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Colourful Words Column

Nicole Moore, co-founder of Words of Colour, explains why she is stepping down as Creative Arts Director and outlines her future creative plans.

Reviews

Olivier Award winner Bola Agbaje’s debut play Gone Too Far is blistering, intense and demands your full attention, claims Joy Francis.

Interviews

Time Out feature writer and reviewer Tamara Gausi offers some pointers to budding critics including how to cope with adverse reactions to your reviews.

Forum

Susan Yearwood has launched a new literacy agency. As one of a handful of UK-based black book agents she is on the look out for talented new voices.

Competition

Read the second and final part in our series - a week in the life of a budding writer - with our short story competition winners. This time it’s runner up Mahsuda Shah.

Guest Spot - Back to latest guest spot article

Paul Immanuel

BlackFace

Surrender your ears to the pangs and pains
feel the iron chains that choke the black soul the black hole,
riddled with esoteric truths confined in indisypherable caves
sought after by the brave.

Which slaves murmer in the sound of the sea?
An amalgamation of pain, fallen but not slain.
Chose suiside over shame. Calling to their gods
when seeing the europeans unquenchable flame.
Estranged they stand, the god like man.

Consider the monolithic spirit of hate,
which chased our race and mocked our face.
Until we mocked our face aswell and entered
through the gates of hell.
Under its spell our wishing well, filled with
wishes to be white, aswell.

Black, angry, gloomy, sinister,wicked, black sheep...
Pay heed to the minister. For he can cleanse your
African soul. Born damned, born cursed, born wretched
ten fold.

Surrender your minds for the answers are there,
and beauty envelops you though you are far from fair.

Circumspection is paramount for one to understand,
and come to terms with the fact that a black hand,
stole a black life, black heart, black soul.
And traded this treasure in along with fine gold.
For cheap brass wear, old cloths, cottons and aged flint locks
that rediculed that hand wich held it by blowing their fingers off.

Surrender your ears to the torments of the past.
Inhumane rascim, unabashed, unmasked.
Contrast the present with the past,
as long as the " Third World" cries the capatalists may laugh.
Then ask yourself where do you stand, black skin white masks
the ambivalent black man.
Forever holding out the palms of his black hands,
to establish a connection with the god like man.

And for the Maroon type man that will rebel until his death,
and curse the white man with his venomous last breath.
Tortured spirit witihout rest, Jesus Christ he won’t confess.
Though he knows the foreign religion with precision he couldn’t care less.
He talks with his drums ’though there is air in his lungs.
He refuses to speak if not by his mother tongue.
He ignores what he is taught, the rebels life is very short.
He is there for all to see, limp body swinging from a tree.
though not alone, their spirits roam, until they see that which was their home.

What home? Whoes home? the poor man roams.
The tortured spirit cries and remains alone.
And this takes place within the black soul, the black hole.
The vast black space which envelops the black race.

Black waste, black race, black face.

© Paul Immanuel 2007

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Archive 2008
May/June 2008

TV and film writer Veronica McKenzie uncovers her journey from shoe design to film production in LA.

March/April 2008

Writer and performance poet Nick Makoha explains why his creative drive led to him giving up a career in biochemistry.

Feb08

After years of writing, multi talented writer and playwright Maxine Quintyne-Kolaru shows why patience is a virtue.

January 08

Writer and life coach Jackee Holder provides a candid account of the trauma and joys of baring her soul during the writing of her second book.

Archive 2007