January 14th, 2023

BUSINESS • JamDelish Restaurant - Jam Delish is a leading family-owned Caribbean vegan restaurant and cocktail bar in Angel, Islington. Born in 2020 during the COVID - 19 pandemic out of both passion and an adapting necessity, we have grown in just over two years to become a major distinguished player and purveyor of high quality, creative and deliciously crafted Caribbean vegan food in the United Kingdom. At Jam Delish we use bold herbs and spices alongside the freshest and best quality ingredients to create our signature "Caribbean Vegan" cuisine. Our menu is rooted in traditional Jamaican and Caribbean Island recipes and accommodates a variety of dietary preferences including vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free. Our growing reputation is built upon not only our food, but the fun filled, customer-focused environment we have created. • Badu Brunch -At the BADU Brunch experience, we play NeoSoul, R&B, and mellow sounds throughout the night. 2-Course meal + cocktail included. London and Birmingham venues. https://www.badubrunch.com/ • Little Omo - Little Omo is an inclusive award-winning brand create by first-time mother Desriee (Founder & CEO) with the intention of providing educational materials and toys for children, that include and teach them about diverse cultural representation.nIt was a priority for Desriee while she was pregnant with her son Isaiah to create these products, as there were very few options available in the UK to teach and celebrate diversity in a fun way for children within their early years of their life. The team at Little Omo are focused and determined to help children of diverse background feel represented and included. Our toys and resources are great for independent learning as well as family activities. We strive to further expand our range to grow with your child, to reflect minorities and marginalised cultures - we hope you can enjoy and celebrate this journey with us. https://www.littleomo.com/ EVENTS • Housemates Returns: Chicken Burger N Chips (31 January - 11 February Brixton House Theatre) - summer holidays in South London, Corey dreams of nothing but hanging around with his friends while ordering as much Morley’s as possible. Until Jodie comes along and makes him realise things are changing https://brixtonhouse.co.uk/shows/housemates-returns-chicken-burger-n-chips/ •John Legend - EGOT holder and multi-platinum artist John Legend returns to the Royal Albert Hall in 2023. Legend has garnered twelve Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Tony Award, and an Emmy Award, making him the first African-American man to earn an EGOT. Legend has starred in NBC’s Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert in 2018 and also joined The Voice in 2019. As a philanthropist, Legend initiated the #FREEAMERICA campaign in 2015 to change the national conversation surrounding America’s misguided criminal justice policies and to end mass incarceration. https://www.royalalberthall.com/tickets/events/2023/john-legend/ • De La Soul -The legendary US Hip Hop trio De La Soul will be performing at the Hall for the first time in 2023. One of the most artistic and creative hip-hop acts ever, this trio from Long Island have had an unquestionable influence since their debut in 1987. As well as hits from their legendary album 3 Feet High and Rising including The Magic Number, Say No Go and Me Myself and I, their recent releases have included a collaboration with Gorillaz, Feel Good Inc, which reached no. 2 in the UK singles charts. https://www.royalalberthall.com/tickets/events/2023/de-la-soul/ • Transvangarde: Pushing Boundaries (2 February – 11 March, October Gallery) - 2023 October Gallery presents Transvangarde: Pushing Boundaries, an exhibition of dynamic works by El Anatsui, Aubrey Williams, Zana Masombuka, Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga and Jordan Ann Craig, and more. Comprising painting, works on paper, sculpture and photography, Transvangarde: Pushing Boundaries explores the notion that if a true vanguard of contemporary artists exists today, it will be composed of artists pushing beyond the limits of national and cultural boundaries. Taken altogether, such artists constitute a global, contemporary transvangarde. As the late, renowned curator Okwui Enwezor suggested, ‘contemporary art provides a means to engage with history, politics, and society in our global present’. These artists have shared visions of the world, bring complex questions into focus, and use their work to express their experiences and what is most urgent around them. Through their practice, these artists push the boundaries of their work to engage critically with the contemporary present. https://octobergallery.co.uk/ • Ballet Black (8 - 12 March, Barbican) - Now in their 21st year, this acclaimed ballet company presents award-winning choreographers Will Tuckett and Mthuthuzeli November in a captivating double bill of new and original work. Following regular sold-out runs, Cassa Pancho’s Ballet Black returns to our stage with this thrilling and imaginative double bill. Will Tuckett's Then Or Now, originally created in 2020, blends classical ballet, music and the poetry of Adrienne Rich to ask the question: in times like these, where do we belong? https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2023/event/ballet-black-2023-pioneers don WC2N 5BY BOOKS • An Ocean Apart by Sarah Lee - A beautiful story of friendship, new beginnings and love . . . It's a love letter to the women who left behind everything to help heal our country and establish the NHS. I could not have loved this more and thought about it long after I turned the last page.' - Kate Thompson, author of The Little Wartime Library Inspired by real life stories of the Windrush Generation and her mother’s own experiences as a nurse coming to Britain from the Caribbean, Sarah Lee’s debut novel An Ocean Apart is a must for fans of Call the Midwife. 4.3 out of 5 Amazon 3.8 out of 5 Goodreads • Rapthology: Lessons in Life and Lyrics - A revelatory work of non-fiction from one of the most popular and influential British musicians of today: part autobiography, part guide to creativity and part cultural history. What makes a song work? What element causes us to stop, to listen, to listen again? Is it a melody? Is it a beat? Is it the words that are sung, or spoken? Is it what they speak to in us? Is it a combination of all of the above? Wretch 32 is one of the most influential musicians at work in Britain today. He is also a lyricist of unparalleled ability, and an advocate of music as a tool to educate as well as to entertain. In an age of unprecedented social and political change, Wretch’s music stands as a medium of protest and of progress, helping to explain and shape a new era.

4.8 out of 5 Amazon

4.3 out of 5 Goodreads

• We Are Not Like Them - 'Riley and Jen have been best friends since they were children, and they thought their bond was unbreakable. It never mattered to them that Riley is black and Jen is white. And then Jen's husband, a Philadelphia police officer, is involved in the shooting of an unarmed black teenager and everything changes in an instant. This one act could destroy more than just Riley and Jen's friendship. As their community takes sides, so must Jen and Riley, and for the first time in their lives the lifelong friends find themselves on opposing sides. But can anyone win a fight like this? We Are Not Like Them is about friendship and love. It's about prejudice and betrayal. It's about standing up for what you believe in, no matter the cost.

4.3 out of 5 Amazon 4.1 out of 5 Goodreads

PODCASTS • GM5M Give Me 5 Minutes- The #GM5M podcast is where Scarz & Eli speak their raw and honest thoughts. Growing up Black in the UK comes with alot of unwritten rules and expectations and these are the topics they like to discuss head on every Sunday. The unique part of the podcast is that anyone can say “Give Me 5 Minutes” at any point, the timer starts and that person has 5 minutes to speak uninterrupted. https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/gm5m/id1526109401

•The Black Guy Who Tips Podcast - Rod and Karen discuss pop culture, politics, current events and more from a comedic perspective https://player.fm/series/the-black-guy-who-tips-podcast-2981517 RADIO • The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama (BBC Sounds) - Light We Carry follows on from her critically acclaimed and global best-selling memoir, Becoming. Here she draws on her life experiences to illustrate how she has overcome obstacles in her personal and professional life. She looks at how she has embraced fear of the unknown to fuel accomplishment and success; how friendship and family continue to be bedrocks in remaining grounded and overcoming adversity, and the power she has found in small acts in the face of doubt. She is frank when she explores issues linked to race, gender and visibility. She also lays out the meaning behind 'going high'.https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001gkdy

FILM/TV • Till (in Movie Theatres now) - In 1955, after Emmett Till is murdered in a brutal lynching, his mother vows to expose the racism behind the attack while working to have those involved brought to justice. • Moon Over Aburi (coming 2023) - A male stranger locates a woman in Ghana - the pair unfurling a shared story from different viewpoints. For one a mission, the other a secret. Through male and female eyes, we see that societal pressures continue to ripple through childhood and beyond. • Shut Up and Paint - Painter Titus Kaphar uses film as a medium while grappling with an insatiable art market seeking to silence his activism. Broadcast as part of POV Shorts. https://www.pbs.org/pov/films/shutupandpaint/ •Riches (ITV) -Riches follows the exploits of the stylish, privileged and super-successful Richards family led by London based business mogul Stephen Richards (Hugh Quarshie).vWith his sudden death his family are left in disarray at the return of his estranged American daughter and son, Nina and Simon, played by Deborah Ayorinde (Them, Harriet, Luke Cage) and Emmanuel Imani (Cobra, Black Earth Rising).vTheir arrival from New York is the catalyst for a messy showdown with Stephen’s wife, Claudia, Sarah Niles (Ted Lasso, I May Destroy You), and children from their marriage Adeyinka Akrinrade (Top Boy, Temple), Ola Orebiyi (Cherry, A Brixton Tale), Nneka Okoye (Grantchester, The A List), as both factions vie for control of the family black hair and beauty empire, Flair & Glory. •Judy Love: Black, Female and Invisible (My4) - Judi Love embarks on an eye-opening and emotional journey, exploring how, from health to education and work, the odds are stacked against Black women in the UK today •Caribbean: Billionaires paradise (My4) - A gloriously escapist look at how the Caribbean islands' well-heeled residents live, work and relax in a billionaire's playground. WHO is WHO? • Colin Grant (author) - Colin Grant describes himself as a British historian and writer, but one with a Jamaican will and inclination. What he means by this becomes clear over our 90-minute conversation in his Brighton seafront flat. Discussion centres on questions of identity: why do working-class parents often fear their middle-class children, why do former colonies continue to fetishise “Britishness”, and why does he think spelling black with a capital “b” is political correctness gone mad? “I think it ratifies this idea that your so-called race precedes you … In Jamaica, we say: ‘All a-we is one.’” (GUARDIAN) Colin Grant Guardian Interview •Claudine Gay - Harvard University announced on Thursday that Claudine Gay will become its 30th president, making her the first Black person and the second woman to lead the Ivy League school. (GUARDIAN) Guardian Article •Michael Ward After rising to fame in Top Boy alongside huge talents such as Ashley Walters, Little Simz, Kano, and Jasmine Jobson, and bagging the BAFTA Rising Star award in 2020, Michael Ward has now conquered his first major big screen role. He stars opposite the legendary Olivia Colman in Empire Of Light, a Margate-based story, written and directed by Sam Mendes, which sees the pair playing two cinema workers who become romantically entangled. (BUSTLE) Michael Ward Article TOP 10 FOR JANUARY 1. Get tickets for the hottest show in town Mandela the Musical. 2. Go see the Till movie. 3. Book a table at Tatale Restaurant in the Africa Centre. 4. Visit the new Black Vanguard exhibition of photography at the Saatchi Gallery. 5. Book dinner at Parks Edge Bar & Kitchen 6. Book Reggae Brunch. London's craziest brunch; rum punch and jerk chicken in a secret location (Saturday 21st January). 7. See Will Smith's redemption in the well-reviewed movie Emancipation. 8. Take a group of friends to see Zadie Smith's The Wife of Willesden at the Kiln Theatre. 9. Watch the documentary Kanaval: A People's History of Haiti in six chapters on BBC iPlayer. 10. Chicken, Burger N Chips at Brixton House Theatre