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BLACK HISTORY MONTH
The Phoenix – October 2016
Rupert Phillips – A Man for All Reasons
l Rupert with his wife Jenny (Pepsi Poet) and daughters Melsadie and Dionne
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by Steve Williams
een at many a leading community events, public and political occasions, Rupert Phillips is seen by many as the ‘go to’ man to make sure all runs smoothly, correct and on time. A native of Jamaica, the socially approachable 72-year-old has rubbed shoulders with prime ministers representatives of Her Majesty the Queen and other leading lights of home and abroad as he stands steadfast as a man of principle, fortitude, pride and immense dignity. From his place of birth, in Westmoreland, through his early days living in the UK, in Oldbury, in the West Midlands, to today as a ‘son’ of Birmingham, he has often been
seen as the man ideal to advocate, at all levels, for whatever the occasion requires. Since arriving in Britain as a 17-year-old in 1962, he undertook a variety of factory-based jobs whilst in the early 1970s to eighties, also working voluntarily with the Sandwell West Indian and Afro Caribbean Association as adviser and committee member. “I’ve always worked since coming to the UK,” he says. “And whilst doing so, I was always looking to better myself.” With that, in the 1990s, he went on to work as a Building and Maintenance Supervisor, for Birmingham City Councils Probation Service, taking young people to and from court whilst advising them, where and when appropriate, and taking them on activities to open
l Rupert with his wife Jenny (Pepsi Poet) and Uncle Alvin Barrett
their minds; “I always found myself advising these young people. “In being a ‘people person’ would lead to my ’calling’ in what I do today.” A committed member of the Association of Jamaican Nationals (Birmingham) for the past 15 years, Phillips was a Deputy Welfare Officer; visiting fellow members who, through illness, death, or simply for company, needed someone to talk to – to advise them; “That was, and still is, enlightening and fulfilling,” he says. More recently, he’s better known as a chauffeur, driving dignitaries including Jamaican High Commissioners, past and present and other Ministers. During Birmingham City Council’s bid to host the Jamaican Track
and Field teams training camp in the city – pre London Olympics 2012 – it was he who chauffeured Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange, Jamaican Minister of Sport, and bid coordinator, Beverley Lindsay OBE OD, Deputy Lieutenant of the West Midlands, around to the number of high-pressured meetings that would seal what was a successful period for all concerned. Married, to wife Jenny – with daughters Melsadie and Dionne, Rupert, who spent 5 years as a licensee for the now defunked Club Paradise, in the city, is enjoying his retirement whilst still being active with the AJN and being seen at a number of prominent events up and down the. He’s a man for all people – and a man for all reasons.
l Rupert Phillips
l Rupert receiving an award from Pamela Johnson, wife of His Excellency Anthony Johnson, High Commissioner of Jamaica and Beverly Lindsay OBE OD DL from the Association of Jamaica Nationals, Birmingham UK