Excellent Educational Books By Black Authors

Anushka Searle on 19 October 2020

As an English student and avid reader, it is my belief that the best way to understand someone else’s experience is to read about it. Even books which are fictional can educate us. Below, I have listed three major fictional books by Black authors that are exceptional in their presentation of very different Black experiences.
Credit: Goodreads

1. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

The protagonist of this novel is the 16-year-old girl, Starr Carter. Though this is Young Adult fiction, the book begins with Starr witnessing the murder of her childhood friend, Khalil, who was shot by a police officer and, unsurprisingly, Khalil was unarmed. Much like the protests we have seen for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Stephon Clark (and many others), protesters head to the streets shouting Khalil’s name, and begging for justice. As Khalil’s only witness the pressure is on Starr to come forward and speak up.

The strongest aspect of this book is it’s social commentary and political criticism. This is the kind of book that should be in the hands of teens, making them aware of current issues, educating them on pressing matters, and encouraging them to get involved to create change

Emma Giordano

If you don’t have time for reading at the moment, The Hate U Give was also adapted into an incredible movie. 

it’s impossible to be unarmed when our Blackness is the weapon that they fear

April Offrah
Credit: Goodreads

2. Such A Fun Age by Kiley Reid

This book begins with the protagonist Emira Tucker, a young Black woman, being accused by a security guard in a supermarket of stealing the white toddler she is babysitting. Though this scene sets the precedent for the rest of the novel, Reid speeds past this and has Emira shake off the whole event. This does not make the details of the event any less effective, but Reid wants the reader to focus on the essential context of the novel, which is the relationship between Emira and her white wealthy employer, Alix Chamberlain.  

Narratives about race and privilege are not unfamiliar literary fodder, but in her novel, Reid demonstrates a remarkable insight by taking on the monumental challenge of revealing the state of America through what she called the “everyday domestic biases that we don’t even know we have.” Reid’s exploration is a fresh and interesting look at the uneasy performance of “wokeness”—a paper-thin tissue of a word, so conspicuous that it now immediately breeds distrust.

bookswithchai, goodreads
Credit: Goodreads

3. The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

This novel is about twin sisters, Stella and Desiree, who grow up in Mallard, L.A, which is a town mainly comprised of light-skinned black people. One of the sisters, Stella, makes the decision to live her life as a white-passing person, while Desiree chooses to embrace her Black identity. This book weaves together multiple generations of this family, ranging from the 1950s to the 1990s, and presents an emotional exploration of family, race, gender, class, and integrally the lasting influence of the past and our decisions.

A story of absolute, universal timelessness… For any era, it‘s an accomplished, affecting novel. For this moment, it‘s piercing, subtly wending its way toward questions about who we are and who we want to be….

Entertainment Weekly

Header image credit: Teen Vogue

Bad Brains: When Punk Met Reggae (Again)

Roxanna Zoughi on 17 October 2020

Roxanna Zoughi celebrates the legacy of Bad Brains, a hardcore punk band formed in 1977, whose incorporation of reggae and funk distinguished them from other performances of punk.

While acid rock bands like Led Zeppelin dominated the mainstream in the early 70s, there was a different kind of sub-culture growing within Washington D.C.’s underground, characterized by a fast-paced, unrelenting sound that would soon be identified as hardcore. This new sound was beginning to emerge in the late 1970s but had not yet solidified an identity, so when Bad Brains came onto the scene with an experimental fusion of funk and punk, this was a cornerstone in the development of the genre.

Bad Brains formed in 1977 and soon earned a reputation for their explosive live shows, eventually prompting their ban from many venues across the state capital, after which the band fled to New York to freely resume their project. Performances would transition seamlessly from fast-paced punk to slower, bass-heavy reggae lead by H.R.’s versatile vocals, typified by a quick-fire delivery of verse and ranging from guttural tremolos to falsetto shrieks – they could do it all. But Bad Brains weren’t the first instance of a punk and reggae unification. Visually and artistically, both sub-cultures were mutual outcasts whose paths were bound to cross, and soon enough bands like Steel Pulse performed at Rock Against Racism shows alongside Generation X in 1976. But this was more of a side-by-side co-existence of punk and reggae rather than a true fusion of the latter and the newly emerging hardcore sound which had not yet been fully realised – until Bad Brains.

Although the band was influenced by anti-establishment groups like Sex Pistols, they did not seek to emulate the same nihilistic tone in their music which had previously defined the punk sound of the early 70s. In other words, they weren’t simply another punk band intent on protesting their frustrations with the system or helicopter parenting. Instead, Bad Brains promoted the power of PMA (positive mental attitude), a term borrowed from self-improvement book ‘Think and Grow Rich’. “We started kicking PMA in our music, and the message was different than the regular punk rock. You know, a punk rocker can write a song about hate─I hate my mom or some shit, you know? We wasn’t on no shit like that.” tells bassist, Daryl Jenifer, to Jon Kirby in Wax Poetics 2008. The group rejected the pessimistic worldview many punk bands had, and instead embraced a traditional, yet progressive approach to their music and the kind of message they wanted to promote to their listeners, embodied by Positive Mental Attitude.

“We had to come up with an angle […] that would be very radical and creative but then at the same time, traditional. And something that people would be able to relate to.”, recalls vocalist H.R. in 2006 documentary ‘American Hardcore’. The group certainly demonstrated their creative grit in their acclaimed first album ‘Banned in D.C.’ in 1982, which achieved a kind of unsynchronized harmony in the placement of reggae in-between hardcore tracks, taking affect as the calm before (and after) the storm. Punk bands had previously sought to deliver only the storm as they protested their contempt and distrust of authority. But Bad Brains offered a different angle, a new meaning for punk other than the frustrated nihilism of bands before them, whilst at the same time maintaining the musical essentials of the genre. Bad Brains reminded people that punk didn’t have to have a single identity; punk didn’t have to mean sticking it to the man or playing strictly fast tempo heavy music, because it didn’t have to conform to one meaning at all.   

Punk is Black!

Benjamin Forrest on 16 October 2020

Punk music, as a genre, has a long and illustrious history, and most music historians list the first ‘punk’ records as The Stooges’ 1969 album, or the MC5’s ‘Kick Out the Jams’ (also released in 1969) – some go further back to the US garage scene of the mid-1960’s, either way, the frequently told history of punk music is seemingly dominated by white artists, particularly white males. A section of that history which is often ignored, forgotten or even omitted is the vital contributions of some incredible black artists. 

Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, for instance, released the single ‘I Put A Spell On You’ all the way back in 1956 (a full 11 years before the Stooges even formed) and whilst the song itself isn’t outright punk music in terms of lyrical content, it incorporates many of the devices later characterised as ‘punk’, such as Hawkins strained, desperate shouting vocals and outlandish, shocking live performances. 

A Detroit three-piece called Death recorded what is, in my eyes, one of the definitive punk anthems ‘Politicians In My Eyes’ in 1975 thus pre-dating the Ramones’ first album (widely regarded as the first out-and-out punk record). The single only sold 500 copies at the time and the band was largely ignored until 2009 when Drag City Records released the demos Death had recorded back in 1975 to critical acclaim. A detail that is often not recognised in the story of Death is that ‘Politicians In My Eyes’ was self-released on their own record label, thereby making Death one of the first independent bands to exist, years before Buzzcocks self-released their EP ‘Spiral Scratch’, credited with starting independent or ‘indie’ music.

The UK punk scene, the start of which is signified by the release of ‘New Rose’ by the Damned in October 1976, was seemingly dominated by three white male bands: Sex Pistols, The Clash, and The Damned. I would argue, however, that some of the greatest records of that era were created by X-Ray Spex, led by Marianne Joan Elliot-Said (better known as Poly Styrene) whose overt feminism and politically charged anthems marked her out from the more mainstream punk artists of the time as being someone with something significant to say, as opposed to The Damned whose lyrical content was often closer to love than rebellion, or the Sex Pistols who were simply manufactured by Malcolm McLaren to cause outrage and profit. 

So why were these artists so largely ignored during their time? Why are they not widely credited for the invaluable impact they had upon the genre? Is it simply due to their race? In short, yes. The music industry, and particularly white musicians have always, for want of a better phrase, ripped off a plethora of black artists for personal gain. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Elvis Presley and a countless array of other early rock and roll musicians highjacked songs penned by black blues/soul musicians in order to further their own success, often not giving these artists credit of royalties. So, following the same logic, it makes sense that the artists included in this article were ignored in favour of their white counterparts. The facts remain, however, that without Jay Hawkins there would be no Iggy Pop, without Death there would be no Dead Kennedys, and without Poly Styrene there would be no Riot Grrl. Every great musical movement was pioneered by black artists: from jazz in the 1920’s, to rock ‘n’ roll in the 50’s, ska and reggae in the 60’s – up to the Acid House dance music of the late 80’s and 90’s. Punk music is no exception this rule, and it goes without saying that these artists deserve much more support and recognition than they currently hold. I only spoke about three main artists in this article, but there are countless other amazing black/black-fronted punk bands you should check out: Bad Brains, Negro Terror, Bob Vylan, Big Joanie, Crystal Axis and The OBGMS to name just a few. Stop the whitewashing of music. Support black artists.

Retroactive remedying: How can depictions of Blackface be torn down?

Owen Frost on 15 October 2020

After my weekly comfort viewing of Community the other day, I was alerted to the fact that Netflix had purged one of the comedy’s most absurd yet revered episodes, ‘Advanced Dungeons & Dragons’. This episode featured Community regular Ken Jeong’s Spanish teacher Chang, who starts the episode dressed up in full-body Black makeup with an accompanying white wig. Despite Community’s plaudits for being a ‘woke’ show and criticising the obvious parallels between Chang’s “dark elf” and the historically abhorrent tradition of Blackface, the episode was axed. ‘Advanced Dungeons and Dragons’ is widely considered one of the best episodes of the series, and currently has a 9.5 rating on IMDb. The removal from Netflix sparked a Twitter war, where many users pointed out the diverse show’s main focus during the episode is suicide awareness. Is full erasure a necessary step? 

Fans of Community were rocked by the removal of the celebrated episode containing alleged Blackface – Pictured: (l-r) Danny Pudi (Abed), Yvette Nicole Brown (Shirley), Joel McHale (Jeff), Gillian Jacobs (Britta), Alison Brie (Annie), Donald Glover as Troy – (Image credit: NBC Universal via Getty Images)

Over the last few months, episodes from numerous other big hit broadcasts such as 30 Rock, The Golden Girls, The Office, Scrubs and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia have all retroactively succumbed to the editorial chopping block. Subsequently, many white actors also quit their voice roles as Black or mixed-race characters, including Family Guy’s Mike Henry and Central Park’s Kristen Bell.  

In a Radio Times interview in July, Idris Elba dismantled these acts of censorship, arguing “viewers should know that people made shows like this” and that to “mock the truth, you have to know the truth.” Viral Success Munya Chawawa agreed, saying that “racism in Britain has always been more subtle and insidious – we need those blatant examples to remind us.” He argues that this removal is just a new form of gaslighting for Black people and people of colour. 

Similarly, television writer Alanna Bennett, believes it is “just trying to Band-Aid over the history.” Bennett asserts that these purifications are only effective at erasing mistakes rather than acknowledging them. She goes on to state it “feels like trying to protect the legacy of those creators instead of actually trying to address what those episodes did.”

Stand-up comedian and writer Dane Baptiste equally illuminates the issues of representation which emerge from these incidents. Baptiste declares that the main problem “isn’t just the fact that you have things like Little Britain and Come Fly With Me… It’s the fact that two white men have been able to depict Black people in two shows and the BBC won’t even give one Black person a show.” 

One potential lesson from these now outdated shows is the dearth of opportunities for emerging Black stars in British television to portray diverse, complex characters. Michaela Coel’s I May Destroy You is an excellent example of the latest step in this beneficial direction – a step well over 20 years in the making. 

Coel’s I May Destroy You examined multiple contemporary issues, including Black identity – (Image credit: BBC)

Certain shows such as AMC’s Mad Men appears to have taken a different approach in light of the Black Lives Matter movement. Recently, I came across the series 3 Mad Men episode where John Slattery’s Roger Sterling is in obvious Blackface. The solution the creators took was to disclaim ahead of viewing: making audiences aware of the racist content. In an official statement, Mad Men’s production company Lionsgate stated that they chose to leave the scene in as they want to expose “the injustices and inequities within our society“. 

HBO Max also initially came under fire for removing infamous epic Gone with the Wind due to its racist characterisation of Black Americans. However, HBO Max then re-uploaded the film with both a disclaimer about the racist content and a supplementary historical documentary where scholars discuss the film’s impact. 

One way forward is not outright censorship. The questionable content instead needs either an apt preface which educates audiences on the wrongful history or an accompanying apology. Now more than ever, these incidents are showing the need for us to expose the flaws and racist stereotypes manifest in numerous artistic industries. Past events instigate activists to keep sight of goals of greater representation and attainment of an increasingly diverse world of television and film.

Image Credit: Variety

Let’s Travel with Emily In Paris

Anushka Searle on 9 October 2020

Anushka Searle reviews Netflix’s new hit show, Emily in Paris.

During a time when all we want to do is travel, this show gives a beautiful glimpse of the romantic city- Paris!

The show of course follows the character Emily, who is a marketing executive from Chicago. Emily is given the opportunity to go to Paris to give a vulnerable French marketing company an ‘American perspective’. As you can imagine her French colleagues begrudge her American perspective and the fact that she can’t even speak French. I found the cultural struggles between Emily and her fellow colleagues very funny, such as when Emily asks if her boss would like to go for lunch and Sylvie replies “No, I’ll have a cigarette”.

Credit: IMDB

Emily’s lack of understanding of all things French brings a lot of comedy to the show. However, her consistent confusion of the 1st floor being the ground floor in France becomes a positive thing for Emily, as it leads to her mistakenly trying to open the door to the apartment of her gorgeous French neighbour, Gabriel. As you can probably tell, this is not just a comedic show about a lonely travelling American, but also a major romance! Though the love interests in the show are unsurprisingly ALL gorgeous, her rocky dating experience is fairly relatable.

Credit: Buzzfeed
“Emily” Credit: Byrdie
“Blair” Credit: Pinterest

One of my favourite parts of this show is Emily’s fashion, which seems very reminiscent of the tv show Gossip Girl, especially with Emily’s love of hats, much like the notorious Blair Waldorf (also a lover of all things Paris)!  If you are a fan of Gossip Girl, then this is definitely the show for you! Much like GG this show has sickly sweet romances, betrayal, cheesy comedy, to-die-for fashion, and the best eye candy.

Though I thoroughly enjoyed this show, as a light-hearted easy watch after a long day of online Uni, it has received some negative comments from French critics. In a review for Premiere, Charles Martin says “no cliché is spared, not even the weakest”, these clichés include all French people being “lazy”, “flirtatious”, and “sexist”. However, as this show is shown from Emily’s perspective, we are seeing her biased perspective of the French people she encounters, and not a true representation. Certainly, this series projects Paris as a romantic wonderland, and although this is unrealistic it brings the watcher joy to see such an idyllic city. Indeed, the Financial Times recognised that some of Paris’ “real-life dwellers” found it to be a “light-hearted antidote to Covid”. With such mixed reviews it seems that the only way to truly judge this show is to watch it for yourself.

Header Image Credit: IMDB

Clean Air Day 2020: What can we do to tackle pollution?

Farida Augustine on 9 October 2020

October 8th 2020 marked Clean Air Day 2020 , the UK’s largest air pollution campaign led by Global Action Plan, a charity working towards a “green and thriving planet.”

Last year’s celebrations saw more than 3,700 organisations and hundreds of thousands people across the UK take part in 614 events.

The campaign aims to bring together communities, businesses, schools and health professional to combat air pollution.

It also aims to raise awareness about air pollution and it’s damaging effect upon our health, by providing actionable steps we can all take to improve air quality.

While the nationwide campaign usually takes place in June, it was postponed to October due to the pandemic with a lot of the activities taking place virtually this year.

Air pollution is a growing and pressing problem which affects the health of millions of people, from unborn babies to the elderly.

The problem is particularly acute in bustling cities like Leeds, one of Europe’s most polluted urban areas.

Research has shown that people living in UK cities and towns  such as Leeds are “25 times more likely” to die from air pollution than road traffic road accidents.

Around 300 people die each year, due to long term exposure to toxins in the air such as tiny PM2.5 particles.

These particles come from a range of sources such as petrol/diesel vehicles and wood burning stoves. Due to their size, they can easily enter the lungs and circulatory system. This can subsequently increase the risk of serious illnesses and worsen many existing conditions such as respiratory disorders.

What is the University of Leeds doing to tackle this problem ?

In 2017, the former Vice-Chancellor, Sir Alan Langlands signed the Clean Air Leeds pledge to demonstrate the University’s commitment to improving air quality in the city and encourage behavioural change at both an organisational and individual level.

Dr Kirsty Pringle and Dr Jim McQuaid, both from the School of Earth and Environment are taking part in a new Born in Bradford (BiB) research programme funded by the National Institute for Health Research.

The study, called BiB Breathes works with primary school children across Bradford to measure the levels of pollutions and the overall impact upon health.

 Dr Pringle stated “the University of Leeds is currently working on ways to develop low-cost portable particulate matter sensors,” that students can easily  carry around with them on their commute to and from school at regular intervals over a two-year period.

She went on to add that: “The idea is that we will measure before and after the planned introduction of Bradford Clean Air Zone that aims to reduce air pollution in the city centre.  Then we can investigate the effect that the Clean Air Zone has on children’s exposure to pollution, and the BiB team can look at additional health factors and examine if children’s health improves.”

Dr McQuaid, emphasised the effects of air pollution on children and unborn babies:  “Overall, it’s very difficult to quantify, but everything suggests that a child growing up exposed to air pollution is not going to live as long a life.”

What can students do?

We spoke to Meegan, a third-year sustainability and environmental management student, who is working at Born in Bradford as an air quality research assistant. She shared some practical ways that students can tackle air pollution:

  • Be self-aware of how you travel to places and what your pollution output is
  • Do more research about air quality, it doesn’t have to be in too much depth but of you know the health risks around breathing polluted air that would raise your awareness of what is happening.
  • Contact your local MP about your concerns about your concerns around  air pollution and assure you that the council will do more to help with this.

Dr Pringle also shared some of her own tips for students:

“Cars are clearly an important source of air pollution, especially in the city centre, for those students that do drive it is worth considering if you can either walk or bike for short journeys instead of driving. “

“Fires are actually a big source of pollution; in winter woodburning stoves create a lot of pollution especially on cold still winter days when the pollution tends to accumulate at the surface, close to where it is emitted, leading to high concentrations of pollutants.  This is important as of course it is air near the surface that we breathe!”

The politics of Misogynoir: One of the many barriers which silence and erase black women in the public sphere

Farida Augustine on 7 October 2020

The abuse and hate hurled at black and dark-skinned women who dare to take a seat at the table and speak truth to power is tragically nothing new in politics. However, in the age of social media, twitter trolls and memes, this abuse plays out brutally in our digital spaces and manifests itself in the “real world”.

This form of misogyny has become so acute, that in 2008 the term misogynoir was coined by the academic Moya Bailey to give black women the vocabulary to talk about their experiences.  As researcher Lisa Amanda Palmer highlights, the term describes the gendered and sexualised form of racism faced by black women in popular culture and the current political landscape. However, misogynoir rears its head in all aspects of black women’s lives, having devastatingly tangible and violent consequences.

One extreme example of this was an incident that took place at end of August. A right-wing French magazine published a cartoon depicting a black member of parliament and outspoken afro-feminist activist Danièle Obono, as a slave in chains. This image was accompanied by an equally racist fictional narrative where she finds herself put up for auction in the 18th century. After seeing the images, I was left dumbfounded, asking myself how a magazine, which the French president once described as “very good” could publish an image of a black member of parliament, a human being, as a slave? Worst still, Obono is frequently met with an avalanche of abuse from her fellow politicians and members of the public alike for simply doing her job.

This is by no means a problem unique to the French. Misogynoir is rampant and deep-rooted within the UK political landscape too. This summer alone, I was distressed to read that the Labour MP and former Shadow Women’s and Equalities Minister Dawn Butler was forced to close her constituency office. This was after threats against her and her staff  “drastically escalated” following her defence of  Black Lives Matter protests and after speaking about the impact of COVID-19 on ethnic minorities.  Not only was this an attack on Dawn Butler, but an attack on democracy itself. In an open letter to her constituency, Butler frankly stated that the windows of her office had been smashed through by bricks and that she continues to:  “receive on an almost daily basis, threats of violence and death threats”.  Though, she went on to add defiantly that: “I will never be threatened into silence and will continue to speak out and speak up for all of my constituents in Brent Central”.

The labour antisemitism report leaked in April also painted a dark and depressing image of the endemic nature of anti-black racism and misogynoir within the labour party and politics more generally. For years I saw Labour as leading the fight against racism within mainstream politics, but no longer feel that way today. Racism and misogyny are not just confined to the ultra-right or the depths of twitter troll land but are present on all sides of the political spectrum. The dossier confirmed that; unearthing the vile treatment and bullying that black women were subject to by members of their own party.  Upon her appointment to the shadow cabinet, senior staff jokingly dismissed Dawn Butler’s serious allegations of racism as “untrue”. Similarly, the leaked document revealed how a senior staff member used  “a classic racist trope” to insult Diane Abbott; the first black woman to be elected to parliament and longest-serving black MP. Despite her popularity within her constituency, retaining her seat for over 30 years, a 2017 report revealed that Abbot receives more online abuse than any other MP. 

Perhaps, what these blatant attacks on a black woman painfully shows is just how commonplace the dehumanisation of black women has become.  These attacks usually rely upon racist and sexist tropes that portray black women as angry, undesirable, animalistic and ultimately undeserving of their humanity or your empathy. Despite attempts to silence these phenomenal women, they still continue to fight and stand up for what they believe in. They refuse to be invisible and refuse to be silent. In the words of Dianne Abbott: “the abuse and the attacks have never made me falter”. Yet the heavy burden of misogynoir should not be left upon the shoulders of black women to carry alone. We must struggle, collectively to rid it from our body politic. While I don’t have all the answers, what I do know is that we have to go beyond “diversity and inclusion” or unconscious bias training to achieve this. This can be summed up by author Lucy Ko’s tweet: “The revolution will not be diversity and inclusion trainings”. The presence of black women and other marginalised communities in parliament is vital to keeping our democracy alive and we must remove the barriers that stop them from getting there.