CELEBRATING BRITISH WRITERS of COLOUR

Read the new Breaking Ground: Celebrating Writers of Colour booklet

SPEAKING VOLUMES has begun the next chapter of the Breaking Ground project with the launch of a new booklet celebrating writers of colour. We hope that the booklet will be a valuable resource both at home and overseas, demonstrating the wide and varied literature of the UK whilst raising the profile and giving a platform to 200 contemporary British BAME authors.

Read the brochure in full by clicking on the link below

http://www.speaking-volumes.org.uk/projects/breaking-ground-book/

BAD FRIDAY NOW PUBLISHED!!!

IN CELEBRATION OF ITS 30th ANNIVERSARY

READ MORE ABOUT IT HERE….

THE BLACK PIONEERS OF BRITISH FOOTBALL

 

Black football players have constantly graced the football stadia in Britain since 1881, when Andrew Watson captained a Scottish team against England. Check out THE BLACK PIONEERS OF BRITISH FOOTBALL who paved the way for today’s modern black football players; here…

TRIBUTE TO OUR S/HEROES VOLUME I

 

ALEXANDRE DUMAS

Alexandre Dumas was one of the most famous French writers of the 19th century. He is best known for his historical adventure novels like The Three Musketeers, The Count of Monte Cristo and The Man in the Iron Mask. Dumas’ grandfather was a French nobleman who had settled in Santo Domingo, now part of Haiti. His paternal grandmother, Marie Louise Cessette Dumas was African/Caribbean, who had been a slave in the French colony. Read more about our S/HEROES here…

TRIBUTE TO OUR S/HEROES VOLUME II

 

“If you have no confidence in self, you are twice defeated in the race of life.”

Marcus Garvey

Read TRIBUTE TO OUR S/HEROES VOLUME II  here…

BLACKS IN BRITAIN

A GENERAL TIMELINE OF BLACK PEOPLE IN BRITAIN

OLAUDAH EQUIANO

Also known as Gustavus Vassa. He was a prominent African involved in the British movement for the abolition of the slave trade.

Read BLACKS IN BRITAIN here…

ARTICLES

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WE SHOULD CALL BLACK HISTORY MONTH BLACK HISTORY YEAR

© 2012 Norman Samuda-Smith

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In 1973, my friends and I entered our Social Studies class, settled at our desks and waited for our teacher to start the lesson. He handed out some text books and told us to turn to Chapter 5. The title of the chapter…SLAVERY. He began to speak from the premise that the British Empire once ruled one-third of the world, how Africans were taken from their homeland as slaves to the West Indies and forced to work hard on the plantations and how the slave trade was part of the reason which made Britain prosperous; read the full article here.

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CONVERSING WITH MY THOUGHTS

© 2012 Norman Samuda-Smith

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Dear Lord

So here I am at 4.00 pm sitting in the shade in my Father’s garden in Sacramento California, staring at the lemon trees, the sun is burning down on the valley at 96 degrees, conversing with my thoughts, my ramblings. It’s just me and how I feel now and again, and every so often, day by day; here…

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SURVIVAL AND AMBITION – ARE THEY FRIENDS OR ENEMIES?

© 2012 Norman Samuda-Smith

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The alarm clock kicks off at 6 am. Your arm blindly reaches out from under the duvet to stop it making its unwelcome noise. Part of you is saying when you find it and stop it buzzing; you’re gonna throw it across the room. If it smashes into numerous pieces you won’t give a damn; but your logical side says it’s senseless to do that. You’ll only create unnecessary expense cos you’ll have to replace it; here…

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SO YOU WANT TO WRITE A NOVEL? WELL WRITE IT THEN

© 2012 Norman Samuda-Smith

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I have been asked many times what motivated me to write my ground-breaking novel Bad Friday. I always answer it was a dream. Sometimes I get a variety of interesting glances; a few of them assume I’m crazy. When somebody says to me they want to write a novel, but they don’t know where to start or what to do, I always say, somewhere in the core of your mind which inspires you to voice your wish, there is an idea, the seed of that idea emanates in a dream; whether you are sleeping or awake; read the full article here…

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WRITING THE SHORT STORY

© 2012 Norman Samuda-Smith

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When we speak about the short story, we are talking about a narrative which reveals a sequence of events that happen to people. The events lead to crisis which is resolved in some form or other at the end. As an imaginary literary form, the short story varies from author to author; here…

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I’M GLAD I HAD A CHURCH UPBRINGING

© 2009 Norman Samuda-Smith

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The University of Life throws trials and tribulations at every man, woman or child from time to time, regardless of who we are, our backgrounds or where we come from; but we still move forward, learning the lessons along the way and becoming stronger for it.  We know and understand, deep down, time will tell that what we learn through the years, our higher selves inform us, what we interpret is our truth; read the full article here…

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ETERNAL LIFE

© 2010 Norman Samuda-Smith

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Eternal life was always the subject of debate back in the day when I attended Sunday school; whether it exists and what happens to us when we die and go to heaven.  A person can only receive eternal life as long as they follow certain rules and regulations: don’t live in sin, don’t tell lies, be good to one another etc, etc.  We were taught to believe: you live, you die, you’re buried and then your soul rises out of your body-shell, ascends and knocks on the gates of heaven where God judges whether you’re worthy to enter heaven, or be doomed to hell – Frightening!  So I put the subject of eternal life to the back of my mind for it to be perhaps processed later.  Then around ten years ago, the subject resurfaced under bizarre circumstances; read more of ETERNAL LIFE here…

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TV’s BLACK BRITISH PIONEERS 

© 2010 Denise Anthea.

From the BBC 4 programme of 13 April 2010.

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When our parents and grandparents came over to the Mother Country back in the early to mid 1950’s from the West Indies, despite the careers and jobs they had back home, once here the only option was to work in menial roles.  The qualifications they had worked so hard for had no meaning once they were in England as they were to find out; read the full article here…

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BURNING AN ILLUSION

© 2011 Norman Samuda Smith

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“The Government is not infallible.  Government is only an executive control, a centralized authority for the purpose of expressing the will of the people.  Before you have a government, you must have the people.  Without the people there can be no government.  The government must be therefore, an expression of the will of the people .”

Marcus Mosiah Garvey (1887 – 1940)  

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Summer madness in the guise of riots reigned through the streets of Britain’s cities in August.  Modern day news is broadcasted through cell-phones, laptops, computers, tablets and all kinds of gismos.  Britain’s youth, live and direct were burning an illusion the ‘powers that be’ have portrayed to the world that here in Britain everything is cool, we’re all getting on rather well thank you, we’ve got the Olympic Games coming soon and we’ve had a royal wedding; more here…

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THE AGE OF IRON AND CLAY

© 2011 Norman Samuda Smith

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During the past few months I have been sitting, watching and listening with interest of the European Union’s economic crisis; Greece’s financial melt down, now Italy’s not forgetting Spain and the UK who are also vulnerable and could melt down same way. While the European leaders and their advisers meet almost every day to try and figure a way out of their predicament, it’s been hard for me to resist writing about it and point out the connection of an ancient King’s dream which predicted that this current world situation would happen; read the full article here…

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HEAD SPACE

© 2011 Ras Flako Tafari

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Sitting and pondering how the politicians have the nation on the edge of expectancy while poverty and unemployment is eating at the core of the good, the willing and able. So many of us have not inherited any substance from our parents or grandparents, we were not a beneficiary to the stolen legacy, nor do we have any fancy castles on earth or flashy sport cars, we are always strapped for cash standing in the line of hand to mouth; more…

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MY VIEW ON RASTA MOUSE AND THE EASY CREW

 © 2011 Rastarella Falade

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New CBEEBIES programme RASTAMOUSE has been making headlines recently, with people for and against this children’s show.  Personally I think the show is showing that as a multi-cultural country, we are moving with the times; read Rastarella’s full article here…

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A MODERN DAY LYNCHING?

© 2011 Denise Anthea

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In the mid 1990’s I became aware of an interesting occurrence in the media. A black British athlete by the name of Linford Christie was a sprinter in the 100 metres. He went on to win Olympic gold. The media started to focus on his running kit. His shorts to be precise. They then made constant references to his “lunch box”; read the rest of the article here…

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THE STORY OF LOVER’S ROCK

© 2011 Denise V. Dunn

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In celebration of Black History Month, my friend Lorna and I went to see ‘The Story of Lovers Rock’ at the Midlands Arts Centre in Birmingham.  This feature length documentary by director and producer Menelik Shabazz, tells the story of the “rebel generation” of the UK’s young Afro-Caribbean’s in the late 1970’s and 80’s. I was taken on a journey down musical memory lane and given an informative social and political history lesson my generation was too young to remember or fully comprehend; read the full article here…

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CULTURE CORNER ARCHIVES

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“The greatest thing is to know what you don’t know.”

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Irene Ann Samuda

IRENE ANN SAMUDA

Sunrise: December 10 1929 Sunset: June 13 1987 

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In the UK every year during the month of October, we celebrate BLACK HISTORY MONTH. Our brothers and sisters in the USA celebrate it every February. Black history is with us every second, minute, hour, week, month and year. What they never told you in your history class, CULTURE CORNER ARCHIVES will tell you right here. So enjoy your journey of clarification.

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DID YOU KNOW?

The ancient Greek writer Lucian wrote: ‘The Ethiopians were the first people who invented the science of the stars, and gave names to the planets.’

Scotland’s very first football/soccer captain was a black man. His name; Andrew Watson. He became the first black man to captain an international team, when Scotland played England in 1881; read more about Andrew Watson here…

Africa’s original name is the Land of Ham – The term/name Africa came after a Roman General, Leo. S. Africanus led the attack which defeated Hannibal’s army in Carthage (North Africa, now Tunisia). After the victory, in the General’s honour, the Roman Empire renamed the Land of Ham, Africa, after him.

The word Corral (an enclosure for cattle or livestock), used by the North American Cowboys, originates from the African word Kraal – The Bush Men of the Kalahari in southern Africa, for centuries have located their Kraals within their homestead or village; and they are surrounded by a palisade, mud wall or other fencing, roughly circular in form.

The United Kingdom can fit into Nigeria 11 times.

Read more; here…

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NOT WIDELY KNOWN BUT TRUE…

Ludwig Van Beethoven the classical composer and musician was black.

Joseph Haydn another well-known composer and musician who wrote the music for the former Austrian National Anthem was also black.

Before Abraham’s birth, the sacred river of India, the River Ganges was named after an Ethiopian King General Ganges who conquered Asia as far as this river and established an empire.

The most ancient lineage in the world is that of the Ethiopian Royal Family . It is said to be older than that of Queen Elizabeth II by 6160 years. The former Emperor of Ethiopia Haile Selassie I, traced his ancestry to King Solomon, the Queen of Sheba, Menelik I and beyond to Cush 6280 B.C.  (Song of Solomon I verse 6).

A black man was in the party of 6 who were the first to reach Antarctica in 1909.

There were Africans in Britain before the English!

Imhotep, a black man was the real father of medicine. Hippocrates, the so-called father of medicine lived 2000 years after Imhotep. Greece and Rome obtained their knowledge of medicine from him.

Read more here…

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FURTHER READING

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THE ROOTS OF RASTAFARI

An essay (1995)

INTRODUCTION BY

SAMUDA SMITH PUBLICATIONS

WEEP NOT: BEHOLD THE LION OF THE TRIBE OF JUDAH,

THE ROOT OF DAVID, HATH PREVAILED TO OPEN THE BOOK,

AND TO LOOSE THE SEVEN SEALS THEREOF. REVELATION 5: 5

 

Centuries after these words were written in the Bible, on November 2^nd 1930, Ras Tafari Makonnen was crowned Emperor of Ethiopia. He took the name Haile Selassie I, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah. He became the 225^th ruler of the 2000 year old Solomonic Dynasty. In Jamaica, religious men who were used to reading between the lines of the King James Bible realised the coronation as fulfilment of Biblical prophecy.

Read the whole essay here…

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TRIBUTE TO OUR S/HEROES VOLUME I

Alexandre Dumas was one of the most famous French writers of the 19th century. He is best known for his historical adventure novels like The Three Musketeers, The Count of Monte Cristo and The Man in the Iron Mask. Dumas’ grandfather was a French nobleman who had settled in Santo Domingo, now part of Haiti. His paternal grandmother, Marie Louise Cessette Dumas was African/Caribbean, who had been a slave in the French colony. Read more about our S/HEROES here…

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THE BLACK PIONEERS OF BRITISH FOOTBALL

Black football players have constantly graced the football stadia in Britain since 1881, when Andrew Watson captained a Scottish team against England. Check out THE BLACK PIONEERS OF BRITISH FOOTBALL who paved the way for today’s modern black football players; here…

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BLACKS IN BRITAIN

A GENERAL TIMELINE OF BLACK PEOPLE IN BRITAIN

OLAUDAH EQUIANO

Also known as Gustavus Vassa. He was a prominent African involved in the British movement for the abolition of the slave trade.

Read BLACKS IN BRITAIN here…

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TRIBUTE TO OUR S/HEROES  VOLUME II

“If you have no confidence in self, you are twice defeated in the race of life.”

Marcus Garvey

Read TRIBUTE TO OUR S/HEROES VOLUME II  here…