MARCH 2021 • ISSUE NO. 1916
Lifestyle the Michelle Truselle on challenges she faces p36 being the female chef
It’s a first for The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama p40
, ‘A lot has been done needs to change’
but a lot still
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was Joslyn Thompson Rule told she wouldn’t dance again, but she did p44
Celebrating International Women’s Month 2021 See inside
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10 | THE VOICE
MARCH 2021
News feature
Celebrating our w♀men
Why it’s more important than ever for black women to take charge of their money
A
IN CONTROL: Having a good grasp on your finances and expenditure can put your mind at rest (photo: Ono Kosuki); below, Selina Flavius’ book, Black Girl Finance, is out now
With the odds stacked against us, it might be easy to believe that we’re meant to struggle with our finances – but that’s not the case, writes Selina Flavius
T A time when the gender pay gap reporting rules are set to be relaxed for the second year in a row, even though it has only been mandatory for the past four years, the calls for the mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting appears to be continuously falling on deaf ears. If you are a black woman in Britain, you need to ensure you are taking charge of your money. Here’s why. Talking about money is not a tradition I grew up with in my black Caribbean household – I was expected, like most to get a job and instructed to save. I was also constantly surrounded by a community of hardworking and ambitious women and men from the Caribbean, some of whom had moved to the UK in their youth, and whose parents had first made the trip to smooth their path. I’ve listened as they recounted the discrimination that they experienced, such as lack of access to financial services, decent housing and jobs, and without a doubt there is a real feeling that the younger generation have things much easier. This is true – there have been laws passed to stop overt prejudice and discrimination, which is the reason we no longer see signs saying no blacks, no dogs and no Irish, and sus laws no longer exist. But let’s not be complacent, racial inequality
Racial inequalities intersect with gender inequalities still exists and is manifested in a number of ways. We see evidence of this in a lack of black people in leadership positions in industry. For the first time in six years, there are currently no black chairs, CEOs or CFOs in the FTSE 100.
FASHIONABLE
We appear to be moving backwards in terms of diversity and inclusion in work places. In fact, the rhetoric from this current Government seems to be that anyone who champions gender and ethnicity inequality issues is attempting to be fashionable, as if it’s a phase such as acid-washed jeans from the 80s, we will soon get past and move on to leather pants. The trouble with the anti-woke movement is that underneath the talk and rhetoric are real people, whose lives are being impacted – those who are having to apply 80 times more than white British applicants to get a positive response to job applications; those who were already facing higher unemployment levels before the
Employment and unemployment rates by ethnicity and gender Jul-Sep 2020
Jul-Sep 2019
Employment rate (%)
Unemployment rate (%)
Employment rate (%)
Unemployment rate (%)
White (all)
77.8
3.6
76.4
4.5
BAME (all)
66.6
7.0
68.2
8.5
White men
81.5
3.8
79.4
5.0
BAME men
74.9
7.1
74.4
8.2
White women
74.1
3.3
73.4
3.9
BAME women
59.1
6.9
62.5
8.8
Source: TUC Report, Jobs and Recovery Monitor BME Workers, January 2021
pandemic, and now in the midst of it. The TUC are reporting that black and minority ethnic (BAME) unemployment levels are rising at a faster rate, and even more so for BAME women. Racial inequalities intersect with gender inequalities, with BAME women having both the highest rate of unemployment (8.8 per cent) and the lowest rate of employment (62.5 per cent). If you are fortunate to still have a job at this challenging time, it is important to manage your money well and if you have grown up in an environment where money was not spoken about, like I was, here are my top tips.
TIPS
1. Build up an emergency fund. This will provide a physical and
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mental cushion should your job situation change. Many people have spent months furloughed and others have been made redundant. Having a financial cushion until such time as you find another job will keep the bills paid and stress at bay. 2. Speak to your lenders if you are struggling with bills. There is still time to apply for payment holidays which have been extended until March 31. Dealing with debts can be stressful, however it is better to have a conversation with your lenders earlier, to get a plan in place, rather than ignore the problem and allow things to get worse. 3. Seek help and advice. Doing this early does two things, firstly you will be empowered by knowing your rights, for help and support. It will also mean
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you can advocate for yourself from a position of knowledge. You deserve to be treated fairly, legally and with respect regardless of your circumstances. 4. Create a budget. Budgeting is telling your money where to go instead of wondering where it went. A simple budget such as the 50/30/20 rule, allows you to ensure you are directing your money to the most important areas of your life. You can change the percentages around, for example, at this time of COVID-19, you may want to swap around wants and savings. Essential bills: 50 per cent Wants: 30 per cent Savings: 20 per cent 5. Pay off high-interest debts. Credit card, overdraft, pay day loans, store cards, and newer ‘buy now, pay later’ schemes such as Klarna are expensive.
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If you can pay off these debts, this will free up some money to do step 6. 6. Invest. Whether you decide to invest in your workplace pension scheme or a self-invested personal pension (SIPPs). Investing for the long-term with a solid plan, will allow you to beat inflation, and benefit from stock market gains. You may wish to consult a financial adviser for this last tip. Pensions data shows that women in the UK retire on a third of the pension pot size of men due to inequality in pay and more career breaks. In addition, research by Age UK found that women and BAME groups have higher risks of pension poverty than White British men. The reasons for these inequalities will take some time to challenge so whilst progress is slow, taking charge of your financial wellbeing should be a priority. Selina Flavius is the founder of
the financial coaching platform Black Girl Finance founded to financially empower black women in the UK. She is a
speaker on the issues of the
gender and ethnicity pay gaps and a published author. Her
personal finance book, Black Girl Finance: Let’s Talk Money is out now (published by Quercus).
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FEBRUARY 2021
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32 | THE VOICE MARCH 2021
News
‘Jesus is not ready for me’ After a recent two-week battle with COVID-19 and pneumonia, Pastor Norman Mitchell says it’s his upbringing, his perseverance and his faith that have kept him going after celebrating an incredible milestone – his 100th birthday By Deon P Green
“J
ESUS IS not ready for me yet, there is work to be done….I want to obey him and do what is to be done.” These are the words of Pastor Norman Mitchell who celebrated his 100th birthday on January 27, having survived a bout with COVID-19. For Mitchell, his mother’s love and having to ensure she was provided for, contributed significantly to the love that embraced his family. “My mother Rebecca (Rachel Hames), was a wonderful woman. “She was so pretty, her love was so close for all of us, especially me, the last one of 11 children. I was the last little boy so they all loved me,” the centurion reminisces of his late mother and other siblings. Elaborating further Mitchell recalls: “My father died when I was young and I took over the responsibility of my mother, I made sure she had everything she needed. “From age 14 to 27 I did my best to take care of my mother. My last sister would go to the market to sell on weekends to sel from my father’s cultivation
People ask me how 100 feels – it doesn’t feel any different. One great power we have on Earth is God’s love and animals that he reared, ensuring the home was comfortable.” “All the men in those days admired how I took care of my mother and because of that they became my friends, so I grew up with big men,” he remembers. “Honour your mother and father and your day will be long upon the land,” he adds with a laugh. But at 100, he is feeling no different. “People ask me how 100 feels – it doesn’t feel any different. One great power we have on this earth is God’s love,” he says. In his memoirs it is documented: “My mother and father were happily married; they provided an atmosphere of love and happiness in our home
where we were nurtured in Christian principles with high moral standards.” Pastor Mitchell is an ardent church goer – of course, coronavirus has affected his attendance and so, with Bible in hand, he reaches for his glasses and note book. As he searches for a scripture, he commented on COVID-19. “They close the world down especially the church; that is not necessary. What are the preachers doing about it? The church is a place of comfort; to solicit God, to communicate with the heavenly Father. “We hear all kinds of false reports. We need the presence of the Lord; we should be looking forward to God. “He is our refuge and strength. This (COVID-19) is man wanting to have power but there is one power and it is the power of God,” he preaches.
GLORY
Pastor Mitchell tells The Voice: “I had COVID and pneumonia – I was in bed for two weeks, but here I am, I am back, thanks be to God; Jesus is not ready for me yet, there is work to be done; God’s glory is great and that’s why I am here and can speak to you.” He attributes his recovery from the virus to medication from his doctor, herbal remedy and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
KEEPING THE FAITH: Pastor Norman Mitchell consults his Bible during his interview with The Voice newspaper; bottom left, receiving his MBE from Prince Charles in 2014; bottom right, the special card he received from Queen Elizabeth congratulating him on his 100th birthday From a family of longevity, Pastor Mitchell’s grandfather lived beyond the age 90, his sister Imogene is 93 and his mother departed aged 90.
Jamaica at a cost of £75, which was a lot of money in those days. When he shows me one of his numerous birthday cards – the one from Queen Elizabeth
I had COVID and pneumonia – I was in bed for two weeks, but here I am, thanks be to God. God’s glory is great Pastor Mitchell, who is firstgeneration Windrush, arrived in Plymouth among 300 migrants in an unfamiliar dimly lit and freezing cold Sunday morning in 1955 from Clarendon, Jamaica. He made the journey from
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– his face illuminates with the radiance of a child in a sweet shop. Pastor Mitchell’s first task in Britain was loading lorries with bricks until a more secure employment was achieved in 1955 as glass quality-control inspec-
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tor in Park Royal, followed by 12 years of service with St John ambulance Brigade. He founded the West Indian Senior Citizen Organisation in 1980. His efforts were aimed at helping the Windrush Generation in Harlesden, north-west London, who had become frail and isolated.
SERVICE
He has lived in the community for 60 years and was award an MBE in 2014 for community work and service. He attended the first Windrush Generation Thanksgiving service at Westminster Abbey on June 22, 2018, which acknowledges the Generation’s immense contribution to British society over the last 70 years.
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OF SPORT NEWSPAPER
KYRA’S KEEPING POSITIVE
Despite not heading to Tokyo as planned in 2020, Team GB’s only black rower is still in it to win it
SMOOTH SAILING: Kyra Edwards, pictured above with partner Ruth Siddorn, says the extra year to prepare for the Tokyo Olympics has been of benefit and allowed the team to work on their strategy
By Toby Louch and Rodney Hinds
W
HILE THE global pandemic has seen many shelve their sporting ambitions, rower Kyra Edwards, 23, has simply used the time to firm up her dreams. Great Britain’s only black rower was due to compete at the Tokyo Olympics last year, but coronavirus put paid to that. However, the Nottingham-born athlete has used the time to reset. She told the Voice of Sport: “So the main goal is Tokyo this summer. I’m hoping to do the Shanghai World Championships after that, I think that will be really fun.” Edwards has raced for Great Britain at junior, U23 and senior
level, winning junior silver and U23 bronze World Championships medals – and she’s clearly hungry for more glory. “Then it’s just a case of next Olympics in four years’ time. The World Championships are important but in GB rowing the narrative is really that world championships are just a stepping stone towards the Olympics. So, long term I’m looking towards Paris.
BENEFIT
“The Olympic postponement has definitely been of benefit. In general we have been building as a team. “I was always planning on training this year anyway so for me it’s just another year.” Ironically, Edwards’ rowing talent might well have been lost to football. She was a talented
“I just feel really lucky – I feel like I don’t want to waste this opportunity” player and spent some time at Nottingham Forest’s academy. Rowing quickly showed Edwards what levels she had to aim for. GB Start is a young athlete programme for the GB rowing team, it aims to discover young athletes who have potential in the sport. Edwards will be forever grateful to the programme. “The thing with Start, the whole idea of it is that you don’t have to have rowed before. It’s about potential. “You do all these tests that
have nothing to do with rowing. You go on an assault bike, and you have to push a plate with your legs which records how much power you can produce. “It’s more about stuff like that than how good I was on the rowing machine. I think they noticed I was strong and that’s exactly what the people at Start are looking for.”
FITNESS
She added: “I played football before I started rowing so I had quite a lot of fitness from that. “I took it all quite seriously. I took sport seriously. I think they quite liked that mentality.” She continued: “The thing with Start was that it was so serious. We were essentially told we were training for the Olympics, from now. As a 13 year-old that
was quite daunting. I think it’s changed a lot now but that was definitely the vibe when I first started. I feel like rowing does a really good job of making sure you don’t have a big ego. “When I first started I didn’t win much at all. When you are young all the races are won by the people with the best technique, as everyone starts to grow power and performance comes into it a bit more. “Start did a really good job of essentially telling me, ‘You’re losing now but you will win later’” There were clearly benefits as Edwards went to the Junior World Championships in 2015, aged just 17, and came second. A black rower is the not the norm but it is not a situation that daunts Edwards who can regularly be seen at GB’s rowing training centre in Caversham.
“I don’t want to call it an added pressure or weight because I feel really privileged to be in this position. “I just felt really lucky more than anything, I feel like I don’t want to waste this opportunity that I have managed to get this far and I think I can do really well in the sport. “I want to make sure that everyone else who looks like me feels like they can also do it. “Even though I am the only one here right now I want to make sure other people can really see it’s possible for them.”