Joy Francis thanks R&B singer-songwriter Estelle for speaking out about the lack of black British musicians being promoted.
Madhvi Ramani praises Random, the latest play from debbie tucker green that taps into a growing crisis – random violence.
Naz Koser director of Ulfah Arts, Birmingham explains the stories behind the creation of a female Muslim superhero.
Writer and performance poet Nick Makoha explains why his creative drive led to him give up a career in biochemistry.
The winners of the Words of Colour writing competition picked up their awards at the Business Design Centre in London.
The Forum page is the place to promote your events and take part in debates on topics that can be serious or whimsical. This month, Loraine Martins, Head of Equality and Inclusion for the Olympic Delivery Authority talks about having her head turned when she met the living icon Angela Davis.
March/April 2008
Dinner with Angela Davis
At some point I think we all wish we could have a chance to meet our heroes, that influential role-model, that beacon of light that knows not of your particular existence, but yet has a had a positive impact on your life.
I had my chance when I was unexpectedly invited to attend a small dinner with Angela Davis, the African American academic, activist and icon of the Black Power movement, who was in London for International Women’s Day. I grew up on Angela Davis, at a time where we in the UK and looked to America for our images of strength such as Martin Luther King Jnr and Malcolm X.
For me, Angela was the woman amongst men. She symbolised a freedom of thought, a great pride in self and had the depth of courage in the face of national institutional oppression to stand up for what she believed in. All these traits I admired and hoped that I would be able to emulate.
Reading her autobiography and her book, ‘Women, Race and Class’ formed the basis for my own albeit small scale, student activism. In the early 80s I was involved in establishing the first black women’s group at university, organised our participation in demonstrations and campaigns for local and international issues from the Deptford Fire to campaigning against the US invasion of Grenada. I learned from Angela to see that these events were all linked, that the struggles for women’s rights and justice for black people were connected locally, nationally and globally.
So to have had the opportunity to meet Angela Davis in person was an incredible privilege. I have been impressed by her graciousness, humility and vast intellect, and rejuvenated by her integrity and modernity. That Angela Davis is everything that I imagined and more is truly inspiring.
Angela Davis headlined the Greater London Authority’s 6th annual CapitalWoman’s Conference on 8th March (International Women’s Day).
Forum Listings
8th Screen Dance Festival
The 8th annual Constellation Change Screen Dance Festival (CCSDF), London’s Premiere Screen Dance Festival, presents dynamic dance/musical films, intriguing talks, and evening soirees. It will showcase 200 entries from 24 countries. UK Premieres include feature films Gwendolen Cates “Water Flowing Together”, Benson Lee’s “Planet B-Boy”, Marcy Garriott’s Inside The Circle, and Na Kamalei: The Men of Hula.
Date: Date: 31st March – 4th April 2008
Venue(s): Curzon Soho, Ritzy Brixton and Everyman Cinema
Contact: To receive the Film Festival brochure email your full postal address to: ccfestival@hotmail.com with the subject header: 2008 Brochure.
INSIDE THE CIRCLE (UK Premiere)
Capturing the raw power of a grassroots hip-hop movement, the award-winning documentary INSIDE THE CIRCLE tells the stories of talented b-boys Josh and Omar, former best friends who become rivals when they join competing dance crews. Facing off in intense dance battles that mirror the larger events in their lives, Josh and Omar seek respect, meaning and identity “inside the circle.” Screening followed by Q&A with Director Marcy Garriott and Omar Davila.
Date: Tuesday 1st April 2008
Time: Doors open 7:00pm/film starts 7:15pm
Venue: Ritzy Cinema, Brixton Oval, London SW2 1JG
Web Booking: www.picturehouses.co.uk
Tickets: £8.00/£ 7.00 concs
Website: www.insidethecircle.com
Testing the Echo
An exploration on becoming British and cultural mores Testing the Echo asks some interesting questions including where Father Christmas came from to feelings about men holding hands. These questions gain life through the characters Mahmood who gets kidnapped for his own good, Tetyana who wants to escape her marriage, while the participants in Emma’s English class are looking for anything, be it a passport or a fight.
Date: 1st April – 3rd May 2008
Time: 8pm (with midweek and Saturday matinees)
Venue: Tricyle Theatre
Price: £10, £15 & £20 concs available
An Evening of International Word Sound
Yaa Asantewa Arts and Wilde Network presents for one night only direct from Jamaica the author and story teller Amina Blackwood-Meeks and dub poet & author Yasus Afari.
Date: Sunday 6th April 2008
Time: 7pm – 11pm
Venue: The Yaa, 1 Chippenham Mews, London W9 2AN
Price: £7, £5 concs
Website: www.wilde2000.org.uk
Email: events@wilde2000.org.uk
Apples & Snakes Housewarming Poetry Party
To mark Apples & Snakes move to The Albany, Deptford, the leading organisation for performance poetry is hosting a housewarming poetry party with Salena Godden as MC. Michael Horovitz, Alexander D Great and Deacon are among the many guests.
Date: Friday 11th April 2008
Venue: The Albany, Douglas Way, Deptford, SE8
Time: 8pm
Price: £7, £5 concs
Tel: 020 8692 4446
Website: www.applesandsnakes.org
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Andrea Enisuoh, Centerprise Literature Development Co-ordinator, explains what the recent funding cuts by the Arts Council England means for her project.
Have you made a New Year Resolution to take your writing further or get your poems or novel published? Let us know your writing dreams for 2008.
