I Rise
Like the phoenix rising from the ashes
What is Black Lives Matter? The Black Lives Matter movement started as a hashtag on social networks and officially began in the United States in 2013 after George Zimmerman was found not guilty of murdering Trayvon Martin in Florida. The movement grew to protest not just the justice system in America but police brutality against …
What is the Windrush scandal? The Windrush scandal mainly affected UK citizens originally from the Caribbean. It came to light in 2018 after it emerged that hundreds of Commonwealth citizens, many of whom were from the Windrush Generation, had been wrongly detained, deported and denied legal rights. Who are the Windrush generation? The Windrush Generation …
Mindfulness meditation has become one of the most popular forms of meditation in recent years. Many benefits come with practising mindfulness, including reducing stress and anxiety, improving mental clarity and wellbeing, boosting self-awareness, and increasing focus and concentration. In this blog post, we will explore the top 5 benefits of mindfulness meditation. Reducing Stress and …
A 32-year-old black man from Antigua named Kelso Cochrane was brutally murdered in a racist attack in the early hours of 17 May 1959. After receiving treatment at Paddington Hospital for a fractured thumb, Kelso Cochrane was walking home shortly after midnight when a gang of white youths surrounded him, called him derogatory names, beat …
There are many benefits to yoga. Yoga can help you lose weight, tone your body, and improve overall health. In this blog post, we will take a closer look at how yoga can help you lose weight and tone your body. So, if you’re interested in learning more about how yoga can help you lose …
It’s terrible news for the people of Lewisham as planned expansions of the Bakerloo line to extend from Elephant and Castle to Lewisham and potentially further have been halted “indefinitely”, Transport for London (TfL) announced. East London Line reports that Andy Byford, TfL’s commissioner, confirmed the halt of both the Bakerloo line and Crossrail 2 …
Where is Ghana? Ghana is a country in Western Africa. Situated on the coast of the Gulf of Guinea, it is bordered by Burkina Faso, Togo and Cote d’Ivoire. Ghana was the first black African country south of the Sahara to achieve independence from colonial rule. The modern state of Ghana is named after the …
Where is the Dominican Republic? The Dominican Republic is a country in the West Indies that occupies the eastern two-thirds of Hispaniola, the second-largest island of the Greater Antilles chain in the Caribbean Sea. Haiti, also an independent republic, occupies the western third of the island. The capital of the Dominican Rebublic is Santo Domingo. …
Where is Saint Lucia? Saint Lucia is an island in the Caribbean Sea. It is the second largest of the Windward group. Castries is the capital city. Saint Lucia was first known as “Louanalao” by the Arawak Indians in 200 AD, meaning “Island of the Iguanas,” and then “Hewanorra,” in 800 AD when the Carib …
Where is the Gambia? The Republic of The Gambia is the smallest country within mainland Africa and is sandwiched by Senegal. Banjul is the capital and the largest city in the Gambia. The Gambia has long been home to several different ethnic groups who have maintained their individual cultural traditions; as such, the country has …
Flore Bois Gaillard was a St Lucian runaway slave who led a band of free slaves called ‘Armée Française Dans Les Bois (French Army in the Woods). The life of Flore Bois Gaillard Flore Bois Gaillard was an enslaved biracial woman owned by a man known as Master Bellac. For several years she worked on …
Donmar Warehouse theatre has launched Monuments, a short film resulting from a Donmar Local project. The project explores the legacy of the British Empire. With anti-racism movements sweeping the globe, young people are pushing for political action, highlighting the racialised power structures embedded in our society. Change is on the horizon. The Donmar is located …
Marie Sainte Dédée Bazile is notable as part of the Haitian Revolution. While there is much written about the men of the Haitian Revolution, not much is known or written about the women who helped to emancipate the people of the island. Born near Cap-Francais (now Cap-Hattian) to enslaved parents, we rely on oral history …
Grenada is one of the smallest independent countries in the western hemisphere. Known as the Spice island, it is the world’s second-largest producer of nutmeg after Indonesia and a significant producer of mace, cinnamon, ginger and cloves. It also boasts beautiful scenery with fertile valleys, rainforests and mountain lakes. Saint George’s is the capital city …
Where is Haiti? Haiti is in the western one-third of the island of Hispaniola between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean. The Dominican Republic occupies the eastern two-thirds of the island. Port-au-Prince is the capital city of Haiti. When was Haiti colonised? Haiti was first colonised by the Spanish who enslaved the native …
In February 1965 civil rights campaigner, Malcolm X was in Britain to speak at the London School of Economics. Avtar Singh Jouhl, general secretary of the Indian Workers Association, invited him to speak at Birmingham University and visit Smethwick, a small town in the West Midlands, UK. Smethwick was a hotbed of racial tension. Just …
On Sunday 18 January 1981 a fire broke out in a house in New Cross Road, Deptford, South East London, killing 13 young people and marking a massive change for black people in Britain. Thirteen people died in the New Cross fire and another, committed suicide 18 months later in July 1983, aged 20, having …
Sybil Phoenix is a community leader who has devoted her life to helping other people, especially in Lewisham, the town she made home. Early years She was born Sybil Theodora Marshall on 21 June 1927 in Georgetown, British Guiana (now Guyana). Sybil’s mother died when she was nine, and, as her father worked in the …
Most people believe that black people came to Britain after the Second World War with the arrival of the Empire Windrush in 1948. But Black people have had a presence in Britain for as far back as Roman times. Even closer in history, there were Blacks in Britain during and after slavery. If white British …
0n 5 December 1492, European navigator Christopher Columbus came upon an island in the Caribbean that he claimed for Spain and called La Isla Española (“The Spanish Island”, later Anglicised as Hispaniola). Haiti colonised by Spain Spain colonised the island and enslaved the native Taino and Ciboney people. Forced to mine gold under brutal working …
Samuel Sharpe instigates a rebellion On 27 December 1831, the Christmas Rebellion began at the Kensington Estate in St James, Jamaica. Samuel Sharpe was the main instigator of the 1831 Slave Rebellion. Although he was a slave, he was also a leader of the native Baptists in Montego Bay. This enabled him to travel and …
Britain’s 1919 race riots started at the end of the First World War starting with an outbreak of violence in Glasgow in January, race riots happened around the United Kingdom until late in the summer, including in Liverpool, Hull, Cardiff, Salford, Newport and South Shields. There were several outbreaks in the East End of London, …
Charles Wotten was a 24-year-old ship’s fireman from Bermuda who was murdered by an angry white mob during the Liverpool race riots of 1919. What led to Charles Wotten’s murder? Since the 16th century, the Black presence in London and Liverpool had been noticeable but Liverpool’s Black population grew dramatically during the war as Black …
Ella Addo-Kissi-Debrah is the first person in the UK whose death certificate lists air pollution exposure as a cause of death. The inquest into her death comes after her mother, Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, campaigned tirelessly for air pollution to be recognised as a factor in her daughter’s death. Ella lived in Lewisham, South London, just 25 …
