Journalist at RFI (ex-DW, BBC, CBC, F24...), writer (on art, music, street art...), I work in radio, podcasting, online, on films.
As a writer, I'm a contributor to the New Arab, Art UK, Byline Times, the i paper...
Born in Paris, I was also based in Prague, Miami, London, Nairobi (covering East Africa), Bangui, and in Bristol, UK. I also reported from Italy, Germany, Haiti, Tunisia, Liberia, Senegal, India, Mexico, Iraq, South Africa...
This blog is to share my work and cultural discoveries.
Robin DiAngelo’s bestselling book White Fragility has provoked an uncomfortable but vital conversation about what it means to be white. As protests organised by the Black Lives Matter movement continue around the world, she explains why white people should stop avoiding conversations about race because of their own discomfort, and how 'white fragility' plays a key role in upholding systemic racism
Under the gloomy English weather, this week I'm conducting my research on Black British artists, first for a profile of Sonia Boyce fo ART UK, then for a book I'm writing fo the Arnolfini... More on this soon.
Interesting find today, a BBC documentary produced in 2018, to be aired again later this week:
The Pioneers of Britain's Black Art Movement - BBC
Whoever Heard of a Black Artist? Britain's Hidden Art History | BBC
Brenda Emmanus meets groundbreaking artists from the black arts movement of the 80s to 2017's Turner Prize winner, Lubaina Himid.
Watch more of Whoever Heard of a Black Artist? Britain's Hidden Art History on the BBC: https://bbc.in/2vSgYq8
Two of the most important writers in this country:
Orwell Prize shortlist conversation #1 with Bernardine Evaristo and Amelia Gentleman
In the first of a new series of conversations across genres, styles and perspectives, Orwell shortlisted writers Bernardine Evaristo and Amelia Gentleman talk about politics, art and giving a voice to the powerless. The winners of all four Orwell Prizes will be revealed via our online Prize Ceremony on Thursday 9th July 2020.
THE WINDRUSH BETRAYAL
Amelia Gentleman
Shortlisted for The Orwell Prize for Political Writing 2020
"A heartbreaking, shocking and deeply moving book that dares to give voice to the voiceless, say the unsayable, and reminds us, with remarkable power, why journalism truly matters."
Published by: Guardian Faber
Amelia Gentleman is a reporter and author of The Windrush Betrayal, Exposing the Hostile Environment. She won the Paul Foot award, Cudlipp award, an Amnesty award, journalist of the year British journalism awards and London press club print journalist of the year for Windrush investigations. She has also won the Orwell prize, feature and specialist writer of the year.
GIRL, WOMAN, OTHER
Bernardine Evaristo
Shortlisted for The Orwell Prize for Political Fiction 2020
"A worldly, compassionate and detailed depiction of the lives of different generations of black women attempting to achieve self-realisation against the forces of classic family conservatism and within a society structured to maintain white supremacy. Piercingly funny even as it welcomes the reader into the complexities of being a female parent, child, lover, and an ambitious traveller through life when no one has yet provided a suitable guide book."
Published by: Hamish Hamilton
Bernardine Evaristo is the Anglo-Nigerian award-winning author of several books of fiction and verse fiction that explore aspects of the African diaspora: past, present, real, imagined. Her writing also spans short fiction, reviews, essays, drama and writing for BBC radio. She is Professor of Creative Writing at Brunel University, London, and Vice Chair of the Royal Society of Literature. She was made an MBE in 2009. As a literary activist for inclusion Bernardine has founded a number of successful initiatives, including Spread the Word writer development agency (1995-ongoing); the Complete Works mentoring scheme for poets of colour (2007-2017) and the Brunel International African Poetry Prize (2012-ongoing).
Débats intenses sur le racisme à Bristol au Royaume-Uni
Il y a 80 ans, des soldats sénégalais, maliens, ivoiriens, guinéens ou burkinabè étaient massacrés par des soldats allemands, alors qu’ils combattaient pour la France. Des soldats dont on connaît depuis peu certains visages. Et en seconde partie de ce magazine, reportage à Bristol, où les manifestations contre le racisme ont fait tomber la statue d’un négrier et provoquent de vifs débats.
Le 7 juin dernier, des manifestants ont déboulonné la statue d'Edward Colston, avant de la jeter dans la rivière Avon
Votre magazine hebdomadaire consacré à l’actualité vous emmène chaque semaine dans un autre pays pour un grand reportage. Cap dans ce numéro au Royaume-Uni. Là-bas, comme dans d’autres villes d’Europe, des manifestations contre le racisme ont eu lieu dans le sillage des événements aux Etats-Unis.
À Bristol une statue a même été arrachée. Il faut dire que la ville portuaire était autrefois un des lieux principaux du commerce triangulaire, de la traite des esclaves et qu’elle en porte toujours les marques. De quoi provoquer d’intenses débats comme le raconte Melissa Chemam.
Vu d’Allemagne est un magazine proposé par Hugo Flotat-Talon et Anne Le Touzé. Vous retrouvez tous les numéros du magazine Vu d'Allemagne dans la médiathèque.
The week after the Bristol BLM protests, I wanted to interview Cleo Lake - Bristol’s former Lord Mayor, dancer, performer and ambassador for its African-Caribbean culture, also a Green Party Councillor. We talked about her views for positive change, Greens of Colours, her work in Ghana to connect Caribbean, British and African cultures, and how her projects have been affected by the lockdown... We also talked about her new podcast ‘AFRICAN AF’ and the role that African Caribbean people in the UK can have in the fight against the climate crisis. Here is the entire conversation:
Part of our conversation was also featured this week in the Quarantini Podcast that I co-produce and present with Pommy Harmar here in Bristol. We celebrated Windush Day (22 June), Refugee Week (15-21), and the summer Solstice, with music and our usual round up from Bristol, UK and around the world. -
Music:
Opening & closing music: Hot Flu, The Old Bones Collective
Celebrating Sanctuary at Home : Servo & Family
Lark Ascending, Ralph Vaughan Williams
on BLM, Colston' statue and the role of the arts against racism
Freelance writer and reporter Melissa Chemam speaks to Dr Shawn Sobers, filmmaker, photographer and writer, and Associate Professor in Cultural Interdisciplinary Practice at the University of the West of England, Bristol (UWE: ACE - Film and Journalism) about Black Lives Matter, the fall of Edward Colston's statue in Bristol and the role of the arts in the current fight against racism.
Africa changed my life; it's always on my mind, and especially its music!
Beautiful moment from the Bristol Refugee Festival 2020
Celebrating Sanctuary at Home : Servo & Family
Servo & Family performing for the Bristol Refugee Festival 2020. Servo Severin is a drummer and teacher from Congo and has been performing with his family in the Bristol area since 2018.
In place of the annual Celebrating Sanctuary event in Queen Square, Bristol, 4 artists recorded performances at King Sound Reinforcement at Barton Hill for the Bristol Refugee Festival. Along with a contribution from the Fantasy Orchestra, these performances form the Celebrating Sanctuary at Home series.
#BRF2020
15-21 June 2020
www.bristolrefugeefestival.org
Credits:
Sound, Staging, Filming and Editing: King Sound Reinforcement https://www.kingsr.com/
19 June marks the remembrance of 'Juneteenth' in America.
Juneteenth is a Texas state holiday celebrated annually in the United States to commemorate Union army general Gordon Granger announcing federal orders in the city of Galveston, Texas, in 1865, proclaiming that all slaves in Texas were from then on free.
African American people are campaigning for it to be a federal holiday in the whole of the US.
A great video for more by Vox:
Juneteenth, explained
Why all Americans should honor this day....
When American schoolchildren learn about chattel slavery in the US, we’re often told it ended with Abraham Lincoln’s signature on the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863.
But, as late as June 19, 1865, enslaved people in Texas were still held in bondage. On that date, the Federal troops entered the state and began to punish slave holders and former confederates who refused to obey the law.
“Juneteenth is a deeply emotional moment for enslaved people,” says historian Karlos K. Hill, of the University of Oklahoma.
In Texas and across the country, emancipated African Americans began celebrating annually, with parades, concerts, and picnics. “Being able to go wherever they want and being able to wander about; for enslaved people, it was an expression of their freedom,” says Hill. “Formerly enslaved people celebrating, in public, their newfound freedom, was an act of resistance.”
However, by 1877, the Federal government had largely abandoned the South. The lynching era— when hundreds of African Americans were killed by white mobs each year across the North and the South— began soon after.
Today, Dr. Hill says, commemorating Juneteenth is important for all Americans because it helps us see all the ways that slavery still shapes this country, including, as he says, “the desire to master and dominate black bodies.”
Kenya has been elected to represent Africa at the UN Security Council! Congratulations!!!
As you know from this blog, I've been reporting from Kenya from 2010 to 2012, one of my favourite counties. Which soon allowed me to travel to and report in 13 other African countries from 2011 to 2018.
UN Member States chose the country in a second round of voting on Thursday in the General Assembly, with 192 ambassadors casting their ballots during pre-determined time slots, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The run-off took place one day after elections to select five new non-permanent members to serve on the Council, based on regional groupings.
Both Kenya and Djibouti had failed to secure the required two-thirds majority on Wednesday, or 128 votes.
In the second round, Kenya received 129 votes, and Djibouti 62.
Fifteen countries sit on the Security Council, the UN organ that maintains international peace and security.
Five are permanent members, who have the right to veto resolutions: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Ten non-permanent members are elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms, with five elected each year.
Joining Kenya at the iconic horseshoe-shaped table in January are India, Ireland, Mexico and Norway. Canada lost out on Wednesday in the other contested seat, within the “Western Europe and other States” group.
They will replace Belgium, Dominican Republic, Germany, Indonesia and South Africa.
Estonia, Niger, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tunisia and Vietnam will remain in the Council through the end of 2021.
The film I worked the most lengthily and deeply on, in 2017/2018, hopefully out in 2022:
FANON / LES CRIS
A FiIm by Raoul Peck
Synopsis
Like many West Indians from his generation, in 1944, Frantz Fanon left his island to join the troops of “La France Libre” at only 18 years old. He will be granted a medal for his achievements in the field of honour, from the hands of Raoul Salan, a military general who will later serve in Algeria and join a mutiny. By the end of 1953, Fanon is a psychiatric doctor and is nominated at the Blida Hospital, in French Algeria. With his young wife Josie, he settles in the hospital complex and starts his work in a context marred with paternalism and racism, where doctors consider the Arabs as “scientifically inferior”. Passionate and impatient, Fanon wants to revolutionise both mentalities and methods in the psychiatric asylum, by launching common activities for patients and medics, though more dialogue and group therapy. With the help of a few of his young junior doctors, he profoundly changes the practice at the hospital, despite the opposition of others doctors, while, a few months later, the first violent incidents of what will become the “Algerian War” are increasingly multiplying. Fanon is absorbed in a spiral of violence and has to deal with the consequences of the use of torture by both the French army and the Algerian freedom fighters. The psychological effects of this level of violence, on both sides, become the central point of his research. Finally, he will have to choose between a total engagement for the Algerian rebellion or complicity with the French system. Threatened to death by the radicals of French Algeria and unable to adequately pursue his medical duty, he will decide to quit his position and to join the FLN, the Algerian National Liberation Front. Suddenly stricken with leukaemia, he will die at 36 years old, only a few months before Algeria gains its independence, and just after achieving his masterpiece, the essay The Wretched of the Earth, which will establish him as one of the greatest thinkers of the decolonisation movement.
Celebrating the Pioneers of the Windrush Generation - Covid 19 With My Future My Choice
This project is running on-line during the pandemic. The project will be up and running live on board the ship, the MV Balmoral when its safe to do so.
With: On-line poetry workshops (15th -22nd June) and live event (October 2020) exploring Bristol's cultural heritage - Migration - Colonialism - Poetry - Engineering - Maritime history - School Curriculum in relation to Black Lives Matter...
I'll be there!
Bristol Celebrates Pioneers of the Windrush Generation
The Windrush Pioneers. Poetry Workshop
Details:
‘Pioneers of the Windrush celebration project’ - A co-created creative project exploring issues around migration and celebrating the achievements of Bristol people who were part of the Windrush generation. In the run-up to Windrush Celebration day on June 22nd look out for an animation by Bristol film- maker 8th Sense Media who, in collaboration with author Roger Griffith, has produced a short film which celebrates the lives and achievements of the Windrush Generation who have settled in Bristol. Devised and co-ordinated by My Future My Choice, the animation brings this rich history to life, to raise understanding, and the aspirations of young people in Bristol as well as connecting them with their heritage. Narrated by broadcast journalist Primrose Granville and including reflections from Elders from the Windrush Generation, the film will be widely available and is of interest to schools and home learners as a stimulus to understand how migration has affected our lives positively. In addition, poet Manu Maunganidze, has devised a workshop which will be delivered to schools online and will encourage young people to gain skill in expressing their own emotions around the Windrush celebration themes through art in general, and poetry in particular. Manu will initiate sessions online with individual classes, provide comment on young people’s poetry and the outcomes will be celebrated on Windrush Day when Manu will lead a session which will be streamed live from the MV Balmoral on Bristol’s harbourside. It’s hoped that school workshops originally planned by My Future My Choice on the MV Balmoral will take place in October 2020 to coincide with Black History Month. The workshops are aimed at 8- 12-year olds and are cross-curricular exploring migration through the arts, social history and science with diverse topics such as navigation, stability, pulley systems and the experience of leaving home. The breadth of approach is mirrored by the intent that this project is inclusive and intergenerational. Workshops can only take place with the support of funders Royal Academy of Engineering and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government – Windrush Day Grant.
MV Balmoral - The Motor Vessel Balmoral is Britain’s most widely travelled excursion ship. One of Britain’s most prized ships and a flagship of the Historic Ship Society. Launched in 1949 a fully serviceable ship which plans to return to active service after upgrades to crew’s quarters. Moored in Bristol’s Harbour. Much used for film and television as well as educational events. My Future My Choice - Provide education services that explore heritage to help young people explore possible futures. MFMC inspire young people with volunteers from business and industry. Supported by the Business West charity, Bristol Initiative Charitable Trust. Roger Griffith - MBE is a writer and social activist who runs his community consultancy, 2morrow 2day! He is a broadcaster and former CEO/Chair of Ujima Radio an award-winning community radio station. He is a lecturer at UWE Bristol and has a passion for sharing cultural stories, global observations and insights on race, inclusivity and social inequality. 8th Sense Media - A creative media production company located in Bristol. Providing imaginative and cost-effective productions with confidence building and engaging, training workshops. - More information contact: Polly Barnes - email: polly@myfuturemychoice / ph: 0117 3290387
