The Black Presence - Blog

The National Archives is celebrating ‘Diversity Week’ from 8th to 11th November.

2011-10-27T06:32:00.000-07:00

The National Archives is celebrating ‘Diversity Week’ from 8th to 11th November.

As part of this week four public talks will be given exploring diverse areas of our collection, some of which may be of interest to BASA members:

Tuesday 8 November 2011, 14:00
Untold histories: black Britons during the period of the British slave trade, c.1660-1807 (Dr Kathleen Chater)

Wednesday 9 November 2011, 14:00
When a woman is not a woman: how the Ministry of Pensions constructed gender in the 1950s (Dr Louise Chambers)

Thursday 10 November 2011, 14:00
Sovereign, squire and rebel: Maharajah Duleep Singh and the heirs of a lost kingdom (Peter Bance)

Friday 11 November 2011, 14:00
Anxiety, dread and disease: British ports 1834-1870 (Sarah Hutton)

These are all free events open to everyone.

Further details can be found at:

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/visit/events.htm

Kind regards,

Jenni Orme

Records Specialist - Diverse Histories
The National Archives, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 4DU
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

Mighty Jamma UK’S NO1 Recording Steelpan Artist

2011-02-11T12:57:00.000-08:00

The mighty Jamma

Jamma

Mighty Jamma UK’S NO1 Recording Steelpan Artist

Jamma started playing music at a very early age, jamming on pots and pans etc. When I was 9 years oldI moved on to playing the bass guitar and at the age of 11I moved on to playing the steelpan and since thenI have never looked back.The pan is such a wonderful sounding instrument, which gave me a burning desire to play it to levels of excellence.

This certainly payed off with the winnings of three (1987 1998, 1999)National Steel Band Soloist

Championship of Great Britain.

After this I took up more of a commercial look at the music.I was producing and performing at many corporate events such as weddings, parties, oncruise ships etc, but stilllooking for a bigger musical outlet for my talents.

Read More about Mighty Jamma on Blackpresence.co.uk>>

2011-02-11T12:45:00.000-08:00

Vincent Bunting

Vincent Bunting was born in Panama in June 1918 and raised in Kingston, Jamaica.

He became a fighter pilot and joined No 611 Squadron in December 1942. After being promoted to Warrant Officer, Bunting served with No 132 Squadron flying Spitfires. In October 1944 he was transferred to No 154 Squadron. Whilst leaded a section of Mustang IVs from his squadron on he 27th March 1945, Bunting destroyed an enemy aircraft near Lubeck in Germany. In 1945 he was commissioned as a Pilot Officer, and in June he received his last flying post in the RAF joining no1 Squadron.

Read More>>

Reading the Pictures: D'Souza's Rage as a Cover

2010-09-27T16:11:00.001-07:00

Dinesh D'sousa is a non white Poster boy for the right. I read his book The end of Racism, utter Garbage! Now they wheel him out Against OB. Taxi Please!
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Sengal News

2009-12-22T03:36:00.000-08:00

Senegal Launches $200 Million In 2014 Bonds To Yield 9.25%
Wall Street Journal
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--The Republic of Senegal launched $200 million, five-year bonds Tuesday to yield 9.25%, according to a person familiar with the deal. ...
See all stories on this topic

BBC Sport

Senegal get new coach
BBC Sport
The Senegal Football Federation (FSF) has appointed Amara Traore as the new coach of the Teranga Lions. The 44-year-old former player has coached first ...
See all stories on this topic

Katie Spotz, 22, To Row Solo Across The Atlantic
NPR
Just after Christmas, the young Ohio native will embark on a 2500-mile journey from Dakar, Senegal to Cayenne, French Guiana. ...
See all stories on this topic

Ghana's ambassador to Senegal presents letters of accreditation
Ghana News Agency
15, GNA - Mr Yakubu Abdulai, Ghana's Ambassador to Senegal with concurrent accreditation to the Gambia and Cape Verde, has presented his letters of ...
See all stories on this topic

MediaGlobal

Tourism for economic development in Senegal
MediaGlobal
The concept of using tourism for economic development is not new in Senegal. In 1973, the government of Senegal funded a program called Campements Ruraux ...
See all stories on this topic

Imams opposing statue in Senegal
UPI.com
DAKAR, Senegal, Dec. 12 (UPI) -- Muslim imams in Senegal said in an organized sermon text that a large statue being constructed in the capital of Dakar has ...
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Reuters South Africa

Senegal leader offers French "property" for charity
Reuters South Africa
Wade, 83, noted that he was behind a 2001 move in Senegal to require incoming presidents to declare their assets on taking power -- something he said was ...
See all stories on this topic

Gambia/Senegal: Traore Named Senegal Coach
AllAfrica.com
Amara Traore has been appointed new Senegal coach, the Senegalese Football Federation announced on Wednesday. The 44-year-old former international has ...
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Idaho Mountain Express and Guide

Dunkin' Dude from Senegal wows crowd in debut
Idaho Mountain Express and Guide
That's what Senegal international student Daniel Gomis brought to the table for the first time last Thursday. Community School athletic director John ...
See all stories on this topic

AFP

Rights court unable to hear Habre petition
AFP
The African Union, which established the court in 2006, had in the same year called for Habre's case to be heard in Senegal, where he has been exiled since ...
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Google Blogs Alert for: senegal

oro: Star Number One (Senegal, 1976)
By Oro
Star Number One (Senegal, 1976). Orchestra "Star Number One" was founded in 1975 by Papa Serigne Seck. Papa Seck is known to be the godfather of M'Balax. This album has been released in 1976 and the title "Jangaake" is pure diamond. ...
oro - http://orogod.blogspot.com/

A BOMBASTIC ELEMENT: Senegal: A Senegalese Man in New York
By bunmi oloruntoba
Senegal: A Senegalese Man in New York. Reuters'Pedro Dafonseca and Vivianne Mukakizima follow Senegalese New York cab driver and medical student Prosper Mbaye (hope I spelled it right) to get the vibe of what it's like to be a West ...
A BOMBASTIC ELEMENT - http://bombasticelements.blogspot.com/

A BOMBASTIC ELEMENT: Chad/ Senegal: The African Court on Human and ...
By bunmi oloruntoba
Consequently, the Court concludes that Senegal has not accepted the jurisdiction of the Court to hear cases instituted directly against the country by individuals or non-governmental organizations. In the circumstances, the Court holds ...
A BOMBASTIC ELEMENT - http://bombasticelements.blogspot.com/

Frightened Senegal - Parrot Forum - Parrot Owner's Community
By knottyjulius
Recently, I adopted a 7 year old male Senegal Parrot from a couple who were unable to care for all of their birds. He is in great health and I've had.
Parrot Forum - Parrot Owner's Community - http://www.parrotforums.com/

Best Jobs In East Africa: Transparency Advisor, Senegal
By Yona Fares Maro
MSI is anticipating a 4.5-year program for Supporting Democracy, Good Governance, and National Reconciliation in Senegal. The program will focus on four outcome/components: (1) greater transparency and accountability; (2) support to ...
Best Jobs In East Africa - http://naombakazi.blogspot.com/

Google Web Alert for: senegal

FIFA.com - Traore appointed Senegal coach
Dec 16, 2009 ... Amara Traore has been appointed Senegal coach, the Senegalese football federation (FSF) announced on Wednesday.

Reuters AlertNet - SENEGAL: Simple but powerful ways to beat malaria
Dec 17, 2009 ... Source: IRIN In 1999, just before the new school year was to begin, El Hadj Diop lost his 12-year-old daughter to malaria.

IOM - Senegal
Although preventive and restrictive measures have had some effects in reducing irregular migration flows from Senegal, the fight against irregular migration ...

International Development Jobs - Transparency Advisor, Senegal
MSI is anticipating a 4.5-year program for Supporting Democracy, Good Governance , and National Reconciliation in Senegal. The program will focus on four ...

International Development Jobs - Chief of Party - Senegal
IRIS is currently pursuing a USAID-funded project supporting democracy, good governance and national reconciliation in Senegal and seeking an exceptional ...

Dido Elizabeth Bell Lindsay

2009-12-22T02:36:00.000-08:00

In the 18th Century, some Black people in the Eighteenth Century were considerably more privileged than most. One such Woman was Dido Elizabeth Bell Lindsay.

Dido was the daughter of Captain John Lindsay of the Royal Navy. She was born in England to a mother who was captured from a Spanish ship.

Dido lived in Kenwood with her Great uncle William Murray until she was at least thirty. Although she was not a servant, it seems that she had a statues slightly lower than that of a full family member. Among her tasks were tending to Cattle and Poultry.

Murray and his Wife were childless and seemed happy to raise Dido and her cousin Lady Elizabeth Lindsay, whose mother had died while she was still an infant. Authors Speculate that Dido's role in the family might have been that of 'Playmate or attendant to her cousin......

Reggae star Banton will be transferred to Tampa

2009-12-21T07:23:00.000-08:00

MIAMI — Grammy nominated Jamaican reggae star Buju Banton will fight a drug charge against him in Tampa instead of Miami.

Banton waived his bail hearing Wednesday in Miami federal court. His case is being prosecuted in Tampa, where he will be transferred.

U.S. Magistrate Judge William Turnoff issued a temporary order of detention for the 36-year-old singer, whose real name is Mark Anthony Myrie.

Banton did not speak at the hearing, except to reply, "Yes, sir," to the judge's questions. Like the other 10 jail inmates waiting in the courtroom, he wore a beige jail jumpsuit over a white T-shirt, with his long dreadlocks tied up off his neck and his hands shackled in front of him.

"He believes that because the indictment was filed out of Tampa, that's where the case should be defended," Banton's attorney, Herbert E. Walker III, said after the hearing...........

Read more >>

Taking the BNP seriously: Simplistic condemnation is not enough

2009-05-21T15:38:00.000-07:00

Edmund Standing, April 19th 2009, 4:07 pm

What the BNP’s ‘modernisation’ reveals about modern Britain

The BNP’s rebranding strategy reveals something very interesting about Britain, and white British people in particular. For years, by promoting ‘racial nationalism’, the BNP remained an utterly marginal organisation, largely attracting hardcore racists, skinheads, and social misfits. The fact that the BNP now feels the need to tell its activists to cover skinhead haircuts, to not make extreme statements, to avoid any violent rhetoric or acts, and to appear ‘normal’ and ‘respectable’ clearly demonstrates firstly that there are still plenty of extremists in the BNP, but also shows the extent to which Britain has changed - the vast majority of Britons want nothing to do with racist bigots and do not want to be associated with a party that represents hatred. It is also interesting that, as with other far-right groups, as well as with Islamist and pro-Jihadist organisations, the BNP is attempting to tap into the widespread feelings of alienation and atomisation felt by many in a society that is perceived to have poor social cohesion and to lack a sense of ‘old fashioned’ community.

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Walter Tull

2009-05-21T15:35:00.000-07:00

Walter Tull was born in Folkestone on 28th April 1888. His father was a carpenter from Barbados who had moved to Folkestone and married a local woman. By the age of nine, Walter had lost both his parents, and when he was 10 he and his brother Edward were sent to a Methodist orphanage in Bethnal Green. His brother left the orphanage two years later, was adopted by a Scottish family and became a dentist. Meanwhile, Walter played for the orphanage football team, and in 1908, began playing for Clapton FC. Within a few months he had won winners' medals in the FA Amateur Cup, London County Amateur Cup and London Senior Cup. In March 1909 the Football Star called him 'the catch of the season'.

In 1909 he signed as a professional for Tottenham Hotspur, and experienced for the first time spectator racism when Spurs travelled to play Bristol City. According to one observer, 'a section of the spectators made a cowardly attack on him in language lower than Billingsgate.' The correspondent continued:

"Let me tell those Bristol hooligans that Tull is so clean in mind and method as to be a model for all white men who play football whether they be amateur or professional. In point of ability, if not actual achievement, Tull was the best forward on the field"

In October 1911 Tull moved to Northampton Town where he played half-back and scored nine goals in 110 senior appearances. When the First World War broke out, be became the first Northampton player to sign up to join the 17th (1st Football) Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment, and in November 1915 his battalion arrived in France.

The Army soon recognised Tull's leadership qualities and he was quickly promoted to the rank of sergeant. In July 1916, Tull took part in the major Somme offensive. Tull survived this experience but in December 1916 he developed trench fever and was sent home to England to recover.

[caption id="attachment_382" align="alignleft" width="234" caption="Tull and other officers"][/caption]

Tull had impressed his senior officers and recommended that he should be considered for further promotion. When he recovered from his illness, instead of being sent back to France, he went to the officer training school at Gailes in Scotland. Despite military regulations forbidding "any negro or person of colour" being an officer, Tull received his commission in May, 1917.

Lieutenant Walter Tull was sent to the Italian front. This was an historic occasion because Tull was the first ever black officer in the British Army. He led his men at the Battle of Piave and was mentioned in dispatches for his "gallantry and coolness" under fire.

Tull stayed in Italy until 1918 when he was transferred to France to take part in the attempt to break through the German lines on the Western Front. On 25th March, 1918, 2nd Lieutenant Tull was ordered to lead his men on an attack on the German trenches at Favreuil. Soon after entering No Mans Land, Tull was hit by a German bullet. Tull was such a popular officer that several of his men made valiant efforts under heavy fire from German machine-guns to bring him back to the British trenches. These efforts were in vain as Tull had died soon after being hit. He was awarded the British War and Victory Medal and recommended for a Military Cross.

He was the first British-born black army officer and the first black officer to lead white British troops into battle.

Main Website is back up and running

2009-03-05T09:19:00.000-08:00

Thank you all for reading this blog so far. The full version is back up online and flying with some Sweet articles. Get over there and comment now!

http://www.blackpresence.co.uk

Black Kignts in Europe

2009-02-20T15:41:00.000-08:00

Ever heard of the Black Knight? No, I don't mean that unfunny film with Martin Lawrence in it. I mean "The black Knight"? Did you ever stop to think where the tale of the black knight came from?

Well, many historians have dismissed the stories as a knight who had a black banner, or the knight who wore black armour, or the knight who had black hair. The truth is these men probabally all were known as the black knight. Afterall surely they coul'nt mean African knights, because there weren't any Africans in medieval Europe right? Wrong!

whilst there may not have been armies of African knights charging around Europe in the middle ages there are noted examples which deserve further scrutiny.

Africans were first described in medieval texts as descriptions of "moorish invaders of southern Europe became popular. Whilst the majority of the Moslems who invaded Souther Europe would of been of North African Stock there would certainly have been a high percentage of miced race warriors and Black Sub saharan Africans too.

These images attest to the fact that some of the Moorish invaders were indeed of African descent.

As well as invaders, Africans featured as heros and even saints in Medieval Europe. These images show Saint Maurice. We cannot be sure that Maurice was actually of African origin but Maurice is derived from the name "Moor" and he was the leader of the Roman "Theban" Legion. Thebes being one of the Principle Cities in ancint Eygypt. Maurice has been depicted as an african since the 12th century, however with the african slave trade coming to prominence around the 16th century such images ceased to be the norm around that time onwards.

The moors even appear the tales of King Arthur, even though these are now proven to be fictional writings one of Arthurs knights was called Morien, again derived from "Moor".

My final image shows "A black knight and his Lady" . I have tried unsuccessfully to find the source for this image. It was part of a clipping I collected years ago. I think it may be a reference to King James of Scotland around 1507. James had several Africans in his court, and held a tournament in honour of one of the black maidens known as Ealenor. This image may bear reference to it. If you know different please inform me.

So, as you see the reference to the black knight isn't quite as light hearted as you may have previously thought. It is deep rooted in the history and mythology of Europe.

References:

Saint Maurice: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Maurice
Journal of Negro History: http://www.jstor.org/pss/2716883
Theban Legion: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theban_Legion
Playahata: http://playahata.com/pages/bhfigures/bhfigures20.html

Unnamed site:http://www.angelfire.com/md/8/moors.html

Google Search terms: africans in medieval europe

I too have a Dream

2009-02-19T11:09:00.000-08:00

I too have a dream!
Wed, 02/18/2009 - 17:55 — raymondobe blackpresence.co.uk

I usta hang out all day with my cousin, fantasizing about the day we were gonna be supa rich and famous. My cousin had a studio in the basement of his yard over on the West side of town; Powis Square. I rented a tiny room on the North side, though at the time West London felt like a home to me.

Mainly coz I was always flexing around that way. ‘Grove, Notting Hill, Shepherds Bush, Warwick Ave.

My cousin’s studio had pretty dope acoustics. The place was basic with a concrete floor, four walls, a couch and little else. We were tight on funds, so we’d glued some egg cartons to the wall, cut out a piece of lino and thrown it down to give the place more glamour. Weren’t exactly EMI studios, but then again by comparison, just a few months earlier, me and my spars had had to make do with sampling and mixing in each others crummy gaffs.

We were always talking about how when we got some serious loot together we’d throw down some laminated flooring. Mostly we’d say it coz it was part of the dream, and in our desperation to make it real, it gave us something definite to shoot for. If we needed to chill, we’d crashed out on this dilapidated four-seated brown leather sofa; we’d stolen off somebody’s skip. We’d kickback for a while drinking, Kwik Save tea out chipped ceramic mugs and eating Oreo cookies. Wasn’t exactly the weed smoking, Hennessey and Alazy environment you’d see depicted in all those, keepin-it-real, rap music videos. But I guess it was aight though.

Other times we’d be kickin-it over in Shepherds Bush, Acton or some other place, crowded round somebody’s portable set in, getting mad excited, watching cable or video re-runs of Yo MTV. Or listening to street-smart black kids from Long Beach and Brooklyn, talking about how they spent their days, shooting dice, drinking forties and smoking a pound of chronic. Then we’d look at each other, then look at the shabby eighth of weed next to the King size Rizla papers on the wooden speaker box and we’d be like: Shit, only in our dreams homeboy.

That’s when we usually took turns describing our versions of, The day I hit it big and won the National lottery. There’d always be one cat sitting there red eyed, baggy pants hanging off his bony malnourished arse, going on about blingin’ his wardrobe and pimping his ride; like a diamond encrusted Paris Hilton limited edition watch and an Escalade were the only things that mattered in his Get Rich or Die Trying hustlers playground. My cousin had other ideas. For him, it wasn’t just about the money. Though he definitely wasn’t one of those, I live in the ghetto die in the ghetto type of cats.

As for myself I was never that wild about that whole bling bling thing. I liked my low-key threads. I guess all considering, I didn’t have a lotta choice. Baggy discounted Levis, twofa a fiver T-shirts and a pair of cheap-arse trainers were pretty much my staple wardrobe. Had to admit those bling bling stones did look cool though. But then again, I didn’t wanna be part of that kinda exploitation. I knew that black brothers in South Africa were literally dying by the droves for that shit, while their fat rich bosses were living off the interest of their blood, sweat and labour. Instead going out looking like Pharaohs, my peeps were going out broken-up, beaten down and blooded, in cheap wooden boxes.

After a while we started performing gigs all over the country…A lot of universities. Two to six hour journeys squashed in the back of a second-hand transit van, peering out the dirty windows, mesmerised, watching the green countryside slide by.

Mostly we spent our time down in the basement studio. My cousin hunched in front of his old Macintosh computer, mixing the same track thirty, forty or fifty different ways to get it just right.

Yeah but maybe if we drop a little snare drum in it would play better, he’d mutter to whoever was still sitting on the couch, dry-mouthed, rolling spliffs, at 4am in the morning.

Calling my cousin’s basement a studio was pretty generous though. Basically we had a sampling machine, a computer, a dat and a mike.

What more to you need? my cousin would say if any of the crew started bitching.

He was always cheery, always optimistic. Unlike the rest of us, who would usually get wildly depressed when things didn’t work out the way our 24-7 dedication, focus and crazy hard work, implied that they should. It was triple hard because none of us was making any real loot.

Most days my cousin pretty much never left his basement. I worked part-time in a bar over in Notting Hill so I wouldn’t starve to death, living off bottles of Super Malt, tins of Nourishment Drinks and cheap ASDA biscuits. I was nearly always skint, but I was one of the luckier ones, since part of my rent was being paid for by the social. We’d go out clubbing now and then coz you had to stay in the mix, keep meeting people and keep it fresh. We were guess list aficionados. Money was always scarce though. Gas, electricity and phone bills seemed to flow in all at once like a Tsunami. The mobile phone bills were ridiculous. Didn’t matter what networks we were on. And sometimes when it rained it seemed like the monsoon season had come to drown us out for good.

We’d also go through spells when everything seemed to be on pause. When all we seemed to do was arrange meetings with people who according to my cousin, were supposedly gonna take us to the moon and back. They were usually fast-talking Tony Montana/Donald Trump/Alan Sugar-fake-arse-wannabes. And with a few moves here and a few moves there, they’d promise that they were gonna give us the world and everything in it. What we actually got were meetings upon meetings in fancy West End bars and restaurants, where the only thing the money in our wallets could cover was the carbonated Perrier water.

Some times the record label guys would sound so hyped they’d make it sound as if they’d already pencilled us in for the Grammy’s. They’d sip their designer beers, or glasses of expensive white wine, and order over-priced food on giant square-shaped plates, like they were printing their own dining-out money. Then they’d say stuff like:

Soon as I get back I’m gonna speak to Mickey or Charlie. We’ve got some great ideas for this. We really believe this could work. Here’s my card. I promise you whatever happens we’ll definitely do something together soon.

Most of the time their Richard Branson excitement didn’t amount to shit. And a lot of those times it was blatantly obvious that the industry guys were just stringing us along. Maybe they just liked hanging out with broke-arse singers and musicians. I don’t’ know. The worse part was that sometimes we knew that we were being played like fools, but we went along with it anyway. Sometimes we just acted like record label punks. Desperation can make you stupid.

My cousin was right thought. However basic the studio was it did its job. Production sounded wicked, especially when we were blunted on the weed. Sometimes just to deal with the frustration, I’d get so high I’d start pretending we were recording on Abbey Road, with the Stones and the Beatles.

My cousin was really the guy with all the musical talent. I could rap pretty good, but I couldn’t sing for shit. I helped out with the organisation, like arranging dates, making calls and putting out fliers. But mostly I usta just hang around for the girls. They’d walk in to the room and I’d think, goddamn. Most of the girls were that fine they hadta be catalogue models or something.

There was this one singer though, half Zambian half black American with a face and a voice like an angel. I’d just sit there and stare and feel like I’d smoked the ultimate spliff and finally gone straight to heaven. I didn’t realise how someone’s voice could make you fall in love so fast. I’d sit there hangin’ on her every syllable like a dog on heat, with my tongue practically falling out my mouth.

You were great, I’d say, raising my eyebrows, grinning and staring at her like she was gold bullion.

Thanks, she’d say, fanning the air with her a flier, coz it would get so unbelievably hot down there in the basement, you’d feel like you were on some day trip to Africa.

I’d ask her if she wanted anything to drink and then I’d run down to the store on the corner, just to hear her say, thanks babe and smile at me with those dimpled cheeks of hers.

Over time my cousins was offered more record deals than you’d believe...somehow they didn’t play out, pan out...whatever. Some how whenever it came to the proverbial, shit or get off the pot time, the record companies would have second thoughts and bail. One thing we soon learnt was that just because you had a record deal did’nt mean you were gonna be the next Dr Dre, 2pac or Michael Jackson.

Yeah, it was hard work and some times soul destroying. One of the hardest things was tryna convince our parents that we weren’t tryna screw up our lives following some insane dream that would never happen in a million years. Especially since all our parents had no doubt gone through their own form of bullshit in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. We knew they’d made certain sacrifices, so that hopefully their kids wouldn’t have to. Well I guess you can only be true to yourself; even if no one else understands who that is or the dream you’re busting your arse to make a reality. But of course there were some beautiful moments when the hard work and graft did pay off. Good times that made it all seem worth it.

Thinking back, one of the things that kinda sticks out in my mind is a memory I have of myself sitting at home, watching TV with my pops. And my pops looking at me in that serious way he always did when he was worried about my future, and then asking me if I’d finally figured out what I was gonna do with my life. Coz one minute you’re twenty-four years old and the next time you blink, your almost forty. And me rubbing my eyes, looking around the room and telling him that I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life…Because right now I was trying to achieve that dream. Only when I started I hadn’t figured on it taking so long and having to take so many hard-knock backs along the way. And my pops giving me this half-smile of a look as if to say, son life isn’t something you need to beat yourself up over.

Then me coming back with,

Yeah but why are there always so many obstacles? Why is it always so hard?

Then my pops looking up at the ceiling as if he were remembering something important, and turning to me and saying something along the lines of:

That’s the thing about life. None of us know what’s going to happen, and maybe that’s the thing that makes us keep trying for our goals.

And me grinning back, cause I guess he had a point, even if it wasn’t what I was wanted to hear right then.

Yeah pops, I’d be thinking as I stared at the grey parts of his beard...I guess you gotta keep believing through thick and thin, and then maybe, just maybe, you get to live the dream your heart and soul believes in.

Memorial Plaque dedcated to Olaudah Equiano

2009-02-18T13:11:00.000-08:00

About 300 people attended Monday night's dedication in St, Margaret's Church, Westminster Abbey, of a memorial plaque to Olaudah Equiano (c.1745-97), the leading black abolitionist. Equiano had been baptised at the Church in February 1759.

While people waited for the start of the service the Church organist played the 'Trumpet Voluntary' by John Stanley (1712-86) and Handel's Organ Concerto in B flat. In the opening Bidding the Rector Rev Robert Wright quoting from Article 4 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights said that in dedicating the memorial, 'we remember all those who are still denied their liberty, and those who work to give the gift of freedom to all people.'

Rev. Dr. Joel Edwards spoke about Equiano's Spirituality and his conversion to committed Christianity after his near death experience in the Arctic. Given the importance of Equiano's autobiographical book 'The Interesting Narrative ...' as part of his campaigning around the country, and its inspiration still today, Asher Hoyles read her powerful poem 'The Talking Book' which ends:

'That reading is a political act
I wish someone had've told me that
I wish I had've known of the sacrifices made
So that I could simply sit, turn the page.'

Jennette Arnold, the Chair of the Greater London Authority, read from Ephesians 4: 25-30 about putting away falsehood and speaking the truth. The Church Choir then sang Psalm 9:1-10 to music by John Goss (1800-80). Actor Burt Caesar read the passage from 'The Interesting Narrative...' about Equiano's experience of being put up for auction in a slave sale, and his critique of the policy of splitting up families.

A summary of his life was then recounted by Vincent Carretta, Professor of English at the University of Maryland, whose researches have added so much more to our knowledge and understanding about Equiano.

Before the formal Dedication by Rev Dr John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, everyone sang 'Amazing Grace' the hymn penned by John Newton (1725-1807), the former slave trader turned priest and abolitionist, set to music by the American John Rees (1828-1900). The London Seventh-Day Adventist Male Voice choir sang 'Magnify, Rejoice' by George Frederick Root (1820-95).

There were then prayers including for the abolition of the slave trade and slavery, the activists in the abolition movement, to Equiano, and 'For the Africans whose names we do not know, who risked everything in pursuit of freedom and justice...', and to those 'who endure modern forms of slavery.' The final prayer read by Sentamu was 'for those who work for peace in the word, especially for those who work to redress the legacies of slavery, those committed to the work of healing and reconciliation among individuals and communities; for the eradication of prejudice and discrimination, so that all men, women, and children may be set free to live in security, and with dignity.' A minute's silence was followed by the Lord's Prayer, after which the congregation sang 'Praise, my soul, the King of Heaven'. The music ended with the Adventist Choir singing 'Ye Gates' by Andrew Thomson (1814-1901) arranged by Amzi Clarence Dixon (1854-1925). Afterwards people stayed to look at the plaque, take photographs of it, and chat to those they knew. The plaque and the event was organised with the support of the Equiano Society.

Note: In October 1830 Dr Andrew Thomson, of St. George's Edinburgh, the author of 'Ye Gates' spoke to 2,500 people for two and a half hours in the Edinburgh Assembly Rooms arguing why the abolition movement should move from gradual to immediate emancipation. The speech was subsequently published.

Reviewed by Sean Creighton

11 February 2009

Black Presence still rules the Search Engines

2007-03-14T17:43:00.000-07:00

After 9 years online Black Presence is still doing well in the Search engines. Just getting a decent ranking in google these days is hard enough, but with the rapid onset of Lottery funded sites and the increase in web 2.0 sites black presence still holds its own.

If you don't believe me just check out the impressive index of the Black Presence site by google.

These days we are being pipped to the post by the giant Behemoth Wikipedia, but my warning to them is....hold up...if you don't keep inmproving, we will beat you. Top spot is ours...we will be taking it back.

Black Pupils treated worse by Teachers

2007-03-14T17:02:00.000-07:00

Black pupils are routinely punished more harshly, praised less and told off more often in English schools than other pupils, an official report says...

Heehe, we needed a report to tell us this did we ? Anyone of colour who has been in a school in the U.K will probabally know that there is inherent racism in the system. firstly whether the teachers define themselves as racist or not many have inherently racist views. Most teachers come from all white backgrounds and so have no knowledge of dealing with kids from other ethnic backgrounds.

Even in the 80's when I went to school teachers would say, "you have a chip on your shoulder", its like. "I haven't you treat me like an idiot and then get all defensive when I chat back".

It will be interesting to see what comes of this report or whether it gets filed.....under the carpet with most of the other race reports.