Tag StayAdept

Una Marson

Una Marson was before her time. Before she moved to Britain, she already achieved more in a creative career than most of us will achieve in a lifetime. Born in Jamaica, her father was a Deacon and she grew up…

#ENDSARS What happens now?

The Protest We have been following the #ENDSARS movement with varying emotions from hope, encouragement, anger, grief, shock, and despair. Sometimes all at once. When it was announced that there would be a curfew from 4pm on the 20th October…

Black Soldiers in WW1

We mark the importance of Armistice Day by holding one minute’s silence at 11am on the 11th November remembering those who fought and died during WW1. In secondary school, I visited Ypres in Belgium. The first stop was Flanders Field…

Joseph Bologne

 Storytime Joseph Bologne Composer 25th December 1745 – 10th June 1799 Joseph Bologne was born in the French-Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, his mother Nanon was an enslaved woman of Senegalese origin and his father was a French plantation owner with…

Lewis H Latimer

Whenever we think of who invented the lightbulb a quick Google search will tell you it was Thomas Edison. Although that’s been questioned and there are claims it was an Englishman called Joseph Swan. An important element of the light…

Elephant and Castle

For over 55 years, Elephant and Castle shopping centre has been a recognisable landmark of Lambeth. Before you get to the roundabout, you can always spot the pink elephant first. The pink elephant reminded me of the surrealist hallucinations that…

Samuel Sharpe

‘I’d rather die on yonder gallows than be a slave.’ Samuel Sharpe is a National Jamaican Hero, as he was behind the Jamaican Christmas Rebellion of 1832. He was a self educated man. A Baptist deacon who taught himself to…

Fanny Eaton

Fanny Eaton – 23 June 1835 – 4 March 1924 When we think of Black British models, we think of British-Jamaican stars such as Naomi Campbell, Jourdan Dunn and Leomie Anderson. However if we go back to the nineteenth century,…

Queenie Book Review

Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams Queenie is the last slice of cake you have been saving for after dinner, a long-awaited treat! The front cover image is a sketch of a young black woman, with all her braids expertly in a…

Queen Akua

Storytime Queen Akua or also known as Cubah Cornwallis was an enslaved woman of Ghanian descent. Queen Akua was originally from The Ashanti Empire and was bought by Captain William Cornwallis and taken to Jamaica. He changed her role to…