Jamaican immigrants being addressed shortly after their arrival in Tilbury by RAF officials from the Colonial Office in 1948. Photograph: PA
Blog

Appendix 007


06 Jun 2020

Appendix is a weekly digest of sound, video, and written content from across the internet that delves deeper into the themes of our online programme.

Like many around the world, we’ve been deeply concerned and disturbed by the events that have unfolded following the death of George Floyd. As an organisation that celebrates and supports Black artists and culture, we feel it is important to voice our support for an end to inequality, whilst acknowledging we still have work to do.

This week, we’ve collated a selection of reading, watching and listening that we hope will prove useful, inspiring and educational in taking us on that path.

 

i.) Listen: Have You Heard George’s Podcast: It’s On Us
George the Poet’s eloquent elucidation of Britain’s own complex racial histories and the British Empire’s complicity in slavery shook BBC Newsnight viewers this week. This episode of his award-winning podcast, Have You Heard George’s Podcast, addresses the foundations and aftermath of the 2011 London riots, which broke out after the murder of unarmed Black man Mark Duggan by the Metropolitan police.

ii.) Watch: Day Dream, directed by Stephen Isaac-Wilson
In the sacred space of his bedroom, artist and founder of club night Body Party Kareem Reid discusses navigating the world as a queer black body, blending reality with high fashion and performance, and exploring issues of queer loneliness, male vulnerability, and platonic intimacy. Scored by musicians Klein and Somerset House Studios' resident Jacob Samuels.

iii.) Listen: About Race with Reni Eddo-Lodge
From the author behind the bestselling Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race, comes a podcast that takes the conversation a step further. Featuring key voices from the last few decades of anti-racist activism, About Race with Reni Eddo-Lodge looks at the recent history that led to the politics of today. Episode 8 explores ‘The Anti-Racist Renaissance’ in conversation with actor, rapper and activist Riz Ahmed.

iv.) Watch: James Baldwin and America's racial problem
“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.”

James Baldwin on the black experience in America is still as relevant today as it was 50 years ago. Baldwin was a prominent novelist, playwright, essayist, poet, and activist whose work tackled issues of race, imperialism, and identity.

v.) Read: Put our colonial history on the curriculum – then we’ll understand who we really are by Maya Goodfellow
Britain’s past weighs on our present: learning about it would mean a better debate about race and migration. Maya Goodfellow is a writer and academic, and the author of Hostile Environment: How Immigrants Became Scapegoats.

vi.) Listen: Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo
Bernardine Evaristo's 2019 Booker Prize-winning novel follows the lives of twelve extraordinary and varied characters, mostly women, black and British. Teeming with life, Girl, Woman, Other follows these characters through the years and across the miles of the UK. Evaristo presents a new kind of history for this country: ever-dynamic and ever-expanding. Abridged by Patricia Cumper and read by Pippa Bennett-Warner.

vii.) Petition: Save Nour Cash and Carry
Nour Cash and Carry has served the local community in Brixton for 20 years and is a vital resource to ethnic and immigrant communities selling low cost, high end groceries. It serves 90% of the restaurants in the market and surrounding areas, which contributes to their profitability. It is currently under threat of closure from developers: The owner of Nour Cash & Carry in Brixton Market has been served with a section 25 notice to leave the premises on Wed 22 Jul 2020