DECEMBER 2022
s a m t s i r h C y M err s r e d a e r r u o to
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CHRISTMAS SOLIDARITY WWW.VOICE-ONLINE.CO.UK
SUPPORT: Crystal Palace and Cote d’Ivoire forward Wilfred Zaha is one of many African footballers who are helping children in their home nation - P6
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SAVE OUR AFRICAN & CARIBBEAN BBC SHOWS
Community come together to support each other in hard times
WELLBEING: DJ Tendai Chagweda is helping people improve their mental health through roller skating - P24
CARE: Marvin HamiltonChambers supports young people in care who are lonely at Christmas P19
ISSUE NO. 1937 £2.50
Celebs and MPs join campaign as pressure mounts on the Beeb over threat to local black programmes LIFELINE: Abba Graham’s Manchester food bank offers produce consumed in black households - P18
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People and ideas that transform the world lse.ac.uk
Inside THIS MONTH
Making Christmas ‘back home’ The role of remittances p4
ROUNDUP
News, views, stories & videos THE 10 MOST POPULAR STORIES ON VOICE-ONLINE.CO.UK
1. Young mother and her child die
Coverage of tragic case of mum who jumped on tracks
2. Labour takingblack vote for granted Expose of party failings on black representation
Passionate about women’s rights First Lady of Sierra Leone p10
3. Reggae royalty clash Investigation into artists’ claims of rip-off
History book Voice launch tome celebrating 40 years p20-21
4. Labour crisis intensifies
Outcry as ‘racist’ candidate picked in Barking
5. Social media influencer dead Controversy in Jamaica as popular woman killed
Power to us Who is on the black Powerlist?
6. GRM-rated awards
p22-23
The winners are…
Reclaiming black Jesus Bishop Talbert Swan explains why p35 Empowering youth Boxer Joshua Buatsi’s mission p54
7. Doctors destroyed my life
Family speak about impact of medical mistakes
8. Flooding in St Lucia
Heavy floods cause chaos in Caribbean
9. Celebrating Ron Hope
Life of first black cop is honoured
10. Guyana visa-less
No paperwork for travel to UK
This issue is 56 pages EDITOR Lester Holloway E. lester.holloway@thevoice mediagroup.co.uk
CORPORATE AFFAIRS & COMMUNICATIONS Paula Dyke E. paula@thevoicemedia group.co.uk
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Paulette Simpson E. paulette.simpson@thevoice mediagroup.co.uk
NEWS EDITOR Vic Motune E. vic.motune@thevoicemedia group.co.uk
The Voice says
One love this Christmas
THE VOICE wishes all our readers, supporters and advertisers a very happy Christmas. Last Christmas our editorial encouraged our readers to keep money in our community. Little did we know this was to take on extra meaning and urgency later in 2022 as the cost of living crisis struck. Family budgets are tighter than ever, but yet again we are asking you to please buy black when possible - especially for Christmas presents. Check out our latest Black Business Guide, and see the Christmas list feature on pages 24-25. Black communities are predicted to be hardest hit by the rocketing cost of living, just as we were during austerity. On top of that, we are sending money ‘back home’ in increasing amounts to give our family and friends a decent Christmas as well (see page 4). We also need to work together and help each other get through the current crisis. This edition is dedicated to the heroes and heroines who are working tirelessly in their own way to help those in need. Such as people giving up their time and money to help black kids in care (page 13), running food banks (pages 19-20), and working to improve the mental wellbeing of others (page 24). This is what our community is about; when our backs are against the wall the fighting spirit emerges, and we organise to help those who most need it. The One Love spirit will continue to carry us through these hard times. But it can’t just be about perseverance in the face of adversity. In the new year, we need to redouble our campaign for change, coalescing around policies to tackle systemic racism, wealth disparities and inequality in general. Power concedes nothing without demands, as the great Frederick Douglass said. Coming out of the pandemic we began 2022 on an optimistic note. Positivity is important, and so is unity. And with unity comes the ability to demand better. So let’s enjoy the festive period and get ready for the challenges and joys that 2023 will bring.
Got a story? email us at yourviews@thevoicemediagroup.co.uk ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Joel Campbell E. joel.campbell@thevoice mediagroup.co.uk SPORTS EDITOR Rodney Hinds E. rodney.hinds@thevoice mediagroup.co.uk
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DECEMBER 2022 THE VOICE |
3
Celebration
Black heroes of 2022 We celebrate those remarkable individuals and organisations making a huge impact this year. By Sinai Fleary
T
HIS YEAR has been tough on us all and the rising cost of living crisis is enough to dampen the mood. However, there are several notable black people who really went out of their way to make things a bit better for our community this year. The Voice would like to acknowledge and celebrate those remarkable individuals and organisations. Each and every person on this list continues to give back to the community in more ways than one and are truly modern day heroes. So with some festive cheer, welcome to the Black Heroes list 2022.
Korrine Sky Campaign for Africans in Ukraine
MEDICAL student Korrine Sky, 26, was one of the black students who tried to flee Ukraine early this year. Sky and many other black students from parts of Africa and the Caribbean, were turned away from rescue buses at the Polish-Ukrainian border out of the war-torn country because of the colour of their skin. She used social media to tell their stories of the shocking racism they faced, as she attempted to flee the warzone to safety. As a result, the story went viral and later, the situation became known as ‘Africans in Ukraine’. which was trending on social media for several days. With the increased awareness, the stories were picked up by media outlets and African and Caribbean government officials who were able to arrange emergency evacuation flights for their citizens. Once back in the UK, she continued to amplify the voices of black students left in Ukraine and coordinated assistance for students trapped in remote parts of the country.
Kwajo Tweneboa Social Housing Campaigner
KWAJO TWENEBOA, 23, is a leading social housing campaigner who has tirelessly campaigned against the appalling living conditions of some social housing tenants. Tweneboa, from Mitcham, south
London, uses social media to share videos of tenants who live in inhumane homes with disrepair, damp, mould and mice infestations. His work has prompted several local authorities and housing associations to get tenants rehoused into suitable accommodation or get their long standing repairs completed. Tweneboa first started sharing the awful conditions that plagued his flat on the Eastfields Estate while his father was terminally ill. Even though the repairs were completed to his flat, he vows to continue to expose the inhumane housing conditions people are living in, until every family living in social housing has a safe and a clean place to call home. This year, his work has rightfully propelled him into the public eye, which has seen his work backed by Dragons’ Den star Steven Bartlett and others.
Stormzy #Merky FC
THERE’S no stopping British rapper Stormzy! The rapper already has the scholarship for black students to attend the University of Cambridge, and a publishing imprint called Merky Books which will champion black and underrepresented authors. But this year, he announced a new collaboration with Adidas to launch #Merky FC — a programme that will provide off the pitch opportunities to young black people interested in pursuing a career in the football industry. #Merky FC will provide various multiyear, paid professional placements across the industry.
Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon Championing STEM fields
AT THE start of the year, Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon became the first black host of TV show Countdown. Her new role catapulted her into the eyes and hearts of the nation. At the time, she told The Voice: “As ground-breaking as it seems in 2021 to be a black woman doing arithmetic every weekday on daytime TV, I’m hoping this means it won’t be going forward. Here’s to all the new arithmeticians, mathematicians, and people who are inspired by seeing me grapple with 75 times tables, obscure English words and the most serious trainer game on TV.” Dr Imafidon has an extensive background in mathematics and computing. At the age of 11, she had passed her Computing A-level and by the time she was 19, she made history as the youngest ever graduate with a Master’s degree in Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Oxford. Dr Imafidon is the CEO and Head Stemette of non-profit organisation Stemettes, which helps people get into Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields. She will also front a new campaign launched by Sir Lewis Hamilton’s charity Mission 44 and the education charity Teach First to recruit and upskill 150 black STEM teachers.
Vanessa Nakate Climate Change Activist
VA N E S S A NAKATE is a climate change activist from Uganda in East Africa who began her journey as a climate activist in 2018. She has used her voice and platform to highlight the dangers climate change poses to Africa, despite the continent only producing a small fraction of the green-house gas emissions. Vanessa was propelled into the limelight in 2020, when she was controversially cropped out of a photo with other climate activists – who were all white. She later slammed the edited photo in a video and said she now understood what the word “racism” means. Vanessa has gone on to become a Unicef Goodwill Ambassador, climate activist and author.
Swiss Black Pound Day store
IN JUNE this year, a permanent Black Pound Day (BPD) store opened in Westfield Shopping Centre, west London. BPD was founded by award-winning UK music artist and So Solid Crew member Swiss in June 2020 to encourage people to shop from and spend money with local and online UK black-owned businesses. He said: “We are so excited to be in a position to create this opportunity to bring the best of our homegrown black brands to the general high street consumer, ensuring sustainability and consistency all year round.” The new store has enabled more than 80 black-owned businesses to sell to Westfield London shoppers. BPD continues to be part of our monthly calendars as it takes place on the first Saturday of every month.
Sir Lewis Hamilton Hamilton Commission and Mission 44
IN JUNE this year, Formula One driver Sir Lewis Hamilton was named the most charitable athlete in the world according to The Sunday Times Giving List. Sir Lewis’ philanthropy has seen him donate an incredible £20 million this year to support young people with employment and education. In 2021, he established his foundation Mission 44 to transform the lives of young people from underserved communities. In January 2022, he announced a £1 million partnership with Sky to address the disproportionate rate of school exclusions amongst black pupils. Sir Lewis’ foundation also has programmes to boost diversity in motorsport, including providing Master-level motorsport engineering scholarships for black students.
24 | THE VOICE DECEMBER 2022
Health and Wellbeing
Get your skates on! Sinai Fleary meets the Roller Skating DJ who says skating saved her mental health
T
HE TIGHT lockdown restrictions during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way so many of us work and socialise. But the pandemic also impacted the way we exercise and our overall lifestyles. According to research by Sport England, 63 per cent of people across the first six weeks of lockdown in March 2020 said exercise was important for their mental health and wellbeing. Tendai Chagweda, from Peckham, south-east London, took up roller skating during the first lockdown and says it saved her mental health. Speaking to The Voice, she said: “It was an equilibrium for me, as I needed to get out and about as I’m currently living at home with my parents “I was cooped up, so getting out and skating was like freedom and a new lease of life again. “It literally saved my mental health.” The 44-year-old skated briefly before the pandemic, but when she broke her leg in 2018, this stopped her from practising. She refers to herself as a “Corona Skater” because she took up skating during lockdown and simply saw it as a form of exercise while the UK was under tight restrictions. However, she never imagined her love for roller skating would transform her life and propel her onto the international stage. Ms Chagweda is also a DJ, and has fused both her love for music and skating together to forge a new and exciting career. She has been booked to appear in Spain at popular skating events and recently DJ’d for American superstars Usher and Dr Dre at the grand opening of a new skating venue in west London. In the past 12 months, Google searches for “roller skates” have more than doubled in the UK. Ms Chagweda believes the popularity in roller skating in the black community is on the rise due to the “community spirit” and “freedom” it provides. Prior to the pandemic, the professional skater was facilitating vision boards and goalsetting workshops for corporate companies to encourage people to “dream big.” She told The Voice that during one of her vision board
workshops just before the first national lockdown, she said she needed to find a roller skating group that would “motivate her to skate” as she felt she wouldn’t keep it up if she skated on her own. She says that a few weeks later the unimaginable happened, and she found a group — which she refers to warmly as “her community.” “I was sitting in Burgess Park and the owner of the Burgess Park Skate Group skated pass me and saw me wearing my skates and said ‘hey I’ve got a group, you wanna join?’” she explained. She added: “It was crazy, but it felt like I was home. I’ve found a community of skaters and found what I needed.” She joined the group and together they skated every day during lockdown. She said: “For me, it gave me alignment. I knew I needed to do something for my health, I was 42 years old at the time and I wasn’t the most active person. “I look good for my age and I know that is not always going to be the case.” “I need to do something that is ticking a lot more boxes,” she added.
ALL CHANGE: Tendai Chagweda has fused her love for music and skating together to forge a new career
SAFE HAVEN
Ms Chagweda said the skating group provided her with more than just exercise but is also a safe haven, where she could speak to “like-minded” people about work-related issues and her mental health. Ms Chagweda worked in the corporate world for companies like JP Morgan and American Express, but didn’t feel “valued” and left to pursue a more creative and fulfilling career. She told The Voice taking up skating during the pandemic helped her find her passion and new career — where she feels “aligned” with her true purpose. She is encouraging those within the black community to take up exercise even during the winter months as it will work wonders not just for their physical health, but also their mood and mental health. Skating has given so much to Ms Chagweda, that she says she has now given up raving and says she gets everything she needs socially from her beloved skate group.
Roller skating and the black community ROLLER skating has been deeply rooted in black culture for several decades and has always been popular with black communities around the world. During the Civil Rights Movement, black skaters were forced to only skate on designated evenings known as ‘Black Night’. Black skaters protested and called for rinks to be desegregated in the 1960s. Roller Discos proved extremely popular in America’s black commu-
nities, as it brought music, dance, fashion, freedom of expression to the skate rinks. Michael Jackson’s video features a roller skater doing the famous moonwalk in his music video Bad was a defining moment for popular culture, as it brought a new sense of cool to roller skating. Hip hop culture, films and music videos have also featured roller skating heavily over the years. Dancing while
on skates or roller dancing can be traced back to the 1970s with a black skater called Bill Butler. He is credited as being the first to start dancing on skates and is affectionately known in the skating world as the Godfather of Roller Disco. Today, celebrities like Usher and Jermaine Dupri regularly attend roller discos and share videos online which is capturing the hearts of a new generation.
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Wishing you a Merry Christmas & Happy New Year
42 | THE VOICE DECEMBER 2022
Ambassador Campaign
Inspirational leaders
To celebrate the 40-year anniversaries of the Black Cultural Archives and The Voice, we will spotlight 40 people who are making waves
Jason Arthur
F
OUNDED BY educationalist, activist and historian Len Garrison, this year the Black Cultural Archives celebrated over 40 years of excellence in the Arts, Heritage and Archival space. To mark this major milestone an initiative called BCA’s Chairs 40x40 Future Leaders Ambassador Campaign was established. This identified 40 inspirational leaders from across the country, one for every year of the BCA’s existence. These leaders were honoured by a portrait exhibition showcased at the BCA during black history month, photographed by Lewis Patrick and curated by Sherece Rainford of Gallery OCA. The initiative also featured a nationwide billboard campaign
with the ambassadors pledging their continual support to the BCA agenda throughout the country. The Black Cultural Archives were immensely proud to have a range of stakeholders supporting this initiative, chief among them The Voice newspaper, which also celebrated a milestone 40th birthday this year. To cement our partnership each month, four members of the 40x40 will be profiled in The Voice. This month we celebrate those making strides in the political, film production, charity and WHEN I took the helm at the Women’s Equality Party fashion industries. You can con- (WEP) in 2019, I became the first black person to lead a nect with each of them through national political party in British history. I have led campaigns to: challenge racism and mitheir LinkedIn profiles. sogyny in policing; tackle male violence against women and girls; address the cost of living crisis; and push for Find out more about BCA on www. a radical new approach to parental leave and childcare https://blackculturalarchives.org/ which would transform the UK economy and accelerate progress to equality. The initiative was supported by: I have stood for election multiple times including conLambeth Council, Mayor Of testing the 2021 London Mayoral election, where I and London, FT, Migrant Leaders, WEP won over 150,000 votes. Copper & Vine, Paramount, I am passionate about making sure the fight for femiChatham House, Clear nist change goes hand in hand with the fight for racial Channel, The Voice, Global Street justice, and liberation for all marginalised groups. Art, Sherece, Wintrade Global Growing up in Southern Africa in the twilight years of Women In Business Network, and apartheid, I have seen profound change happen and Donation QR Code, right has never stopped believing it is possible.
Mandu Reid
Nathan Palmer I AM a fashion designer from Wales that makes made-tomeasure and bespoke formal wear for men, women and children. Previously an athlete, I formally represented Great Britain in the 110-metre hurdles and Welsh rugby union on 7’s IRB circuit. I have been in the commercial fashion industry since 2010 when Nathan Palmer clothing was created making smart casual menswear. That transformed into suit making, which became Nathan Palmer Bespoke in 2015, opening a shop in 2017. I love what I do and the opportunities it brings, such as presenting and styling on BBC Wales and BBC Scotland and Northern Ireland.
I AM the chief executive of Mission 44, a charitable foundation launched by Sir Lewis Hamilton to boost social mobility in the UK. After starting my career as a teacher in east London, I spent the last fifteen years working in leadership roles in the non-profit sector, including at Teach First, the #iwill campaign and Youth Futures Foundation. I also have experience of the political sector, having served as a senior local councillor in London.
I have made suits for Ian Wright (FA Cup final), Sam Warburton (receiving his OBE from HRH Prince William), sport personalities, movie stars and many more. In 2021, launched Perverse Demand streetwear clothing, with my business partner Debbie O’Sullivan.
Dr Clare Anyiam-Osigwe BEM I FOUNDED Premae Skincare in 2011 as the world’s first allergy-friendly certified vegan beauty company. I was also honoured by the late Queen Elizabeth II in 2017 for services to dermatology and received multiple business awards with international distribution through my own clinic in Harley Street. My film journey began in 2014 as the MD and lead script juror of BAFTA, BIFA, and AMAA-accredited British Urban Film Festival (BUFF). My directorial debut No Shade secured international theatrical release in 2018, making me only the sixth black British woman to secure cinematic distribution. It was streamed to over 16 million on Amazon Prime in 2019. I was also commissioned by The Voice to produce Windrush Stories in 2018. The film is being re-cut for distribution to PBS in 2023. I recently served as a panellist and presenter for African
Movie Academy Awards in Lagos, Nigeria, and I am a showrunner/writer/ director at my own production company Buff Studios for several projects including camera operator/EP for Emmanuel Anyiam-Osigwe’s debut documentary Absolutely Marvellous which receives its world premiere at BUFF2022 at Rich
Mix Cinema on November 26, 2022. I’m one of the few black female TV directors to direct the soap series Hollyoaks, my episodes marking a historic milestone for the show which has been on-air for 27 years, with me directing the 5,999th and 6,000th episodes which air December 8 and 9 on Channel 4.
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