Category: Uncategorized

One often hears the call for Black Unity and underlying many platforms is a belief that together we are strong. People will recall days of civil rights struggle and the apartheid struggle as evidence. This is an example of selective memory and dangerous pseudo politics in so far as it substitutes ‘feel good ‘ factors for real political analysis. Our first step is to understand that Black and African political struggles  are NO DIFFERENT  from any other. Western academia’s…

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Carnival in the summer in  Notting Hill is an annual fixture. It has been an event attracting visitors from all over Europe. It is a joyous celebration of Caribbean spirit. Quite fabulous costumes (Fig 1 -2 ) are on display as are sounds systems blaring calypso, reggae and other Caribbean music. There is an important  political  issue here – the amount of foreign earnings  arising from the music produced by those of Caribbean descent in UK and the failure…

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    With this new issue we welcome Dr Wesley Morris to our editorial board. A proper introduction will be presented later. It is a clear core focus of this issue  how Western academic and literary  establishments deal with data, factual data, about Africa. Many Western authors appear to openly invite criticism on the basis of prejudice. Their  strident offensiveness appears to seek such a response so clearly they are prepared for this. What they appear not to expect…

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An interesting evening at Royal Photographic Society  International Photography Exhibition 160 awards   1 March. Because of the weather we are fewer people than normal but it was fun.  These photographs were enticing and captured the imagination. Each series  spoke to some emotional story and conveyed the extra-odinary power of simple photographs. Nothing fancy nothing photoshopped, just demonstrating the power of seeing. Many of those who attended lived nearby and were unlike myself and a few others not members of…

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Went to a Prospect Book Club Event (Monday 19 Feb 18) –  Shami Chakrabarti was speaking about her  views on feminism et al  as part of her book launch of her book ‘On Women’. I have always found Chakrabarti to be a earnest and well meaning lady. She runs on her judgement and sense of fairness  rather than any deep analytic thought. In many ways she arrives at admirable positions: that the rights of women should not be seen…

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Off to Ferrari Exhibition with my son at the Design Museum (3 Feb 18)  … This is a rather stunning exhibition which traces the history of Enzo Ferrari’s life and works with exhibits from many different periods. Its  a pity that the history provided is  so strongly ‘purified’ as the omitted incidents (Note 1)  would have added flesh to the legend. For example, not a word is mention about how Mussolini forced the company to produce machine parts during…

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My good friend Folabi Ogunlesi was holding the wedding of his son Tim in London with his brother Bayo Ogunlesi as guest of honour. (Note 1)Tim is a wonderful young man and the wedding was an exhilirating affair. I have not before  seen a bride actually jumping for joy… and well she might! Weddings for Nigerians are special occasions but here we had a Nigerian- Scottish affair. The ‘Engagement’ , held at the magnificent  Dutch Hall, Austin Friars in…

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This evening (4 September 2017) was spent at Poetry Society’s Poetry Cafe listening to contemporary Bengali-British poets. Thy were diverse from lyric to reflective to didactic. Those whose poetry seared the heart most were the women – reflecting attempts to negotiate the problematic through tenderness and intimacy only to have it thrown back in their face or torn from their heart…Salam Jones writes: ’So I promised my mother I would take care of her girls The day she died,…

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Prof Chris Imafidon’s home was in the shadow of Grenfell Towers so he experienced the events as they say ‘close to home’. A close friend of his died in  the fire. He believes the total number of fatalities (rumours on the ground suggest about 500) is being suppressed explicitly to prevent rioting. However I would suggest that this wording as used by senior civil servants and confirmed by David Lammy MP is code for something more brutal. Prof Imafidon…

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