lecturer at Cardiff Met, to discuss the new approach to creating equity within the fashion world and how Wales, is a part of that conversation, but also putting in the action to create change.

Tell us a little about your background in the world of fashion, and what you feel your lived experiences can bring to create change?

My fashion journey started in New York, undertaking a degree with a company called Catherine Gibbs, I later studied at FIT. Whilst studying I worked a plethora of jobs to get through university, as most students do. One of those jobs was as an intern, designing menswear, which turned into a full-time job. I have worked for brands such as National Geographic, designing clothes for the crew, we were one of the first teams to use bamboo as a substitute for cotton, so my ethics around sustainability and equity began there. We found that although bamboo has antibacterial elements, we later discovered that bamboo is not that sustainable.

Whilst I have a wealth of experience working for brands such as, Billabong, Betsy Johnson, Quick Silver, and alternative brands, I later embarked on creating my own brand called, Neon Pink Revolution. I have worked hard to develop my skills in illustration, teaching qualifications and gained a Masters, and I am current undertaking a Phd. During all of my academic accomplishments I have continued to freelance for well-known brands in Morocco, Egypt and then in the US, as well as high street brands, such as Primark and Asda.

After having my children, I decided to go down the academia route, and noticed that there were not a lot of Black and Brown fashion academics. As a mother, I really wanted my career to have an impact in raising representation, as I felt it was about legacy building, I want my children to not walk into a space and feel like the ‘other’ so that is why I became a member of FACE, which is a collective of people aiming to change how we do fashion and who does fashion. Part of how we do fashion is by honouring where we get some of our creative ideas. There are many indigenous patterns and materials that I feel the Western world has taken ownership of and, often when they do, there are elements missing, which lacks depth and authenticity. We aim to eradicate bad elements of cultural appropriation.

My heritage as a mixed Egyptian, Turkish person, has been used in my career in ways that has limited my opportunities, I have been pigeonholed by only been given certain accounts, such as Egyptian or Indian factory owners. When I was younger, I really didn’t understand the limitations and discrimination that mindset had on my career. It was only when I started studying further that I realised this was not appropriate and was a stereotype.

I became very passionate about exploring equity and decolonialism in fashion and I am very lucky that I get to teach a module at Cardiff Met, as an associate lecturer, that covers all of these aspects such as appropriation and appreciation to a variety of student from different backgrounds. Because they are the ones moving the world of fashion forward and I think the most important aspects should always be around ethics and minimising, if not eradicating, stereotyping.

'My Vision for the future is for people to get the credit where credit is due' X 21

Xcellence attended the Victoria and Albert museum to visit the Africa Fashions exhibition.

Here are some of the beautiful designs and textiles on display.

This is an example of equality in the fashion industry, giving space and equity to all artists and designers, from the Global Majority.

Visit Africa Fashions at V&A, Exhibiting until Sunday 16th April 2023

Spanning iconic mid-20th century to contemporary creatives through photographs, textiles, music and the visual arts, Africa Fashion explores the vitality and global impact of a fashion scene as dynamic and varied as the continent itself.

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News

Education

FACE Summit

To re address these stereotypes, I started the Fashion Liberation Collective, so that we can retrace our history and explore where the authentic inspiration for patterns and original designs come from. Big brands have used cultural appropriation for years and it would be ethical to give something back, My vision for the future is for people to have the credit where credit is due, to the people or countries that have created authentic patterns and designs. Our collective vision, through the Global Fashion Assembly, is about decolonising and decentralising fashion around the world, where no-one dictates to anyone, and designers can be free flowing.

Nada Koreish,(she/her) MRes PGCE(PCET) BA(Hons) ‫ندى قريش‬

Another issue around ethics is that the fashion world is always trivialised, as if it is less than art, but it is the 3rd biggest industry in the world. So, there should be a greater appreciation, particularly when holding brands to account.

The emphasis on ethics, in terms of buying power, is always put onto the consumer. We can argue that some factories around the world, pay fairer wages, or have compromised working conditions. But we need to look at the flip side, where do these employees go for work, if the supplier is the main employer in that country? What we must do is put the agency on the brand to ensure that work standards are being met and people are treated fairly. One solution is that we could start to accredit factories, by maybe having an agency that police’s suppliers.

There is a long way to go, but by teaching these issues to my students, it opens a discussion around what they can do when they go into the industry and how are they going to make their mark for change.

The FACE Summit was in October, and it was a great success. We had over 1,000 registered online attendees, with 450 people attending at the location, in London. I had the opportunity to speak on two live panels, we anticipated a big turnout, because these are conversations that are current within the fashion design industry that have raised professional and public consciousness. The summit itself was a way of decolonising fashion, by opening an important dialogue which will be used to change minds and change the way we do things.

Decolonisation, in the fashion world means to create equity, raising people up to a level where they can compete in a western fashion system, without it being labelled as traditional, oriental, exotic, or just different. It is about bringing a variety of cultures together and them having an equal space at fashion shows and other spaces, without being seen as foreign. I feel that most of the world, is suffering from an identity crisis, as we come out of a postcolonial system. For some, we are not British enough or not Egyptian enough, instead of experiencing our identities within both worlds, we are often made to choose.

The important thing is, that our collective based, is designed by us, for us!

Follow @fashion_liberation_collective / @globalfashioningassembly on Instagram www.wearface.uk

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Education - Entrepreneurship

Authentic Diversity in Fashion Ethiopian Beauty Fashion designer, Dagmawit Alemayehu, is passionate about bringing diversity into everyday apparel.

Using her experience of working in her family run textile factory, back home in Ethiopia, Dagmawit is more than experienced to understand the commitment and creativity needed to create a brand.

Dagmawit Alemayehu

Only six years ago, Dagmawit settled here in Wales, after seeking political asylum and is currently working towards completing a degree in fashion design at the University of South Wales.

Throughout her studies, this Ethiopian beauty, has been working on her own fashion label, called Konjo Fashions, which means beautiful in Aramaic. Her passion, and love of Africa, is evident in her bespoke designs, where she uses African prints in everyday unique pieces.

If you are looking for a bespoke garment or alterations, you can find Dagmawit at Curios, based in the Capitol Shopping Centre, Cardiff.

Curios offers creative people space.

Whether you're looking for stunning evening wear or trendy casual clothing, you'll find something you love within the Konjo Fashion range.

For handmade, one of a kind bespoke items, visit Konjo Fashions. www.curioscardiff.com

Advertorial

Photography: Grzegorz Gladysiak

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Visa Versa

History

Jamaica Jamaica Jamaican Independence Jamaica has more than a few similarities to Wales. Both countries have a population of about 3 million; both have a large diaspora; both have stunning beaches, and both are famous for their love of music. The name ‘Jamaica’ means ‘Land of Wood and Water’.

Jamaica gained Independence in 1962. It had been a long and painful fight for equality, which was finally realised following the abolition of slavery, owing to the unbreakable spirit of people like Nanny of the Maroons and then the civil rights activism of people like Marcus Garvey. No wonder they are still considered national heroes in Jamaica.

To understand the story of independence in Jamaica, you must go back to 1509, when the Spanish decided that Jamaica belonged to them. Their abuse of the indigenous people, the Arawak and Taino, left them decimated and on the verge of extinction. The Spanish answer to this? They began to kidnap West African people and force them into free labour. Neither group of people were subservient. It took a lot of manpower and weapons to colonise them.

In 1655, the British saw the financial benefits of ‘owning’ Jamaica and didn’t spend much time defeating them and taking control. What followed was a brutal regime of human trafficking, torture, rape and working people to death. This cruelty saw British people benefitting from stately homes and impressive buildings resulting from profits in sugar, rum, and exotic foods like pineapples.

Welsh copper was used as currency to buy slaves. Welsh ironworks provided the canons for slave ships which killed hundreds of West Africans on their shores trying to save loved ones from being snatched.

Some Welsh people were plantation and slave owners.

From the start of British rule in Jamaica, there were those who managed to escape away from plantations and hide.

As their numbers grew, they would up rise and free others.

By 1728, these uprisings reached a height that took the British by surprise. White abolitionists are often highlighted as being instrumental in the ending of Jamaican slavery, but the truth is, they fought back and when it was no longer economically viable as a result, they abolished slavery in 1834. However, white British people remained in control of law making, property and economy.

Artist depiction of a plantation It took another 100 years and an aggressive uprising for the British Government to take notice of the inequalities they had created.

Through the 1950s, self-government increased, a cabinet of ministers was formed, and a prime minister elected. Finally, independence was gained in 1962.

The British paid out millions in compensation, to slave traders and owners, but nothing to the victims. It is estimated that this means Britain still owes Jamaica and based on the payments they made in the mid-1800s, this should be in the region of 7.6 billion pounds. However, British Government has shown little interest in giving back any of the money they gained from forced free labour and theft.

Today, Jamaica’s economy relies on tourism, farming, bauxite, to produce aluminium, and marijuana for pharmaceutical companies.

Jamaican Independence is celebrated in Jamaica and the diaspora every 6th August, but there are those who still feel that Jamaica would have been better off remaining under British rule.

As a Welsh Jamaican, I can’t help but wonder what Welsh Independence would look like. We have resources that the rest of Britain values. Our water and green energy are certainly important, and, like Jamaica, we also rely heavily on tourism. Our starting point would not be recovering from slavery. I wonder?

Written by: Natalie Jones

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Visa Versa

Hanes

Jamaica Jamaica Annibyniaeth Jamaican Mae gan Jamaica fwy nag ychydig o debygrwydd i Gymru. Mae gan y ddwy wlad boblogaeth o tua 3 miliwn; mae gan y ddau alltud mawr; mae gan y ddwy wlad draethau syfrdanol, ac, mae'r ddau yn enwog am eu cariad at gerddoriaeth. Mae’r enw ‘Jamaica’ yn golygu ‘Gwlad Goed a Dŵr’.

Enillodd Jamaica Annibyniaeth yn 1962. Bu'n frwydr hir a phoenus dros gydraddoldeb, a sylweddolwyd o'r diwedd yn dilyn diddymu caethwasiaeth, oherwydd ysbryd di-dor pobl fel Nanny of the Maroons, ac yna, gweithredith hawliau sifil pobl fel Marcus Garvey. Does ryfedd eu bod yn dal i gael eu hystyried yn arwyr cenedlaethol yn Jamaica.

Er mwyn deall stori annibyniaeth Jamaica, rhaid mynd yn ôl i 1509, pan benderfynodd y Sbaenwyr fod Jamaica yn perthyn iddynt hwy. Roedd eu cam-drin o'r bobl frodorol, yr Arawak a Taino, yn eu gadael yn ddirywiedig ac ar fin diflannu. Yr ateb Sbaeneg i hyn? Dechreuon nhw herwgipio pobl Gorllewin Affrica a'u gorfodi i lafur rhydd. Nid oedd y bobl yma yn eilradd. Cymerodd lawer o dynion ac arfau i'w gwladychu.

Ym 1655, gwelodd y Prydeinwyr fanteision ariannol ‘bod yn berchen’ ar Jamaica ac ni threuliodd lawer o amser yn eu trechu a chymryd rheolaeth. Yr hyn a ddilynodd oedd trefn greulon o fasnachu mewn pobl, artaith, trais rhywiol a phobl oedd yn gweithio i farwolaeth. Gwelodd y creulondeb hwn bobl Prydain yn elwa o gartrefi urddasol ac adeiladau trawiadol yn deillio o elw mewn siwgr, rym a bwydydd egsotig fel pîn-afal. Defnyddiwyd copr Cymreig fel arian cyfred i brynu caethweision. Darparodd gweithfeydd haearn Cymreig y canonau ar gyfer caethweision a laddodd gannoedd o orllewin Affrica ar eu glannau gan geisio achub anwyliaid rhag cael eu cipio.

Roedd rhai Cymry yn berchnogion planhigfeydd a chaethweision.

O ddechrau rheolaeth Prydain yn Jamaica, roedd yna rai a lwyddodd i ddianc o'r planhigfeydd a chuddio. Wnaethon nhw fywydau caled ond rhudd i'w hunain. Wrth i'w niferoedd gynyddu, byddent yn codi ac yn rhyddhau eraill.

Erbyn 1728, cyrhaeddodd y gwrthryfeloedd hyn uchder a oedd yn syndod i'r Prydeinwyr. Mae diddymwyr gwyn yn aml yn cael eu hamlygu fel rhai sy’n allweddol i ddod â chaethwasiaeth Jamaica i ben. Ond, y gwir yw, roedd yna lawer o ymladd yn ôl a phan nad oedd bellach yn economaidd hyfyw o ganlyniad, fe ddiddymasant gaethwasiaeth ym 18.4. Fodd bynnag, roedd pobl wen Brydeinig yn parhau i reoli’r gyfraith gwneud, eiddo ac economi.

Darlun artist o blanhigfa Fe gymerodd 100 mlynedd arall a gwrthryfel ymosodol i Lywodraeth Prydain gymryd sylw o’r anghydraddoldebau yr oedden nhw wedi’u creu.

Trwy'r 1950au, cynyddodd hunanlywodraeth, ffurfiwyd cabinet o weinidogion, ac etholwyd prif weinidog. Yn olaf, enillwyd annibyniaeth yn 1962.

Talodd y Prydeinwyr filiynau mewn iawndal, i fasnachwyr a pherchenogion caethweision, ond dim byd i'r dioddefwyr.

Amcangyfrifir bod hyn yn golygu bod Prydain yn dal i fod mewn dyled i Jamaica, ac yn seiliedig ar y taliadau a wnaed ganddynt yng nghanol y 1800au, dylai hyn fod tua 7.6 biliwn o bunnoedd. Fodd bynnag, ychydig iawn o ddiddordeb y mae Llywodraeth Prydain wedi’i ddangos mewn rhoi peth o’r arian a gawsant o lafur rhydd dan orfod a lladrad yn ôl.

Heddiw, mae economi Jamaica yn dibynnu ar dwristiaeth, ffermio, bocsit ar gyfer cynhyrchu alwminiwm a mariwana ar gyfer cwmnïau fferyllol.

Dethlir Annibyniaeth Jamaica yn Jamaica a'r alltud bob 6 Awst, ond mae yna rai sy'n dal i deimlo y byddai wedi bod yn well i Jamaica aros o dan reolaeth Prydain.

Fel Cymrais Jamaicanaidd, ni allaf beidio meddwl, tybed sut fuasai Annibyniaeth Cymru edrych? Mae gennym adnoddau y mae gweddill Prydain yn eu gwerthfawrogi.

Mae ein dŵr a’n hynni gwyrdd yn sicr yn bwysig ac, fel Jamaica rydym hefyd yn dibynnu'n fawr ar dwristiaeth.

Nid dechrau o safbwynt ail adeiladu ar ôl caethwasiaeth fyddai ein man cychwyn. Tybed?

Ysgrifenwyd gan: Natlie Jones

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BOMB - Black Owned Minority Business

News

The British African Entrepreneurial Journey In the first book of its kind, Dr Christopher A. Johnson examines the contributions of African settlers to the British economy from 1793 to the present day. The book evidences the true nature of intercultural, intra-ethnic and multi-social features of people of African descent.

Dr Christopher A. Johnson

What was the inspiration behind creating the book?

What are the significant points that your book addresses?

The inspiration for the British African Entrepreneurship Journey came from over 35 years of working with inter-governmental agencies, institutions, and a wide cross-section of civic organisations, that had tussles with ethnicity, culture, faith or religion, race, and other socially related identity issues. Since time immemorial, people of African descent have been stigmatised based on ‘colour’ [pigmentation] and texture. They’ve been perceived as homogenous or belonging to a single entity/group. The evolution of Africans; owing in part to slavery, indentureship, migration, citizenship and/or naturalisation, meant that conventional misconceptions about their overall composition and type, had to be rectified. Further, Africans growing inter-ethnic, intra-cultural and cross-social symmetries, meant that such inevitable pluralities deserved recognition and acknowledgement in current ethnic entrepreneurship literature. Moreover, the significant African contribution to British economic history is almost unknown to both mainstream and minority ethnic societies in the UK.

This enterprise ‘trilogy’ edition addresses key themes in each of the six chapters. It challenges the notion of ‘ethnicity’ versus the ‘race’ conundrum when dealing with minorities' involvement and participation in business economic affairs. However, the book examines critical areas; viz., cultural affirmation, civic and faith renewal, economic resilience, financial selfreliance, group power, identity quest, polyethnicity, social inclusion and upward mobility. Hundreds of case studies comprising 22 or 41% of the UK’s African enterprise disparate groups, highlighted the cultural, intellectual, social, and spiritual capital of members of this ethnic group. Since much of the fieldwork research was done during and after the COVID-19 period(s), the book analyses challenges to firms and opportunities for businesses in national and global markets.

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BOMB - Black Owned Minority Business

They’ve been perceived as homogenous or belonging to a single entity/group.

Why do you think the book is so important in the current climate?

It’s significance must not be underestimated especially at a time when evidence from post-pandemic reports, highlights growing inequalities across various mainstream provisions for minority communities. The persistent lack of a definitive policy strategy for ethnic or immigrant entrepreneurship is another cause for concern. Extant literature including routine studies on minority ethnic entrepreneurship, is/are bereft of business leaders by clearly stated ethnic affiliation or nationality, more so, their true heritage background. Then, there is limited knowledge of, and understanding on, how to utilise the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) model to categorise ethnic firms by relevant industry sector and business segmentation.

What do you hope to achieve by writing the book?

Undoubtedly, this new edifice will have a pervasive effect on national, regional, and national socio-economic policy imperatives. Firstly, it will help change the ethnocentric perception of the African diaspora particularly in the western metropolis. Secondly, it will create a paradigm shift in the way people of African and other ethnic descent, are classified in social group terms. Thirdly, the book can be used as a policy tool to measure the organisation and performance of ethnic firms by industry sector and business segmentation. Fourthly, the book will have a profound impact on the way in which Africans and their ethnic ‘cousins’ are seen in their involvement and participation in business, industry, the professions, sciences, and civic affairs at local, regional, national, and international levels. Fifthly, it will strengthen cultural kinship, economic solidarity, and social cohesion amongst communities, in their understanding, acknowledgement and appreciation of the importance of the ‘ethnic dividend’ to British society as a whole.

Who is the book targeting in terms of an audience and why?

Apart from ethnic and other businesses, the British African Entrepreneurship Journey book is also invaluable for analysts, business counsellors, consultants, educators, employment advisors, economists, enterprise networks, government agencies, policy makers, public institutions, work researchers, students, and work coaches. Others who have an abiding interest in immigrant entrepreneurship and social enterprise, will find this publication very edifying and refreshing.

What challenges did you find while writing the book?

Like most rare publications of this type, there were understandable challenges. Chief among them were, poor information, inaccurate data, lack of a central database for minority firms and under-representation of minority firms in public sector or mainstream decision-making bodies. Other problems were some Africans’ ambivalence towards being interviewed. Some felt their contribution to society was unimportant. Others wondered whether the book would make a difference to their economic and social lives. Except for the solitary Phoenix Newspaper, major mainstream, and ethnic media agencies, were reluctant to publish information on matters pertaining to the book’s publication.

During and after the pandemic period, there was little if any, real assistance, and support for minority ethnic firms. Young Africans maximised opportunities offered by the pandemic crisis to start-up micro firms in industry sectors; that is, home-based and technology-driven enterprises.

When is the book out? Where can it be purchased?

The book was published by Global Entrepreneurial Development Services (GEDS) Ltd July 2022. It can be purchased by ordering at email:baebook@geds.solutionsand also dial mobile telephone: 07891 479 255 or 07787 702 092.

Written by: Mo Jannah

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BOMB - Black Owned Minority Business

News

UK Black Business Show - London

Rahael Sofoluke CEO and Founder of UK Black Business Show

'I wanted to create a platform to inspire and connect Black business owners and professionals. I knew that to be successful, I would need to do something that had never been accomplished before'

Black entrepreneurship has become a prominent talking point, most notably after the launch of The Black Business Show in 2017. Its popularity has shone a light on the underrepresented Black entrepreneurs in the UK: with only 5.4% of small to medium size enterprises being run by majority Black and ethnic minority people in 2018. Statistics like these gave founder Raphael Sofoluke the inspiration and took the mantle by taking action and creating The UK Black Business Show, which aims to create a ‘progressive and positive’ space for Black entrepreneurs to be able to network amongst each other and create ‘meaningful connections’.

Xcellence attended the UK Black Business Show, held at the Birmingham NEC in June, which was a sell-out event, with over 1,500 attendees, 100 exhibitors and 15 guest speakers. The highlight for us was hearing Akala, who gave a passionate and educated presentation about Black enterprise and capitalism. More recently, we attended the UK Black Business Show in London, held at the Business Design Centre in Islington on the 22nd October. This event was also a sell-out, with over 4,500 attendees, 200 exhibitors and 20 guest speakers. We caught up with some of the exhibitors, to ask why they feel that events like this are important and exactly how do they, as entrepreneurs, benefit?

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BOMB - Black Owned Minority Business

News

UK Black Business Show - London

Your Only Limit is your Imagination.

Kidpreneur Illora- Lee Louison, age 8, attended to promote her self-development journal. She is an extraordinary young girl, whose quiet eloquence explains the inspiration behind her creation, she explained.

Kidpreneur Illora- Lee Louisone ‘So, at 4 years old, I could not speak English, my first language was French. Learning how to read, write and make friends was hard for me, but I managed. The idea for my business began when my mother bought me a selfdevelopment journal, which really helped me. I asked my mother if we could create our own journals. It took one year to develop our brand and source the products. We sell our journals through the business website and Instagram page.

My schoolteachers are very impressed and support my aspirations as a kidpreneur.

Attending UK Black Business gives me the opportunity to meet other Black owned businesses and make connections that can help the business grow. Our biggest success so far has been selling over 300 journals to Microsoft.

The objective is to help children to find happiness through getting to know who they are, using positive daily affirmations. My favourite affirmation is. 'I am a beautiful Black girl'.

On the 19th November, Ilorha, won the Trulittle scribe hero award, for her creation. A massive congratulation to you, you are truely Xcellent.

WELL DONE!

With this Self- Development Journal, children will have fun discovering their potential and meet the best version of themselves, when transitioning through childhood to adulthood.

www.ilosunshine.com

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BOMB - Black Owned Minority Business

News

Maternal Serenity is a natural scent brand of products for mother and baby. Founded by Fatima Ali, in 2021. After working in various roles for the NHS, Fatima is well experienced in working with new mothers, providing maternity complementary therapy, midwifery, and postnatal support.

Maternal serenity offers an array of products such as, balancing restoring pulse oils, body butter and soaps. All products are natural, and no stone is left unturned, when it comes to ensuring the brand is integral to the mindfulness of respecting mother earth.

It was the first-time maternal serenity has featured as an exhibitor at the UK Black Business Show, an opportunity that, Fatma says, is essential to developing the brand. She said, 'attending this event has been very encouraging, as people have been so complimentary of our packaging and scents. It is great to have such positive feedback from other Black owned businesses, and it has been an opportunity to network and meet like minded entrepreneurs'. 'We will be back'!

Fatima Ali and her husband The plain shop was founded by Ayo Adedeji who is also the artistic creator, and Emma Rudy who is the illustrator. The idea for the plain shop, came out of the pandemic during a time of quiet contemplation. They both wanted to create a lifestyle brand that was minimalistic, with a focus on simplicity, which encompassed quality and inclusivity. The aim is to build a community that everyone can be a part of to share in a common ethos, ‘it is, what it is’.

The full range consists of t-shirts, hoodies, jumpers, hats, and bags. They also have a colouring book and set of playing cards.

www.jamaiciarumvibes.com

We spoke to Ayo and asked why he thought events such as the UK Black Business show was important and did it live up to his expectations? He replied, "the UKBBS absolutely lived up to my expectations. I aimed to connect with as many people as possible and gain insight into my products and brand from my community. I also aimed to make as much profit as possible so I can directly redistribute it to hawkers, small business owners and an orphanage in Nigeria.

The UKBBS was my opportunity to do that and I was able to do so which was really exciting".

He added, "organisations like the UKBBS and Black Pound Day are quintessential to the empowerment of the black community. We are already incredibly culturally impactful but by supporting small businesses, we can grow the black middle class and have a more prosperous and politically influential community as well"

Jamaican Rum Vibes was founded by Tamo Carter, who is originally from Jamaica. Tamo’s inspiration for the product stems from his grandfather’s stories of when he used to run his rum business, using a horse drawn sugar cane mill and rum bar, back in the late 1940’s.

Rum is a staple drink of Jamaica and these 250 ml cans of various flavours, pulls a punch, at 4.5% vol. They are currently stocked in over 200, Co-op stores, but sadly only one in Wales, which is Lampeter. The company are trying to branch into Wales and are looking for wholesalers, bars, and restaurants. Jamaican Rum Vibes attended the UK Black Business show, to find more distributors and to bask in the Black excellence that the event offers.

We had a fantastic time, speaking with many of the entrepreneurs present. But these were just some of our favourites. A truely inspiring day and great connections were made.

Let’s hope UK Black business show comes to Wales.

Founder: Tamo Carrter

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Third Sector News

News

A night of Recognition and Thanks Sheila Hendrickson-Brown, CEO at C3SC said, “This year’s Awards event, themed ‘Reconnect in Communities’, is bringing together volunteers, community groups and organisations, to recognise their efforts and achievements in helping people and communities to deal with the pressures throughout a challenging period of recovery for the county of Cardiff over the past few years. The ceremony will be presented in a hybrid format – the first of its kind and particularly significant as the first large-scale event since the lockdown restrictions. It is our pleasure to reconnect in communities once again – face-to-face and online, to show our appreciation for the fantastic work undertaken by the wonderful community of volunteers in Cardiff. We are delighted to welcome back Wales & West Housing as our headline sponsor, with support from Serco, Lovell, Kier Construction, VividBlock IT and volunteers.’’

The Cardiff Volunteer Awards is organised by the Cardiff Volunteer Centre @C3SC (Cardiff Third Sector Council) to celebrate volunteering in Cardiff and recognise the contributions and achievements of volunteers, voluntary groups and organisations, for going above and beyond in our communities.

Following the highly successful virtual event last year – attended by over 100 people, this year’s ceremony was a hybrid event, held in person at Butetown Community Centre and online via Zoom.

The event took place at 4pm on 17 November 2022.

Eleeza is a qualified grassroots level football referee and also works closely with the Cardiff youth service and have completed various different work experience opportunities with them including young inspectors, young interviewers and young commissioners. She has also completed her Bronze and Silver DofE with the Cardiff youth service and going on to Gold. She works closely with the Grange Pavilion Youth Forum where we have a safe space for various young people to hang out and organise in various fun activities. As a Muslim and south Asian young woman, she is often the only one at football events and matches. They are represented as a niche, but the reality is they are not. The world is changing, and Eleeza is driving it forward. She helps support and offer opportunities to more people like her and help empower our local community.

If you are interested in being a sponsor for new years, Volunteer Awards event, please see our Sponsorship Package Document or to discuss any of our sponsorship packages, contact us on 07973 725569 or 029 2048 5722 or email us at: enquiries@c3sc.org.uk.

'This year’s Awards event, themed ‘Reconnect in Communities’, is bringing together volunteers, community groups and organisations'.

Sheila Hendrickson-Brown, CEO at C3SC LCP work with young people through outdoors activities and 121 support by liaising with parents and families via local worship centres and cultural groups to provide free support to young people with their school work, free tutoring, advice and guidance, mentoring and coaching them about their career choice and sports/physical activities - as means of empowering them to be responsible community members who will in turn support others, as ambassadors. LCP were able to engage with about 44 individuals including families. They teamed with another organisation to organise 3 visits and tours at the national museum in Cathays park and St Fagans. They also help run a successful programming course, increasing the number of participants and encouraged young people to get involve in volunteering.

Eleeza Khan - winner of Young Volunteer of the Year The Young Volunteer Award is selected by a judging panel from nominations received from the public. This Award recognises the contributions of volunteers aged below 25 years old.

Lioness Community Projects (LCP) - winner of Youth Led Grant (YLG) Project of the year: The YLG Award winner is selected by the judging panel from the list of YLG projects delivered in the last financial year.

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Poetic Justice

We Echo I am returning.

The city I loved an echo, choked on its own smoke.

Ash air, wild traffic, glossy spines of sky-rises that dissolve in the aftermath.

I knew I would be called to the fleshy fields of my body.

I heard their croaks, felt their thirst in the heat.

For weeks, I’ve listened to the sea toss and turn, aching.

I put my ear to the black earth and it hums back.

I pluck seeds from my scalp, craters hardened by the sun.

When my grandmother first told me we were different, she was brushing back my stubborn curls in the mirror, bobbles between her teeth for pigtails.

On your 16th birthday you will dream the world is ending. You’ll watch as everything sparks to flame, and the sky turns gold with rage.

Your mother and I, my mother and her mother too have fought through this same dream.

At the last moment, when you’re about to succumb, you’ll hear the distant hunger of the sea.

Go to it, tend its longing, you have something it needs.

I started to notice. Morning rain, I felt the grateful soil quench, my arms heavy with new weight.

I heard the trees strategise survival, the low groan of roots crawling deeper.

I woke in the night to the sting of fresh stems piercing my spine, I coughed up dragonfly wings, still beating, bearing for flight.

Debut poetry pamphlet Back Teeth out now with Broken Sleep Books Writer, poet, performer. (she/her) hww.tayloredmonds.co.uk @tayloredmonds Credit to: Wales Arts International

While my friends learnt to shave new growths of leg hair with soap and a blade, my skin puckered under patches of moss and lichen.

I heard their whispers in my absence; my slimy hair, its green-tinged trail, smell of mould, jasmine, burning.

The city, mothered by the greedy sea, my stomach felt her gnawing.

Now I put my hand into the salt-froth of the water. It envelopes skin like an old friend. Caregiver, I let it drag and fold me.

What’s left in an abandoned city?

We’ll take it back quietly, a flowering rock, roots capsizing pavement.

I come from a line of land healers, our bodies an offering, a hook between worlds.

I think of my grandmother, lulled like the tide to return to this place.

I have a photo, or a memory, or a dream; I’m on her shoulders at the cliff edge, leaning to the wind and we are, we are, we are.

Taylor Edmunds Authors Bio Taylor Edmonds is a poet and writer from South Wales. She was the 21-22 Poet in Residence for the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales and has received a Rising Stars Award from Literature Wales.

She has been published or featured by Poetry Wales, BBC Wales, Butcher's Dog, Cheltenham Poetry Festival, Parthian, Wales Arts International and The Senedd.

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I AM

Front Cover: Model: Dionne Bennett Photography: Zaid Djerdi @zxidy Hair & Make Up: Shanice Wright Artistic Director: Tia-Zakura Camilleri

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Interview

Photo credit: Zaid Djerdi

I am Dionne Do you feel a sense of Cynefin in Wales?

How would you describe your cultural background?

I am Black and Welsh, my parents are West Indian. I grew up with a deep sense of pride of my Blackness and strong connection to my Jamaican heritage. Growing up in Deptford, Southeast London, I never felt Welsh whilst living there and did not tell anyone I was born in Wales, my friends only knew of my connection to Wales when they asked where I had spent my school holidays. When I was younger, I struggled with connecting my Welsh identity and cultural background, but over time I have reconciled the two. But it has been a journey, because I felt my Welshness was confined to certain areas, such as Cardiff, because being Black and Welsh was not seen as being Welsh enough.

"The contributions my parents have made to Wales, makes my viewpoints valid"

I now feel a sense of belonging, which has come through stories that my parents, family members and elders, have shared over the years. At family gatherings they spoke about their early experiences of arriving here from the West Indies and how they made Wales their home. They spoke of the struggles, but also throughout all their challenges, they had a strong determination to succeed in a foreign land. My parents and so many others came to Wales, not only to build a life, but they also helped to build this city. My father was a carpenter and helped to build Cardiff prison. My mother was a nurse at St David's Hospital, it is these stories and the contributions that makes me feel a sense of belonging and makes my viewpoints as a Black Welsh person became valid. In them I have ownership and feel truly invested in Wales.

Unfortunately, my sense of belonging was not created or represented in the history of Wales, or in the media of which I have been exposed to.

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Interview

Who has inspired you?

My sister Karen is my biggest inspiration. Sadly, she is no longer with us, but she encouraged me to explore my musicality and interest in the arts. As a lighter skinned Black woman, she would tell me often how my Blackness was beautiful and demonstrated that in her deeds. Karen was a goddess to me, she had an entrepreneurial flare and was the type of person who’s energy could be felt in a room, her beauty and light demanded attention without saying a word, her intelligence and finesse were other worldly to me as a dark skinned nappy child, I was in awe of her sense of self and, I guess her spirit, is what keeps me progressing in my career and in my own journey of self-discovery.

What challenges you?

Photo credit: Zaid Djerdi

"My sister's spirit is what keeps me progressing in my career and in my own journey of self-discovery" Do you think representation is important?

Of course, representation is so important, when I lived in London, I saw people who looked like me every day, in all types of industries. After the murder of George Floyd, during a time when we were all at home, society had looked in the mirror and what was reflecting back, was racism within organisations and some people’s attitudes and behaviours. However, we are seeing some changes within organisations, they seem to not just be listening but believing the lived experiences of Black people here in Wales and across the country. We still have a long way to go, I am doing my bit to create change through my art, which is the best expression I can articulate in a powerful way.

I want modern Wales to be seen for the beauty we have here within our communities. I think it is important to advocate and shout about the contributions Black people have made to Wales. For me, that is a driving force behind my personal and professional life. I am a lecturer in Hereford University and work with the youth community group, which I love to do as it gives me access to young people, and I have learnt a lot about their perspectives. I have also set up a Black Music company, called Tân Cerdd, with the legendary Jaffa, with the intention of creating opportunities for Black artists of all genres to display the creativity and versatility of musical art as well as to forge a new Black music scene to promote the amazing talent that is not always visible.

I feel like life in general is full of challenges and as a darkskinned Black woman, who works in the music industry, it has brought not just racism but also misogyny. I have managed to overcome them and, in doing so, have found the most about myself. I always like to find the lesson in those experiences, often they offer an opportunity to challenge such issues like discrimination. Music is a part of who I am, so I use my field and creativity and position in music to explore these themes and develop myself as an artist, and as a Black woman. However, the positives largely outweigh the negatives.

How did your singing career start?

My interest in the arts started at about 9 years old, when I started to write lyrics and poems. At the age of 13, I embarked on a music project called the Lucian Academy of Music, now known as the Medi music, which is still going in Deptford in Southeast London. My first encounter was that I became fascinated by the mixing desk and thought that I wanted to be a studio engineer. I was so inquisitive and wanted to know what all the buttons and knobs did and how they worked together. My singing really began when one day, we were in the studio and I took hold of a microphone, I began to sing and the session leader, called Phoenix suggested I joined the singing lessons and the rest is history, I have never looked back. I also went to a place called the Albany and became the main character in a theatre production called ‘13 unlucky for some’. I was so honoured, that a song that I had written at the age of 13, was also used in the production, which made me feel so proud and really encouraged me to record a commercial track, which was called Maria.

A huge THANK YOU! to Cardiff Lights, for supporting us through Black History Month

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D

One of my most memorable opportunities, was gaining one of the very few female parts in the official Blues Brothers musical. During the 18-month tour, I learnt so much about the expectations of a professional singer.

And, as my knowledge and ability grew, so did my awareness of stage craft and performative elements that go into producing a great show. The youth music projects were fundamental in developing my career as a vocalist, also the experience of being a part of a successful musical, opened the door for me to become a mentor for young people.

oing her Thang...

Phot credit: János Nagy Budapest.

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Interview If you could perform on any stage in the World, where would it be and why?

I had the absolute pleasure of performing in the Motorpoint arena, in support of Oasis, which was phenomenal, the audience was electric, and we had the best time. But I would love to perform there again with my own music one day. Outside of Wales I would love to perform at the Albert Hall, because it is a historical platform with amazing acoustics. Performing there as a Black artist showcasing my own music would be immense. Internationally, I would love to perform at Maddison Square Gardens, which is iconic.

Imagine taking Black Welsh music to that platform. I would also love to go to Fuji Rocks, in Japan and perform at the Jamaican jazz and blues festival, and whilst I am putting it out there for the universe to hear, I would also like to do an Afro Punk event. As an artist, I love variety and there are so many ways to express and represent Black music, I want to do them all!

What advice would you give to a young person, who would like to pursue a career as a singer?

The advice I would give, is to first decide what is it you want from being in the music industry. I would ask them to think about, what do you want? Fame or recognition because it is important to understand the struggles and rewards of each. Personally, I have never wanted fame, but I do want recognition for the work I create, I hope that my legacy is that I left this world a little better because of my art. So, I would suggest to young people starting out, not to box themselves in, be open to exploring different avenues, and not to be afraid of saying no.

If you are serious about what you want, then there will always be other opportunities. My advice for a Black woman, would be to not be controlled by others, be bold and brave to be who you are and do not dim your light, being authentic to who you are is the key to being different. The music game is difficult, but it is also a beautiful experience, ultimately, my advice would be, don’t be afraid, and to reach out to people who have gone before you.

Dionne preforming at: Kings Place, London

If there is one thing you could change in society, what would it be?

If I could change anything in society it would have to be, the concept of race and racism. I would want to inform people that we do have differences, but in the very essence of who we are as humans, we all want the same universal things, such as happiness, a future and for our families to be safe, as well as our basic needs met.

Unfortunately, racism divides and dehumanises us and takes away from the beauty of our human collectiveness.

If we could eradicate racism, we could solve so many issues in society, that is the reason, why I want to be a positive role model, I want people to explore and express their anger around how they are treated. It is only right that people use their voice, it is the only way we are going to change things, by speaking up. Black people have every right to be infuriated by the way they are often treated, but it is even better when we have allies, who also speak up, that is where the power lies, in our collectiveness.

I have never wanted fame, but I do want recognition for the work I create, I hope that my legacy is that I left this world a little better because of my art. @dionne.bennett A conversation with: Donna Ali

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How Great Thou Art

Motivation Written by: Joy Price

I’m Possible

Have you ever had an idea that seemed so preposterous that you didn't even take yourself seriously? Have you looked around and thought ‘nobody does things like that?’ Well, me too; being a 17-year-old Asian, late-starting dancer from Wales with a tight budget, I felt that it would be impossible for me to pursue a career in professional ballet. However, through hard work and the support of others, I have been able to realise what seemed like an impossible dream.

At the age of 12, I began at the Lemon Ballet School in Cardiff, taking an hour of ballet per week. Owing to circumstances, it was impossible for me to take the quantity of lessons required to pursue a career in dance. At around the age of 17, I had just started to fall in love with ballet but thought it impossible for me to reach the required standard.

I was absolutely heartbroken.

The periods of lockdown, however, provided me with the opportunity to pursue ballet, giving me both time to practice and the chance to access ballet lessons at a reduced cost.

Throughout this time I received enormous support from Miss Lowri and The Lemon Ballet School where I trained, who showed significant generosity and kindness to me and my situation. They were extremely encouraging saying, “Joy is a pleasure to teach. She pushes herself hard to gain the strength and stamina needed to dance and shows all the necessary determination to succeed”. Lowri’s words truly made a world of difference, as I would never have had the courage to pursue dance without her encouragement and support.

Have Courage And Be Kind!

There were limited options for me in the ballet world.

However, Central School of Ballet has an inclusive approach to student training and has been supportive of my situation. This gave me the hope that it was possible to chase my dreams. I experienced many challenges while auditioning for vocational school. For example, I incurred a hip injury, which forced me to take over a month off right before my auditions. Furthermore, I was also forced to audition digitally from my lounge, causing many issues, such as not being able to perform big or traveling ballet moves. There were also many small problems as part of this process, such as my dog running into the room during classes, my ballet barre falling apart and making sure that I didn't smash a lightbulb.

Despite these issues, I am happy to say that I successfully filmed my audition videos and received a very positive outcome. I remember the moment that I was offered a place at Central School of Ballet, a leading professional ballet school; I was absolutely ecstatic, jumping up and down with excitement. At that moment, I knew that the impossible could be made possible when we believe. I am now in my second year of training at Central and looking forward to whatever my future may hold.

In conclusion, I would like to say that no light bulbs or dogs were hurt in the making of this story, although my ballet barre may not have survived. On a more serious note, I would add that even if an idea seems preposterous, or we don’t do things in the way that others may expect, we can still chase our dreams and make our ambitions a reality. Furthermore, my story also shows what a difference encouragement can make; so, let's expect big things from those that seem least likely to succeed and let’s do our utmost to have courage and be kind.

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How Great Thou Art

Motivation 'If an idea seems preposterous, or we don’t do things in the way that others may expect, we can still chase our dreams and make our ambitions a reality'.

Photo credit:A Dancers Lens

Ballet dancer JOY PRICE showcasing all things are possible.

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How Great Thou Art

Written by: Krystal S Lowe

Credit Sleepy Robot Photography

Advertorial Being Art I understand two things in this world – words and movement. There’s something empowering and essential about self-declaration. Deciding who you are for yourself and not waiting for someone else to appoint you. For a long time, I only thought of myself as a dancer, but over the years I have come to see myself also as a choreographer, writer and director. Declaring these things has been an essential aspect in releasing myself into the fullness of what I have to offer through my art.

I create dance theatre works for stage, public space and film, which explore themes of intersectional identity, mental health and wellbeing, and empowerment. These themes aren’t random, they are intimately connected to me. Through my art, I am able to explore my own identity and share that exploration with others to offer connection and support; to encourage moments of introspection and spur social change.

My work is never fiction – it is always derived, in some way or another, from my life and/or the lives of those around me.

I’m inspired by nature, my life experiences and by those closest to me. Once that first piece of inspiration comes, it’s planted and takes root inside my mind. Most of my ideas, for writing or movement, remain inside my mind for years – growing and taking shape – before they ever become something physical. And then, when it’s time, I pour them out onto the page or into a studio space. I pour them out, unrefined and unstructured.

My goal is to get them out and, only after they are out, do I mould them into shape. One of the things I love most about live performance art is that it is never finished. There is unending depth to be found within each, and every thought and idea. So, I plan the many ways I will explore this work before deciding on one way, not the right way (there is no right way), to share it with others. And then, the following years are spent in continued exploration of the many forms in which a piece of work can take. My pleasure as an artist is not found in the accolades of a finished production, but in the exploration of a work – during the creation and performance of that work. It is because of this pleasure that I am able to enjoy the work I produce. Because it’s not about perfection or one way of being, instead, it’s about the being.

Being an artist – and, as a dancer – being art.

It’s easy to get weighted down wondering whether or not we’re good enough as artists. For me, I never ask myself whether I’m good enough. I create because of my love for creation and for people. Being a great artist is not and never will be my goal. Authenticity is my cornerstone, equity is my purpose, innovation is my ambition, and empowerment is my aspiration. My goal, is art.

I began these bursaries as a way to support the next generation of influential artists. To offer others the opportunity to learn as I learn, to develop as I develop, and to be seen as I am seen. I am committed to this work and will do everything in my power to ensure the success of Our Voice Network | Rhwydwaith Ein Llais and The Our Voice Bursary.

Our Voice Bursay

In 2021, I founded the Our Voice Network | Rhwydwaith Ein Llais – a network that exists to empower, platform and develop artists of the Global Majority, through professional development opportunities, showcasing events, and bursaries. In March 2022, I produced a sharing event at the Riverfront Theatre, Newport ‘There’s Room for Me Too’, to raise money for two Our Voice Bursaries.

The Our Voice Bursary 2022 supports two female artists of the Global Majority for one year, to begin a career in the arts and make ongoing connections in the arts sector.

Along with my mentoring and support of these artists, they will also receive one week of space to explore their artform, £500.00, and the opportunity to share their work in a 2023 showcase produced by me, supported by the Riverfront Theatre, Newport. The 2022 Our Voice Bursary recipients are Karema Ahmed and Stephanie Stevens.

Karema is a Cardiff-based emerging singer/song-writer, who is passionate about music and how it allows people to express themselves and connect with others. Stephanie is an actor, writer and singer. She is drawn to theatre that incorporates love, spirituality, history and equality.

Karema Ahmed & Stephanie Stevens

Contact Information: krystalslowe.com Krystalslowe.contact@gmail.com Twitter/IG/FB - @KrystalsLowe

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. Being an artist – and, as a dancer – being

art.

Krystal S. Lowe Credit Sleepy Robot Photography

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Poetic Justice Poetic Justice

Tell your Children the Truth!

Tell them it all began in Egypt (advanced civilization, science, math, philosophy, religion, architecture). Tell them the first gyptians were Black, nothing to do with Hollywood movies Tell them Christopher Columbus did not discover the Americas, that Mansa Musa, the Malian, was the richest man in the world, that the Black Egyptians were the first to travel the world, that they discovered Europe, the Americas, Asia and Oceania!

Tell them it's in Egypt that the meter was invented from the measure of a drop of water, that pi (3,14) and the number of golds were invented in Egypt as well as many geometric theorems attributed to Pythagoras and Thales, yet Imotep, the greatest of scholars, remains unknown to history books!

Tell them that the Ancestor of Humanity was discovered in Africa, that many of the inventions of this world were made with the participation of Black people who were never mentioned!

Tell them Africa had a handwriting before the first ships and missionaries arrived. Tell them that union alone can guarantee our survival and rehire us to the greatest, that concrete was invented in Egypt and not by the masons not at all in fact!

Tell them that after arranging punitive expeditions to loot us from our artwork for Western museums with the key to thousands of deaths, they also vandalize our cultural heritage by breaking the noses of Egyptian statues, so we don't recognize the wrecked nose of a Kemite, palpable proof that ancient Egypt was black!

Tell them to work not wait for the manna that will fall from heaven, it never fell! Tell them to believe our ancestors because they are the only ones who can intercede with the creator in our favour!

Tell them not to hate the other when they find out the truth of a falsified story but to forgive.

We have to tell our children the truth because it is the only way to overturn the vapor of psychological domination of other races over ours. Our skin colour is not a CHAM. - The Diaspora Radio International

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Review

How Great Thou Art

By: Donna Ali The Wales Millennium Centre The WMC really out did themselves, by debuting Alice Walkers, epistolary novel, The Color Purple. The adaptation

by Marsha Norman, was unambiguous in relation to the onscreen version, where poor Celie’s abuse is dramatised and more explicit. The on-stage version still told the story of abuse, and of a mother’s broken heart, as a result of being separated from her babies, but it was more palatable and, in some ways, although secretly hidden in full view, you could sense the rawness of her pain masked throughout the songs, sung by Me’sha Bryan, Bree Smith and Aaliyah Zhane, and the rest of the extraordinarily talented cast.

If you have ever seen the 1985 onscreen film, by Stephen Spielberg you will know that the story is set in the deep south where, historically, women where often given to other households as maids, and child bearers, disguised as wives. This is the part where Celie’s life takes a left turn, as her father sends her off to marry a man, without a name, or at least such important information was not given to her.

Why would it be?, this is not a partnership based on love, but pure self-indulgence for the man of the home and a convenient child minder of his children. Considering her father’s incestual activity, this must be the lesser of the two evils.

In good-hearted context of a musical, the church choir trio keeps the audience entertained with their impromptu, curtain entrances, clapping and snapping their elbows to the gospel songs adorning the sounds of the theatre, used to narrate the events with humour as they grace across the stage, fanning themselves, sometimes exhibiting the southern heat and other times, gesturing the heat between Harpo and Sophia during their passionate expressions of admiration for one another.

As the story unfolds, there are more chuckles, from the audience, particularly when Celie’s husband’s, name is revealed by the glamorous and sultry house guest, Shug Avery, who seduces Celie into loving herself, in awe of Shug’s independence and disinterest in being a submissive woman of servitude. However, Shug helps herself to the man of the house. Which is a welcomed gift for Celie, who is surprised that anyone would ever enjoy such an encounter.

As the scenes develop, Celie, grows in strength throughout her encounters, with the formidable women, who help her find her voice and form her opinions openly, particularly about the entrapment of the marriage union and hunger, for communication from her long-lost sister.

This critically acclaimed Made at Curve and Birmingham Hippodrome production won Best Regional Production (whatsonstage awards), which is most deserving as it is a story that is rich in depth and integrity.

Thank you, Wales Millennium Centre, for bringing an allBlack cast to Wales, representation and historical narrative, played with such excellence and humour, is definitely art in its highest form, all I had to say was – Encore!

The Color Purple is a story about, family disfunction, sexual violence, empowerment, resilience, and HOPE!

In a triumphant scene, Spielberg concluded his finest love story with Celie and Nettie reunited: both some what older yet playing childhood patty-cake.

Scene from the original film

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News

How Great Thou Art Sounds of the Sytems

Photographs supplied by: Hilary Brown

Butetown Carnival- back in the day The organisers, Hilary Brown who is the Chair of Butetown Community Centre, along with Steve Khiareh, a familiar community organiser and profound youth worker, was supported by a team by putting on a two-day event that will only be bigger and better next year. The day was nostalgic, for many bringing back vibes of the old school carnival live sound systems and artists who travelled all the way from Jamaica to help revive this historical community event. Visitors from all over Wales were truly spoilt, with the main headliner Eek a Mouse, who was phenomenal, but all artists made the day truly memorable.

It's

Our little star of Wales, 11-year-old Luchia Ellu-Alimikhena, started her career as a live performer at Butetown Carnival, first performing at the age of 7, after seeing her idol, Aleighicia Scott, perform. You can find more about her story in Issue 1 of Xcellence Magazine.

This was Luchia’s second time performing at the Butetown Carnival at the Senedd, belting out some of her favourite artists tracks outside the iconic parliamentary building. The atmosphere was family oriented with stalls selling food, and rides and craft.

The aroma of Caribbean food was divine, overall, it was a lovely time spent, before we headed to the other Butetown Carnival located at the original site of carnivals of days gone by, on Canal Park, Butetown.

out That b A

e...

Tim

As reported in Issue 1 of Xcellence Magazine (online), we shared a bit about the history of Butetown Carnival and its impact, back in the day, of creating a multi-cultural event for people from all over Wales to come together as one, through the sounds of live Reggae bands, African drum percussion, and all other genres of music from people of the global majority. This summer, we were spoilt with two carnivals, both representing sounds, food and cultures, from around the globe.

We visited both, starting at the Senedd, organised by well-known local community organiser and Carnival King, Keith Murrell. It was a fun filled day, suitable for the family, with performances from Juke Box Juniors, a local dance organisation and Dur-Dur band, an international Somali band, and many more.

Photographs supplied by: Hilary Brown

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Carnival at the Senedd

Children from Juke Box Juniors, Luchia preforming and Krystal Lowe, performing her story book Whimsy.

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a k e e E s u o M

Photographs supplied by: Hilary Brown

Eek a Mouse live and direct, preforming to the crowds.

Alongside event organiser Hilary Brown with our Jamaican visitors.

Butetown Carnival 2022, was sponsored by act Training Provider

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How Great Thou Art

News

Sounds of the Sytems

SS

A carnival would just not carnival without a sound systems. At Canal Park, we were treated to: Crystal-Clear Sound, Qualitex Sound, Empire Sound, Countryman Sound, Love and Harmony Sound. There is definitely a revival in the air, with organisations such as the Wales Millennium Centre recently hosting a panel discussion around the art, emergence and history of sound systems.

Who knew that a conversation like this would take place in such an iconic building, but why not? It is the home of the arts for Wales, and sound systems is a form of art originated from carnival days. The panel discussion entitled, sound system Carnival to Rave, was led by Hassan Mohammed Ali, with guests Darren Henisson, creator of Competitive Beats, Ashish Joshi, a music archivist, and Cardiff’s very own king of sound systems, Kervin Julien.

The discussion first focused on carnival, as Hassan explains his father originated from Trinidad, where Carnival, meaning the festival of flesh, always takes place around Lent on the Trinidadian Islands.

Hassan described Carnival as an event about life, history and life affirming, celebrating culture.

X 48 Example of a Sound System set up

News

How Great Thou Art

By: Donna Ali

Sounds of the Sytems

At the WMC...

He then goes on to explain how DJs would get hold of the music that would be amplified through the sound system equipment.

“In order to purchase new reggae releases, we would visit record shops up and down the country, looking for the new hot releases. Back then, there would only be a few vinyls released, so you had to move quick to get your hands on them before other sound systems got hold of them.

Hassan asks panel guest Kervin to first explain what carnival means to him and how a sound system plays its part. Kervin explains that carnival is about a representation of different Caribbean Islands, celebrating their individual identities and cultures.

Although Kervin has lived in Cardiff most of his adult life, he was born in London, so Notting Hill was his first experience of carnival. Back in 1975, he played in a steel band and is familiar with Soca and Calypso. Kervin said that during the August bank holiday weekend the streets of Notting Hill were littered with sound systems on every corner, representing the different styles and flavours of the people. He goes on to say that one misconception people have, is that they assume Reggae music has just one style, when really it is made up of various genres within it, such as steppers, dance hall, roots, and Jamaican and UK lovers.

For those who do not know, or have never experienced, a sound system, Kervin explains that a sound system was a family, doing life together, through a love of reggae music. He stated, “we were as close to a family as you could be, there was a mutual respect, most of us had grown up together in our retrospective areas, which represented the type of sound system we were, each area had their own. There was a kind of friendly rivalry, and there was never any violence, we just battled through music”.

There was a variety of suppliers of vinyls in London, but outside, there were very few. But we would still travel, because there was fierce competition between the sound systems, to make sure you were playing fresh stuff to the crowds. The record shop owners would play the latest music to the DJs keen to get their hands on new releases, the vinyls would go to the first hands up, as a first come first serve basis”. Kervin states that, “if you were lucky, you could get new releases straight from Jamaica, through distributors, such as Jet Star, who were the biggest reggae distributor of imported vinyls in the world”.

Kervin Julien

A

sound

Panel members at the Wales Millennium Centre

SYTSTEM

The technical side of a sound system is strategically thought out, in terms of positioning and the building of the speakers, to create unique sounds. Kervin describes the process, “we built our sounds systems by hand, they were not purchased from a shop, we would all chip in to buy materials to build boxes, and then they would be used to house the speakers. The boxes were positioned strategically, in four corners, to amplify the sound, some of the boxes housed 100 to 200 watts of amplification in each, so the sound would be electric, filling the venue with sometimes up to 4,000 watts of subbase”.

was

a family.

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How Great Thou Art Sounds of the Sytems Continued...

WMC Photographs: Donna Ali

Left to right: Panel host, Hssan Mohammed Ali, Ashish Joshi, Kervin Julien and Darren Hennison Hassan moves on to Ashish and asks him to describe the historical scene of sound systems, from the 80’s, in comparison to where we are now. Ashish, said that he is very passionate about reggae sound systems from back in the late 80’s. He describes the scene as slowly disappearing, as the current generation of music lovers prefer RnB, hip hop and grime. But he claims that historians like himself, are trying to archive some of the former sound systems, by collecting old tapes and visual recordings, but he expressed his disappointment at the fact that the younger generation are missing out of experiencing the atmosphere, sound and visceral impact of a sound system. Ashish says, “luckily, because of a phenomenon called sound tapes, some of the recordings are preserved and, as an archivist, I am dedicated to publishing them online, so that the younger generation can experience a powerful moment in the history of sound systems”. Thankfully, Ashish has also been able to get attention from five BBC regional news programmes, interested in reporting on sound systems, this is to give recognition to the art and people behind the sounds systems, some of whom are no longer alive.

Repetitive beats at Acid House events, as reported by the Sun, back in summer 1989

The final panel member is Darren Henison, who is currently running an exhibition at the Wales Millennium Centre, called Competitive Beats, which is a virtual rave experience. Darren likens the sound reggae systems to that of a rave. Darren explains that acid house, back in the day, gave young people a sense of belonging and adventure. He said, “as Acid house parties were often illegal, the excitement in attending an underground event would be felt weeks before. Secret meeting points would be organised, some as diversions, to distract the Police”.

Darren is originally from Coventry and claims that back then there was an actual squad within the Police called the Acid House Squad, who were dedicated to outlawing repetitive beats events, mainly because of the drugs that were often distributed amongst ravers at live events.

Darren goes on the say that the sound systems, were a huge part of the events and agrees with Kervin, that often the booming sound would reach 1000s of wattage, furthermore, he states that the other important elements to creating a successful and safe acid house event relied on a full team of people, each person contributing using their own skill set. He exclaims that such events required entrepreneurial skills. Darren said, “acid house was a great time in musical history”. Darren’s VR experience is to take old ravers back, but also to give the younger generation a visceral experience of music genius, though the sound of the systems.

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Why should you tune into Radio Cardiff?

With over 45 different shows per week, there is something for everyone!

Requests, shout outs!

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Tuesday 11-1pm Devine Intervention, with Donna Zee Wednesday 1:30-3pm Jessie Grace Wednesday 5-7pm Drive time with Drew Friday 9-11am The BOMB Friday 5-7pm Shift into the Weekend Friday 8-10pm Manhoff Dee's Dance Party Saturday 1-3pm Zygerfit Sunday 3-5pm The Caleb Riley Show

For all your advertising needs contact:

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Using your local radio station to connect with local people makes sense, doesn't it?

X 51

Stars are Born in Wales

Sports Interview

This page interview is dedicated to Kyran Gooding - RIEP

LLoyd Germain

The man with big ambitions, new Welsh welterweight boxing champion, Lloyd Germain, who is currently in camp for his next fight, but still found time to talk to Xcellence Magazine, about his career so far and future prospects. Witten by: Mohammed Hersi Farah

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It feel's great to represent your country, but now I want to represent the World Who are the people who inspire you?

I’ve got lots of inspiration, most importantly, I’ve got lots of people I do this for. Obviously, I fight for myself, but I’ve got my children, a great family, and my girlfriend, but every time I step into the ring, I’m on my own, but these people are on my back. I do it to benefit them and make each one of them proud, that is worth more than winning.

Tell us more about your trainer, Tony Borg, you said you wanted to take certain fights and Tony would say ‘not now’, you must have a strong trustworthy relationship?

I can’t thank Tony enough for what he done for me. Like I said, all I can do is get myself in the best condition physically and mentally. Tony, with my manager, is there to direct me on my career path, to pick the right fights at the right time. Obviously, there’s no point in me saying I want to fight world champions straightaway, although even in my head I think I could beat them right now. You’ve got to get in the right position to be able to do that. Tony is a massive inspiration for me.

Before walking to the ring on my previous fight, winning the Welsh title, he said to me, “don’t let me down now”. When I got the belt around me in the ring after winning the fight, I said to him, “I was never going to let you down” and that’s something as a fighter how you pay your trainer back. I’m very fortunate to have him on my team, I’m in a great stable at St Joseph’s in Newport with a lot of great boxers, where we push ourselves daily and the sky is the limit.

What does it take to maintain a championship mindset?

You have to have that championship mindset, as the mind is such a powerful thing. I believe you can achieve anything you want if you put your mind to it.

As I have said before, my goal was to become Welsh champion and I ticked that box. Next step is getting into the top twenty in Britain, while steadily moving up the ranking, which sounds good. But, I want to be the number one in Britain, then go on to be the number one in the world.

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You have a great mindset, talk to us about what makes a champion mindset?

What are your thoughts on becoming Welsh champion and prospects on becoming world champion?

Well, most importantly, it is believing in yourself as they say, seeing is believing. You got to see these things manifest into what you want. I never put on a pair of boxing gloves in the professional game just to make up the numbers. Every time I step into the ring I want to win. I set myself big goals and I’m on the road to achieving them. Most importantly, your mind is your strongest weapon, you have to be focused and stay on the right track.

It feels great, first box has been ticked, it’s an honour to become champion of my country, but the main goal is to become world champion, and we won’t be satisfied until we achieve that goal.

For people that don’t know you, give us a background on who you are, who is Lloyd Germain?

Obviously, I am Cardiff born and bred, massive boxing fan who is a professional boxer and a keen family man, that’s my life at the moment.

So, you are 7-0 as a professional how many amateur fights have you had?

I’ve only had two amateur fights but have been in the gym from a young age, but didn’t really knuckle down to it, to be honest. I wasn’t turning up to any amateur stages as fights wouldn’t be pulling through, and it didn’t really happen for me as an amateur, but we don’t really look at that in the professional game. I’m 7-0 Welsh champion and willing to grow on the foundation we have already set.

The most important thing, is to believe in yourself!

Witten by: Mohammed Hersi Farah

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Youth Matters

News Reported by: Tia -Zakura Camilleri

Black History Wales ‘Young people, the time is now’ - the phrase that has been centring the national Black History Wales events. The month of October marks British Black History month and to celebrate that, Race Council Cymru launched a series of events recognising black success, firstly their launch at Saint Fagans on October 1st. The event brought together Afro-Caribbean food stalls, artists, businesses, and performers. The atmosphere was shared by those of all ages but, notably, invited the youth to its doors.

‘It is so cool to see everybody singing, and dancing. celebrating Black culture’ was how Gabriel, 17, from Swansea summarised the essence of the event. He said, ‘it is important for us young people to make ourselves heard, after the past’.

Anya, 11, saw the event as a great opportunity to ‘learn more about [her] ancestors’, bringing to light the very intricate connection between the older and younger generations. Kiishi, 10, whose family owned one of the food stalls, recognised the importance of all races to attend such celebrations because much of which exists today ‘were invented by black people’ and ‘everybody should learn about it’. ‘It’s crucial for all races to come and just listen because it might change your entire perspective’.

(Gabriel) stresses the communal significance of such topics.

However, the youth presence extended further than just attendees; 11-year-old Luchia Ellul-Alimikhena performed, after singing at Butetown Carnival this year. Luchia recognises the need for ‘the Welsh Government to follow through with their plans on Black history being made mandatory in schools’.

Kiishi

Gabriel Anya

16-year-old, Zinsi Sibanda, also performed, reading her award-winning poem. Zinsi, after achieving straight As in her GCSEs, later won the Young Carer’s Award at the Black History Wales Community Awards.

She explains she was' ‘shocked to hear her name called’, I was so honoured, as it really shows that even when you don’t believe it, overcoming adversities and showcasing excellence really does not go unnoticed’.

Young People the time is NOW! Photo credit to: Reuben Mulenga

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2022

X 56 Photo credit to: Reuben Mulenga

News

Youth Matters

Reported by: Tia -Zakura Camilleri

'We are all one, let’s look towards the future and make a brighter day’ ‘Ignorance is not bliss' Pierre Patrick

Urban Circle - HumaniTree Over the last year, Newport-based youth arts organisation, Urban Circle, have been developing an insightful documentary called Humanitree, which premiered on 28th October at Cineworld, Newport. Urban Circle curates several events and projects centred around giving young people from Newport creative opportunities. Most recently, HumaniTree, a documentary made by young people focussing on ancestry and genealogy of humans through interviews with various scholars across the country; put best by Pierre Gashagaza (19) ‘Humanitree is about humanity and the human family tree’. Pierre is one of many young people involved in the development of HumaniTree with the roles of pre/post-production, interviewing, editing, and creating footage. Pierre is a filmmaker and photographer and explained the power of being involved in the creation of the documentary.

The young participants were given time at the end of the premiere to speak about their experience and to get asked questions from the audience.

One being, Jordan Wilson-Alexander, 20 filmmaker/editor/graphic designer. Jordan said he ‘enjoyed how much (I) he learnt… having the opportunity to cover such a broad aspect of history that we share together’.

This was seconded by Patrick Bilongo, 19, (also involved in all aspects of the production).

‘The history I studied for 5 years in school doesn’t come close to what I learnt in 6 months with this documentary’.

These young people were deeply embedded in the birth of this project and exemplify the power of this work; ‘I was now able to connect with a team who also want to push themselves…it helped me develop what I want to do’ - Jordan.

‘If I didn’t have an opportunity like this I may still be in a deprived area thinking there is no opportunities but this gives me the belief that it’s possible.’ ‘today is a bit mad, it shows the projection of what my career will be if I stick to this route and be serious about my craft’.

http:/ucnewport.co.uk

At the premier of HumaniTREE: Left to right- Pierre, Primo, Nuakai, Donna and Patrick.

Phot credit: Jessica Perkins

Be open-minded when watching and sharing’ ‘

Jordan

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Youth Matters

News Reported by: Tia-Zakura Camilleri

WGB

Welsh Gifted and Black September 30th marked a date where Black creatives across Cardiff and further were brought together to celebrate the Black Joy exhibition, in partnership with People’s Collection, Glamorgan Archives and Made in Roath. Welsh, Gifted and Black is a youth organisation run by 4 creatives; Te Fenty, Ophelia Dos Santos, Tara and Juliana. Te had the role of designer in the exhibition.

I asked Te Fenty, what’s it like being a young mixed race woman and running an organisation like Welsh Gifted and Black?

“For me personally, it’s been so empowering to stand as a mixed race woman and do something positive for the Black side of my culture. It’s taught me so much about the strength that stands in Wales and how our history runs deep in all parts of the UK. To know you are being part of the solution not the problem. It’s honestly made me feel more connected with being Welsh”.

Te & Onismo (Image by Zxidy)

What inspired you to hold the Black Joy exhibition?

She said, “my friend gave me a book called Black Joy, it captured moments of happiness in the Black community. It reminded me that we don’t celebrate our happiness as much as we celebrate our trauma. I wanted it to be something that would inspire us to create more art, to sing more music, to feel like our goals have always been achievable”.

The whole exhibition was very uplifting, but I asked Te, what she thought was the favourite part of the exhibition?

Te, explained, “it was so heart-warming to see how many young Black creatives applied and how overly talented they are”.

One of these featured young creatives was Cara Walker, 19. This was Cara’s first time being featured in an exhibition and it was a ‘great opportunity to use her [my] practice to contribute to a topic she’s [I’m] passionate about’. The Black Joy exhibition was ‘refreshing’ as the message was ‘about pro-blackness rather than the common thread of a struggle or trauma’, Cara tells us. “I feel like a lot of us are still healing from the re-emergence of the BLM movement in 2020, so now is the right time to celebrate what we’ve achieved, and this exhibition was just one way in doing so”. ‘As a young creative’, Cara saw ‘personal development’ from the event; ‘seeing how people authentically respond and react to my work’ were her main takeaways. Both Cara and Te ‘hope for more events like this in the future’ pioneering the Black voice and, most importantly, rejoicing in its greatness.

Cara Walker Image by: Tia-Zakura Camilleri

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Black History Wales To follow up their launch, Race Council Cymru held an awards ceremony at the Senedd on October 6th. The awards celebrated Black creatives, entrepreneurs, and academics for their hard work.

Xcellence spoke to Isaac George, grime and rap artist from Newport, known as Truth, who won the Performing Arts Award, about his success.

How did it feel to win an award at the Black History Community award?

‘Being nominated alone felt great… winning the award made me feel recognised for what I do’… ‘I was proper elated when I won’.

‘Straightaway, it gave me the motivation I needed’ and ‘makes me excited to show the work I haven’t released yet’. Truth went on to say that, it is important to recognise and celebrate young people, because it’s a way to show young people that our elders are watching and they acknowledge that some of us are dedicated. He continued, 'I think that young people are often overlooked'.

Truth said that he hopes his work on the grime and rap scene impacts young people to think for themselves and to be aware of issues around them. He continues, 'I want to be a positive example to my peers and show them that when you consistently put your time into something you have a passion for, it is a lot more of a worthwhile thing, as it helps to keep you focused and not distracted by bad influences around you'.

Isaac George aka: Truth Award Winner

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Youth Matters

News

United 2Change

Images supplied by: United2Change

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Interviews

Youth Matters In Conversation with Luchia

L

uchia Ellul Alimikhena

During half term, I got to host my very first radio show on radio Cardiff's weekly show called the BOMB! I am truely following in the foot steps on one of my idols, Aleighcia Scott, who presents her own show on BBC Radio Wales.

For those who don't know me, my name is Luchia, and I am 11 years old. I love to sing and started at the age of 4. I have have had the opportunity to preform at events such as Black History Wales, and the Butetown Carnival.

I am enjoying school and learning more about the arts, music, producing and interviewing skills.

Here are two interviews I did recently with Aleighcia Scott and Lucas Rowe, both amazing Welsh artists!

Tune into Radio Cardiff 98.7fm The BOMB Friday 9-11am, for more interviews with people of Xcellence.

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Aleighcia Scott Reggae artist, BBC radio presenter and TV presenter

Tune into BBC Radio Wales, every Thursday from 7pm

at what age did you realise you would be a singer?

I don’t think there was a realisation, I used to sing all the time as a child, my family could see it was something I was meant to do, and they helped to nurture my talent. I used to attend a youth group, where we got to sing and perform and I remember my first real performance at 7 years old, I just knew from that moment it was what I wanted to do.

Do you ever get nervous?

Yes, every single time. But I think it is a good thing because it shows you care. You have to channel it into the performance.

What music did your parents play in the home and did it influence your style?

I listened to a whole mixture of genre’s which I think has helped me to develop range and a unique style. However, my grandparents are from Jamaica so, I would say that had an influence on the type of music I love performing.

When did you start writing your own lyrics?

I started writing at a very young age, I used to walk around my cousin’s farm making up songs and I also loved writing poems at school too. As a child, I loved reading and writing, I was a bit of a book worm, so I would say that taking in all of those words, helped to develop a love of lyrics.

What do you think about a young person starting out in the industry using social media to promote themselves?

I think that it has its place because it can show people what you can do, it can show consistency and showcase your range. I am also very mindful, that social media can be a dangerous place, so I would say, be careful and just use it wisely.

If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be?

It would have to be Bob Marley, Denis Brown, Lauren Hill and Amy Winehouse, sorry I cant just give you one.

So what is next for you?

I get nervous performing all the time, but that's a good thing, it shows you care!

I have just started working in TV, so I will be on the screen soon. I have a new album coming out called, Windrush Baby, as well as lots more radio.

What advise can you give a young person starting out?

Just be yourself! do not compromise who you are, people will appreciate you more if you are authentic.

By: Luchia Ellul Alimikhena

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LR Rn B artist from Cardiff, talks to Luchia about his career so far!

When you were in High school, how did your peers respond to you performing, was there any jealousy?

How did you start your career?

It all started when I joined expressions of a young kind, with Freejay Williams, first I started singing and then got more into rap. My first performance was at the age of 8.

What is your favourite part of being a performer?

The best thing is when the crowd are singing your lyrics back to you. I had the opportunity to support John Paul, in the Motor Point arena, and hearing thousands of people singing along to your songs, is mad, but it has encourages me to keep pushing on.

Out of all your song, which is your favourite?

I have so many I like, but the one I love to perform is, 'To Take a Chance', because the crowd gets involved and they sing it back, and seem to enjoy it.

No, I had a positive response from my peers, I remember I wrote and performed a song, called 'It's a Hard life' for Corpus Christi Day and it was really at that moment that made me want to pursue music more. That opportunity made me more confident, and I later joined the school choir. My peers and teachers were always supportive.

If you could collaborate with anyone, dead or alive who would it be?

Oh, it would have to be Micheal Jackson, he is my idol and another one would be Chris Brown. But there are some great UK artists, like Stormzy. But MJ is no one.

Being an artist, and a family man, how do you manage life?

It is very difficult, but I guess it is about managing and prioritising. You must try to make time for all of what you want and must do, you must find balance. I always make sure that I prioritise my family, first and foremost. But yeah, doing both is hard.

What advice would you give to a young person, who wants to be a music artist?

I would say, just live your life, you can find a story in just going out with your friends. You can write lyrics about the simplest things. At the same time, stay focused and pursue your dreams, make sure it makes sense to you, and share your story.

What has been your biggest WOW moment?

It has to be supporting Shaun Paul, in 2018.

Walking out onto the stage, to about 10,000 people was exciting but at the same time, it was a scary moment and to be honest the only time I have ever felt nervous.

What's next for you?

My new single is called, 'You Should Know', and it is produced by Don the Prod. I have an EP coming out in the new year, which is called, 'Kindness for Weakness'.

You can hear all of Lucas Rowes music on all good streaming platforms.

Life your life, you can find a story in the smallest things.

By; uchia Ellul Alimikhena

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Places & Faces

OUT OUT

With Black History Month in October and all of the amazing progressive work going on in Wales, there were way too many events to spotlight. So we have chosen just some of our favourites to share with you.

John Actie at the BAFTA Cymru Awards Photo supplied by: John Actie BBC 1 Series Director Eric Haynes, nominated for A Killing in Tiger Bay, Relaunch: The Packet Pub, Cardiff Bay Landlords Rachel Zammit and RyanPhot Bilah with staff supplied by: Rachel Zammit members, ready for the match!

Photo supplied by Claudine Whyte

The Whyte sisters and friends, glammed up for Beaujolais Day.

Want to spotlight your event in the next issue?

Drop us an invite info@bexcellence.co.uk

Photo supplied by: Darcy Corria

Miss Wales, Darcy Corria at the City Hall, Wales Care Awards

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Poetic Justice

Brown Skin Girl Brown skin girl Superiority is not associated with your skin Neither are you less than your lighter skinned companions You were blessed with skin as deep as the ocean Representing the depth of your soul And the more that you dig into your earthy tones You’ll come to recognise that you are laced with gold For it’s the darkest berry that’s the sweetest And the richest chocolate that is nutritious to the body.

You are neither beneath anybody Nor are you the tail end of a conversation.

You are front and centre And I’m sorry for the persecution you face.

From hands that look like yours Meant to protect, but are the ones casting you into the fire.

But worry not.

As out of the flames you become refined In elegance and grace.

And to all my lighter skinned women, this is not an anti-you poem.

This is self-love.

For I know what it’s like to be in a place Where you’re ranked by the colour of your skin.

Where your beauty is pushed to the wayside And ‘pretty for black girl’ becomes a banner that you wave.

I know what it feels like.

To hear men the same shade as you uplift lighter skinned women and bash the same women who pushed them out of the womb.

I know what it feels like.

To see no representation of you.

To not see my hair, my nose, my lips portrayed as beautiful.

I know what it feels like.

And I choose to no longer apologise for what God strategically blessed me with.

Brown skin girl Your superiority is in your skin Please come to recognise that your worth is more than any ruby.

More than any gem.

For you my dear, are precious beyond words.

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Poetic Justice

Brown Skin Girl

Written by: Amaris Powell Poet and Spoken Word Artist Winner of Black History Wales Award X 01

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Health & Wellbeing

Opinion

Cost of Living Crisis!

I problem of working people falling below the

n work poverty is not a new phenomenon. The poverty line has been getting worse since the financial crisis of 2008.

But it’s getting worse. What we’re seeing now is a major surge in the number of people struggling to make ends meet, as the impact of the cost-ofliving crisis kicks in.

The current high inflation is driven by the surge in the cost of energy. And it is driven by pandemic impacts. The crisis demands a political solution.

We must ask: Why are real wages falling faster and further in the UK than in other G7 countries?

The answer is the failure of our political response.

What we currently have is near full employment, record breaking profits – especially in sectors like energy – and falling real wages for workers. The idea that what we take from that is that it’s ordinary people who now need to just shut up and accept a sharp fall in their living standards is totally wrongheaded.

Workers are fully entitled to organise and stand up for their livelihoods and living standards. It’s dishonest for government ministers to spin inflation as the reason people can’t have pay rises. Inflation is the very reason they need pay rises.

The much bigger danger is the risk of recession because pay is not keeping up with prices. That means people buy less, businesses sell less, and the economy is at risk of getting caught in a downward spiral.

Written by: Shav Taj General Secretary WTUC

Wales Says No to Austerity 2.0!

The UK Government likes to parrot the line that “work is the best route out of poverty” as a justification for their attacks on the most vulnerable and in need of social security benefits.

Yet the truth is for tens of thousands of workers in Wales it’s simply not the case.

1 in 3 children in Wales are being brought up in poverty – and two thirds of those children are in working households. Their parents are working but they can’t escape poverty.

Why is this happening? It’s the result of a failed economic model – built on the growth of insecure work, attacking trade unions, de-funding enforcement bodies that are meant to keep bad bosses in line, and underinvesting in the modern, green infrastructure that Wales needs.

Wales simply can’t afford austerity 2.0. The UK Government must step up and recognise that more than a decade of underfunding and underinvestment in Wales has been a disaster.

Welsh workers deserve better.

We need a reversal of the underfunding of public services in Wales and a significant uplift to allow Welsh Government to award public sector workers a decent inflation proof pay rise. Fair work, well paid jobs are the only route out of poverty. That’s why the TUC is calling for the minimum wage to be raised to £15.

Research conducted for the TUC found that in some areas of the country 1 in 4 people admit to having skipped meals due to the cost of living crisis.

Meanwhile, half the population say that they’ve cut back spending on food, electricity and heating. We hear daily stories of frontline NHS and Social Care workers sleeping in cars in between shifts because they can’t cope with the rising cost of petrol. People are pawning personal possessions or turning to problem gambling to try and pay a bill. More workers are taking on second or third precarious jobs to try and make ends meet. An unbelievable position for us to be in the 21st Century.

Workers in Wales across both the public and private sector simply aren’t prepared to accept the massive cuts to their real terms incomes. That’s why we’re seeing teachers, nurses, rail workers, barristers, civil servants, call centre, postal workers organising and balloting for industrial action.

Investment in our public sector workers is an investment in our public services. Look at our teachers: the value of their pay has dropped 25% in the last 12 years. And they’re being asked to take another big cut this year. At what point do we say enough is enough?

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Opinion

Shav Taj General Secretary WTUC

Structural Racism Whilst the cost-of-living crisis affects us all, it doesn’t affect us equally. TUC research identified how Insecure work tightens the grip of structural racism on the labour market and deepens gender inequalities.

One million workers are now on zero-hours contracts, after a rise of 40,000 in the last year. Recent analysis reveals Black, minority and ethnic (BME) women are twice as likely to be on zero-hours contracts as white men. Overall, BME workers are significantly overrepresented on zero-hours contracts compared to white workers (4.3 per cent compared to 3 per cent.) BME women are the most disproportionately affected group, followed by BME men (4.7 per cent compared to 4 per cent). “structural racism in action.”

People Like Us, a non-profit organisation, found that people from minority ethnic backgrounds are disproportionately impacted by the challenging economic environment. Their findings show that this disparity starts in the workplace.

Working professionals from ethnically diverse backgrounds are nearly twice as likely to have been told they won’t be getting a promised pay rise this year due to inflation (19% compared with 10% of white professionals). To compound matters, two-thirds (67%) of racially diverse working professionals believe that a white colleague doing the same job is on a higher salary.

Fact is no worker should be held back or paid less because of racism at work. Yet structural, systemic racism still plays a big role in determining Black workers’ pay and career prospects. It should be mandatory for all employers to report their ethnicity pay gaps. Alongside publishing the raw data, they should publish their action plan setting out how they will close their pay gap to really drive more equal workplaces.

The good news is business and unions are united in their support for compulsory ethnicity pay gap monitoring. We now need UK Government to ensure this happens. Here in Wales, we have an opportunity to embed some of these good practices as part of our commitment to becoming an antiracist Wales, I like many will do my bit in fighting to make this commitment a reality, both for now and for future generations to come.

BME women are the most disproportionately affected group, followed by BME men (4.7 per cent compared to 4 per cent). “structural racism in action.”

Written by: Shav Taj General Secretary WTUC

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Health & Wellbeing

Sponsored

Keep Wales Tidy

Led by Keep Wales Tidy, Caru Cymru (a Welsh phrase meaning ‘Love Wales’) aims to inspire everyone to take action and care for the environment. The charity is calling on you to take responsibility for the litter and waste you produce, in a drive to create a cleaner, safer Wales

Why does it matter?

Show your love for Wales with Keep Wales Tidy A leading environmental charity’s biggest ever initiative to eradicate litter and waste, needs you.

Litter has significant and far-reaching impacts on communities.

Research shows that when an area is uncared for, it makes people feel unsafe, it affects social cohesion, the sense of pride in the community, stifles economic growth and tourism, and spoils people’s enjoyment of nature.

While Keep Wales Tidy is renowned for working with an army of volunteers to pick up litter, Caru Cymru doesn’t just focus on cleaning up, but on stopping litter from happening in the first place. The vision is that it will become second nature for everybody to do the right thing, from taking litter home and cleaning up after their dog, recycling ‘on-the-go’, reusing and repairing.

Keep Wales Tidy’s new Chief Executive, Owen Derbyshire said: “Everyone in Wales has a part to play in eradicating litter and waste which can cause so much damage to our communities and to our beautiful natural environment.”

“I’m proud to be part of an initiative which brings people together, and provides the tools, expertise and support needed to make a positive difference. People are at the heart of Caru Cymru; it’s not an exclusive club – everyone can join in.”

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Health & Wellbeing

Journal

Breaking is your Making... staring out at the magical valley looking south isat straight down the river Wye, watching the birds, and

listening to the lambs calling to their mothers. As much as I loved this view, and the fresh air I breathed deeply into my lungs - I had a heartfelt longing to be somewhere else.

I wanted to fly down the valley like a bird, into the world, I longed to be back in the hustle and bustle of, in my mind, ‘real’ life as this one didn’t feel real somehow. I literally was ‘living the dream’ and imagining what it would be like to be a migrating bird- flying free.

What it really was that I longed for was my independence, and to feel like ‘me’. When I wrote in a song of mine “waiting for you to hear me”, directed to my lover - I realised later that it was, in fact, me that needed to hear myself.

I had been so focused on the outside world, and others’ needs, I forgot myself.

And, in that moment, when I sat longing for a new life, I had no idea that in just a few short years, this longing and yearning I had, would be fulfilled, but not in any way I could have ever imagined.

We are watching illusions fall. We are seeing new, exciting solutions across Wales and the whole World.

We are learning at an incredible rate about our world, the universe and what it means to be human.

For my freedom to be restored to me, I had to go through a journey, a journey which led me to question everything I knew, and understood about myself, it was like nothing I had ever experienced before. How did the universe teach me this? By showing me that the life I had built myself over the last 10 years was an illusion.

The River Wye

My dream life in the country came to a very traumatic ending when it became obvious to me that I was, in fact, in a highly emotionally abusive relationship. Never had I felt so low and severed from myself. The discard and ejection from this trauma bond were devastating.

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If you are going through an end right now - take a breath, a beat, a moment and realise it is just a beginning.

This breaking was my making.

This is why I am so positive that what we are seeing right now on a wider scale across the world, is another breaking which will be our making. We are seeing old, tired systems breaking and crumbling before our eyes.

We are watching illusions fall. We are seeing new, exciting solutions all over this city, and across Wales and the whole World. We are learning at an incredible rate about our world, the universe and what it means to be human.

So, what was so incredible about this? you may ask. Even though this was one of the most traumatic events I have been through, and it’s been a difficult road to get where I am today, I wouldn’t change it for anything.

And this is because - I learnt what was real. I learnt what was important- really important to me. I learnt who true friends were. I had to question what was truly valuable. I saw the incredible man my son had become, when he and all his friends stepped up to support me with a maturity and strength which was beyond their years.

I was, and still am, forever grateful that I escaped that dream, which had become a personal nightmare. Living in the beautiful Welsh open countryside I had never felt so trapped. My whole life was the opposite of what I wanted or thought it was.

The new trajectory I had longed for came true, and I am still learning more to this very day about myself and how I can be my best self. I am a work in progress. I am learning about what shaped me in the past, leading to this situation. I’m learning to recognise my own insecurities, and I am healing myself. I am learning to feel safe in my body, trust myself, respond rather than react. I see now, with clarity and less confusion.

A few years, two house moves and a several covid lockdowns, later, I now live in Cardiff - right in the Hustle and Bustle! And I love it! I have my life back and what I wanted. My son has grown more, is blossoming every day, passionate about his own learning, and I watch with eternal gratitude to witness this and have him in my life.

My career has taken me into media and now I have my own slot on Radio Cardiff- and I am writing this now in BeXellence!!

Since moving to the Diff, I have met the most incredible people, and I get to talk about this on my show. I get to have incredible conversations. I am so excited to do this, and to be part of the positive changes and solutions we all need right now.

We are hearing new voices, seeing new faces, and listening to different perspectives. We are witnessing across all sectors, conversations about the future, sustainability - how we can all be part of building the world we want to see. This tough time, both politically and economically is the beginning. We are living right now through; an end!!!

So, what are we going to learn on this journey? I suspect we are going to see and learn both the best and the worst of human behaviour. Just as I have during my own personal journey.

Right now, I see and meet so many beautiful people, working so hard to make things better. Right now, we see new movements across the world to restore balance, justice, fairer societies, and restore our connections. When we all connect with our true selves, we can feel more connection with others and the natural world around us. When we hear our true selves, understand ourselves better, we can listen and understand others better. We begin to understand there is no separation and we are all connected.

Everything is connected. We live, breathe, feel.

If you are going through an end right now - take a breath, a beat, a moment and realise it is just a beginning.

A Breaking is your Making.

Jessie Grace is a Musician, Activist and Radio Presenter based in Cardiff.

Her Show is aired on Wednesdays 1.30 - 300pm on Radio Cardiff 98.7fm She covers many issues around Healing, Sustainability, Positive Futures, and work in the local community.

Get in touch with her here: @jessie_grace_music on Instagram

Written by: Jessie Grace

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Health & Wellbeing

Five ways you can be part of the #CaruCymru movement 1)Download free resources Since Caru Cymru launched in spring 2021, Keep Wales has been working with every council in Wales to deliver campaigns targeting some of the country’s most common litter issues, including dog poo, roadside litter, single-use cups and cigarette ends.

Help spread the word in your local area. Visit Keep Wales Tidy’s ‘campaign toolkit’ to edit and download free posters, signs, and social media graphics.

2)Visit a Litter Picking Hub Fancy looking after your local area but don’t have the right kit? You can borrow free kit from a Litter Picking Hub. There are nearly 200 Hubs across the country which offer all the equipment you need to carry out a safe clean-up.

This includes litter pickers, hi-vis vests, rubbish bags and hoops (essential for keeping your bags open in breezy conditions!).

5) Commit to cutting your waste Even small changes in behaviour can make a big difference to our environment. You can be part of Caru Cymru by simply reducing your use of disposable plastics, switching to reusables, recycling as much as possible, and visiting ‘repair cafes’.

Businesses and organisations looking to make positive changes can access advice and resources on the Keep Wales Tidy website.

Pledge your commitment to waste reduction using the simple online form and Keep Wales Tidy will help you celebrate your success with staff, clients and customers.

3)Set up a new community group If you’re looking to carry out regular clean-ups or care for a green space with your friends or neighbours, then Keep Wales Tidy recommends setting up a formal community group. You’ll be joining a network of other passionate and inspiring groups doing amazing work in their local areas.

Keep Wales Tidy has project officers based all over Wales who can provide advice to anyone looking to set up a group and work independently. There’s even a community group insurance scheme which is completely free for up to twelve months.

4)Sign up to be a Litter Free Zone Keep Wales Tidy is reaching out to businesses across the country, encouraging them to adopt areas to clean up on a regular basis. Businesses of all shapes and sizes have already signed up, including hairdressers, restaurants, supermarkets and private offices.

Adopting a Litter Free Zone signals to your customers that you are a responsible business that takes the issue of littering seriously. Getting out and about as a team can also benefit staff well-being.

Images supplied by: Keep Wales Tidy

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The Independent Community News Network (ICNN) is run and administrated by the Centre for Community Journalism which is part of Cardiff University’s Transforming Communities flagship engagement project. Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Culture Studies, Cardiff University, Bute Building, King Edward VII Avenue , Cardiff , CF10 3NB, 02920688750

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X Complaints process

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Intentions

This magazine, has 3 primary intentions

1. To fill the gap in the FREE community magazine space 2. To provide context to wider groups of people in Wales 3. To celebrate the contributions of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities to Wales.

We hope you have enjoyed reading it, as much as we enjoyed putting it together!

Xcellence Magazine: is a product of BE.Xcellence CIC 113-116, Portland House, Bute Street, Cardiff Bay CF10 5EQ

The Independent Community News Network (ICNN) is run and administrated by the Centre for Community Journalism which is part of Cardiff University’s Transforming Communities flagship engagement project. Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Culture Studies, Cardiff University, Bute Building, King Edward VII Avenue , Cardiff , CF10 3NB, 02920688750

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Pip Artist: Chris Ebun Taylor If you would like to contact the artist, please email the editor subject, ART info@bexcellence.co.uk