Lucid Magazine

Lucid Magazine: October Review

2010-10-04T14:33:00.001+01:00

A Black History Sudies, National Heritage funded free screening of Pressure (d. Horace Ové, 1975) took place on Sunday 3 October at the newly restored Phoenix Cinema in East Finchley.
Co-written by Horace Ové and Samuel Selvon (The Lonely Londoners), Pressure is about conflict between the ideas we inherited from our Caribbean parents, raised to believe in Jesus, hard work and the authority of an English education, and the reality we were given by the country of our birth.

Anthony is the young protagonist of the piece; a high achiever in school and a moralistic youthful man, but we watch his prospects unravel as he cannot get a job, his home is raided by the police and he is left protesting in the rain whilst his brother is left to languish in a police cell.
He negotiates office buildings, employers, dimly lit streets, supermarkets and homes. If he doesn’t encounter racism, he encounters Caribbean born comrades with whom he shares an affinity, but not a homeland.

In this film the police are brutal and employers are explicitly racist. Yet still, in 2010, this is a film that has relevance for us today.

For starters, eggs and bacon floating in inches of oil at the start is the pinnacle of English culture the film elects to present to us. As such, Anthony is always being told by his Trinidadian born brother, Colin, to join the Black Power movement and reject English culture, (“what’s wrong with eggs, fish and chips and Gary Glitter?” he protests). He is never presented with much of an alternative. Instead, Anthony is told to eat ‘black food’ and go to black dances. Anthony eventually relents, but the solutions to Anthony’s identity crisis are not solutions that will ensure success and security for him in the long term. Today, popular representations of black culture remains focused on the same, narrow customs.

The naivety of his mother, in believing that faith will get her son a job, and that hard work would eventually be rewarded, is in complete ignorance of the racist cultures Britain was yet to outgrow. When Anthony is failed to be offered any jobs and eventually arrested, she blames his laziness and lack of faith, to his obvious frustration.

The scenes with his caring but strict mother bellowing damnations in their small living room are simultaneously comic and tragic and I wouldn’t begrudge anyone in his position growing up to be angry with the world. It is an interesting thought; that from the optimism of our first generation the second generation have regressed to the realisation that their parents were duped and their children, who have roots that potentially stretch back half a century, could feel less, not more British. All because the lies their grandparents were told have, through prejudice and the black experience, been exposed.

Finally, even with a belief in black power and leadership in the movement, integration is presented as somewhat inevitable. Colin is a leader in his organisation, but he has a white girlfriend. Similarly, at a meeting in their home there are no black women to be seen, apart from a light skinned American. The other females are white, sat on the laps of the conscious bredren in the living room. The desire to fulfil a belief in black power but the ease with which the comrades contradict their message is conveyed by the fact Colin keeps his girlfriend a secret from his anglicised brother.

The black community is depicted as divided between those who have already rejected Englishness and roam the streets stealing food, the members of the movement who preach the closing of ranks, and the ones who go to churches or dances and don’t want to make a fuss. The one thing all the groups have in common is an uncertain future as their principles already seem fragile.

This is first and foremost a great British movie. It’s obviously small budget compromises nothing in its production values; the direction and acting is excellent. For a film that is not afraid to paint an unattractive picture of west London it is filled with subtlety that softens its shocking scenes. It even provokes nostalgia; think Life on Mars with a black people and you get the idea.
In the words of the BFI blurb ‘Pressure remains a key black British film, which helps to demonstrate how modern multi-cultural Britain was shaped.’ I agree with this statement, but its familiar stories also demonstrate how the old mono-culture of Britain can still be seen lurking underneath modern Britain today.

The answers aren’t easy but everyone has their hands up

2010-09-16T15:14:00.003+01:00

New on Lucid Magazine this month...

New Labour’s education record is patchy but are the coalition’s reforms asking the right questions? Athena Kugblenu attends a RSA debate to see for herself.

http://www.lucidpolitics.co.uk/2010/09/16/answers-arent-easy-hands/

The event:

In September 2010, BBC Two presents a major season on education, focusing on our schools, the tough choices parents have to make and whether we could all do better.Join the RSA and the BBC for a debate to explore the issues further and to ask - where next for our children’s education? Speakers: Professor Dylan Wiliam - Deputy Director of the Institute of Education and presenter of The Classroom Experiment (a BBC production), Toby Young - journalist and contributor to Start Your Own School (a Renegade Pictures production), Amanda Blue - series director and producer of The Big School Lottery series (a Blast Films production), and Sir William Atkinson - Executive Headteacher of Phoenix High School.Chair: Matthew Taylor, Chief executive, RSA

I went to V Festival so you dont have to

2010-08-26T11:10:00.002+01:00

Athena Kugblenu went to V Festival against the advice of friend and lived to regret it.

V Festival review in summary:

Like: reasonably priced food, Tinie Tempah, Doves, Skunk Anansie, surprisingly decent portaloos and Plan B.

Disliked: being urinated on.

Read her full review of V Festival here.

Damian Marley and Nas Hammersmith Apollo Gig Review

2010-07-21T16:55:00.003+01:00

Athena Kugblenu reviews the Distant Relatives show, with Damian Marley and Nas plus support from Akala and Dadid Rodigan.

July Extras

2010-07-07T15:30:00.005+01:00

Recently published on Lucid Magazine:

'In the Middle Ages books were rare, and so was honesty. A book, it was said, was worth as much as a farm; unlike a farm, it was portable property that could easily be purloined. Books, therefore, were kept under lock and key.’

Canon B H Streeter, The Chained Library, 1931

Lucy Graham visits an English chained library with a centuries old tradtion that remains in place today.

-----------

Ghana's Black Stars were the most successful African team in South Africa. Athena Kugblenu reviews Football Fables, a Baff Akoto documentary that sheds light on the background of the youngest team in the 2010 World Cup.

Lucid Magazine July Update

2010-07-05T22:52:00.000+01:00

Lucid Magazine July Update

Lucid Magazine June Update

2010-06-07T21:15:00.006+01:00

Athena Kugblenu reviews Good Hair, Chris Rock's documentary on the black hair industry

In case you missed it, the World Cup kicks off in South Africa this week. Sylvia Arthur says we should spare a thought for those players for whom bringing along their WAG was never an issue.

Paul Knipe writes about his visit to Ballycastle, Northern Ireland.

Burlesque, swaggering Victorian comedy, electronic music and an orchestra: James Willsher attends quite an evening. Read about it here.

Stephen Maughan revisits Romania as a children's charity volunteer, and finds charm and beauty in a city where Roma communities still suffer from state neglect.

Here's to enlightned reading...

Lucid Magazine

Lucid Magazine May Update

2010-05-04T20:42:00.005+01:00

Welcome to Lucid Magazine's May Update

Our Special Focus this edition is Broken Britain. We're nation of pansies and NEETs. Discuss. Read our take on the state of the nation today.

The future's orange? Read James Willsher's take on Nick Clegg and the televised revolution.

Sylvia Arthur meets former Time 100 alum Ayaan Hirsi Ali to talk about Islam, feminism and living in exile.

Athena Kugblenu takes a theoretical look at Britain and it's search for an identity.

James Willsher takes a fresh look at The Lady, discussing the rebirth of a British institution.

Here's to enlightened reading

Lucid Magazine

Lucid Magazine April Update

2010-04-05T22:46:00.003+01:00

Welcome to Lucid Magazine's April update. Read on for previews of our current articles and features.

James Willsher celebrates the talent that links musical icons past and present, from Queen to Lady Gaga.

Myriam Volk highlights the role of women in the fight against malaria.

Athena Kugblenu responds to commentators stoking pre-election fear

Check out our countdown of people and things we like, and join in by telling us who you admire.

Here's to enlightened reading...

Pre-prayer ablutions at Eminonu Mosque

2010-03-27T17:06:00.002Z

Pre-prayer ablutions at Eminonu Mosque, originally uploaded by somuchsoul.

I love this photo, taken on a recent trip to Istanbul. The little boy on the left wanted to copy the adult men and wash his feet too but quickly got fed up and decided to watch instead.

Lucid Magazine March issue

2010-03-07T21:52:00.005Z

Welcome to Lucid Magazine's March update. Read on for previews of our current articles and features.

Sport's Glory Days: In the run up to the summer of sport, we revisit the past, assess the present and predict the future.

Crunch time for Sudan. Sylvia Arthur reports on Sudan's complex conflicts ahead of April's elections.

This is Mugham: James Willsher is enchanted by classical Azerbaijani music.

Have you been Googled? Athena Kugblenu reviews Ken Auletta's, Googled and finds darkness behind Google's dominance.

Rebel With a Cause: Lucid talks to Friends of the Earth chair Nnimmo Bassey about things that matter.

Sylvia Arthur interviews jazz trumpeter Christian Scott.

Ed Kashi speaks to Lucid ahead of his London exhibition about his work, his activism and the future of the Niger Delta.

Paul Knipe visits St Petersburg and discovers Russia’s bloody history

Here's to enlightened reading....

The Lucid Team.

Oslo Opera House

2010-02-08T18:17:00.006Z

A beautiful work of ar(t)chitecture...

...set against the natural beauty of the fjord.

Visit http://www.operaen.no/

Lucid Magazine February Update now online!

2010-01-31T15:55:00.008Z

New this month:

Green for All? Environmentalist Shilpa Shah says green campaigning should be more inclusive.

An audience with Orhan Pamuk: James Willsher spends time in the company of the Nobel Prize winner (pictured above).

Paul Knipe reflects on the work of Ron Arad, ahead of the Israeli’s first retrospective in the UK at the Barbican.

Athena Kugblenu gives her verdict on Avatar ...and discusses the the case of Munir Hussain, Britain's latest 'have a go hero.'

Here's to enlightened reading...

Climate and Civilisation: Channel 4 screening and debate at The Dana Centre

2009-11-18T12:09:00.004Z

Monday, 7 December 2009, 19:00 - 20:45

Tony Robinson and experts are at Dana for an exclusive preview of a Channel 4 series, 'Man on Earth', that looks at the role of climate change in past civilisations. Join the post-screening debate: what can we learn from the past to help us with our own climate challenge?

Event organised by: Channel 4 and The Science Museum

Speakers
Tony Robinson, TV presenter
Joy Singarayer, lecturer, climate modelling, Bristol University
Jago Cooper, School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester

Chair
Ralph Lee, Head of Specialist Factual, Channel 4 Television

Bravo, Renzo!

2009-11-15T23:15:00.004Z

I had an interesting, uplifting experience this afternoon. Whilst wandering through the wet streets of London having visited my favourite shop, Stanfords Map Centre in Long Acre, I crossed a few roads on my way to Cambridge Circus and was stopped in my tracks by the new Renzo Piano building next to Tottenham Court.

It’s a curious construction. Stuck into a plot that is too small for it and mainly surrounded by West End side streets, it erupts into facades of different colours, dwarfing the majority of buildings surrounding it. Its faces are bright and cheerful; the horizontals of its windows and louvers crisscross the verticals to feel symmetric despite the contrasts of its angles and dimensions. Odd. I’m not that accustomed to being stopped in my tracks by modern buildings these days. Very rarely does a new development have this effect and, usually, only because it is a) neck breaking in scale, particularly height; b) a folly of humorous proportions, juxtaposed and marvellous in true surreal fashion; or c) original, groundbreaking, maybe contextualised into its environment. Central Saint Giles is not one of these but a slight combination of all of them.

It was also helped by the weather. It had been typical this weekend – the kind that receives a collective all zones moan (but secretly I adore it, like so many Londoners do of course): strong wind in gusts that blow the greasy auburn leaves around the streets, accompanied by grey rain at varying degrees of intensity. Yet the moment I saw Piano’s brainchild the sun momentarily peeked through the gloom to illuminate the south facing facade against a sodden and thunderous backdrop (reminiscent of the contrasts in Giorgione’s Tempest).

I’m sure others will begrudge it but I think it both titillates and titivates, and as such is a superb achievement. What with London Bridge’s Shard of Glass soon set to be a growing feature on the Southbank skyline, Lords Foster and Rogers will be looking over their shoulders and clasping their mantles of London leading architect tight.

What's in the November/December issue of Lucid Magazine?

2009-11-02T21:50:00.007Z

Hot off the Press? The first ever Lucid Debate will be held at the
Science Musuem. Join us and leading jounalists from top news
organisations to discuss the media and climate change

This month, Lucid Magazine comtemplates Religion Today. Read about
Humanism, The Invisible Muslim and the lives of three very different
Britons in our faith themed feature.

Dust storms, flash floods and bush fires. Is it the end of the
world as we know it? Sylvia Arthur asks if recent climate extremes
signal the beginning of the end.

Paul Knipe visits Mongolia and finds tradition and modernity amid
the wilderness in a country that’s embracing the Western world after
decades of communist rule.

While the mainstream media wonders what to do about declining
newspaper sales and the internet, there’s a revolution going on
elsewhere which they’d do well to join. James Willsher looks at a
new frontier for news and advertising.

Athena Kugblenu investigates what we’ve got to look forward to if
David Cameron maintains his momentum.

Stephen Maughan travels to Romania and discovers that, although
there are positives, more still needs to be done to improve child
care.

And finally...

Lucid's gracious hots in Ghana, Afrikids, are holding their annual
pub quiz on Tuesday, 15th December. Why not get together with a group
of friends and have fun while raising funds for charity?

Support Afrikids

2009-11-02T18:58:00.005Z

Lucid's favourite charity, Afrikids, is holding two events that need your support:

Do you like the thought of an investment where your returns are not in money but in the joy you will get, year after year, in helping some of the world's most vulnerable children?

Are you keen to give back to the community but not sure where to trust your funds?

Then come and join a syndicate of likeminded people and enjoy the launch of the Afrikids Social Investment Club on 19th November in Canary Wharf, London.

Then, next month, Afrikids is holding their annual Christmas Pub Quiz on Tuesday, 15th December. Why not get together with a group of friends and have fun while raising funds for charity?

For more on Afrikids, visit their website at http://www.afrikids.org/.

From the new issue of Lucid: Nature's Revenge

2009-11-02T18:53:00.003Z

Dust storms, flash floods and bush fires. Is this the end of the world as we know it? Sylvia Arthur goes on the road with the men and women determined to alert the world to the gravity of climate change. Read more

Maldives calls attention to the threat climate change poses to island nation

2009-10-17T15:10:00.002+01:00

By: The Associated Press 17 Oct 2009 08:26 AM ET

GIRIFUSHI, Maldives - Members of the Maldives' Cabinet donned scuba gear and used hand signals Saturday at an underwater meeting staged to highlight the threat of global warming to the lowest-lying nation on earth.

President Mohammed Nasheed and 13 other government officials submerged and took their seats at a table on the sea floor — 20 feet below the surface of a lagoon off Girifushi, an island usually used for military training.

With a backdrop of coral, the meeting was a bid to draw attention to fears that rising sea levels caused by the melting of polar ice caps could swamp this Indian Ocean archipelago within a century. Its islands average 7 feet above sea level.

"What we are trying to make people realize is that the Maldives is a frontline state. This is not merely an issue for the Maldives but for the world," Nasheed said.

As bubbles floated up from their face masks, the president, vice president, Cabinet secretary and 11 ministers signed a document calling on all countries to cut their carbon dioxide emissions.

Urgency
The issue has taken on urgency ahead of a major U.N. climate change conference scheduled for December in Copenhagen. At that meeting countries will negotiate a successor to the Kyoto Protocol with aims to cut the emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide that scientists blame for causing global warming by trapping heat in the atmosphere.

Wealthy nations want broad emissions cuts from all countries, while poorer ones say industrialized countries should carry most of the burden.

Dozens of Maldives soldiers guarded the event Saturday, but the only intruders were groupers and other fish.

Nasheed had already announced plans for a fund to buy a new homeland for his people if the 1,192 low-lying coral islands are submerged. He has promised to make the Maldives, with a population of 350,000, the world's first carbon-neutral nation within a decade.

"We have to get the message across by being more imaginative, more creative and so this is what we are doing," he said in an interview on a boat en route to the dive site.

Nasheed, who has emerged as a key, and colorful, voice on climate change, is a certified diver, but the others had to take diving lessons in recent weeks.

Three ministers missed the underwater meeting because two were not given medical permission and another was abroad.

A Liberal Leader of the Opposition?

2009-10-04T12:29:00.005+01:00

Ipos-Mori conducted a poll asking people who they were most likely to vote for at the next general election. The triumph of the Conservatives (36%) was no surprise to me, but the progress of the Liberals had me choke on my morning coffee. Ipsos-Mori has them in 2nd place (25%) ahead of Labour (24%). This represents an 8 point gain for the yellow party, whilst Labours figure evidences a stagnation in support, showing no change at all.

What does this mean? Until now, Liberals would find themselves voting Labour so as not to waste their vote on also-rans. Nick Clegg, how ever much he wants it, will probably not be Prime Minster this time next year. But maybe they've set their sights to high. A Liberal leader of the opposition has not been touted as a possibility in the popular press so far. On this evidence, if Liberal supporters dare to dream, it should be.

The Tryfan challenge

2009-09-26T09:02:00.003+01:00

For all nature loving adrenaline junkies and thrill seekers out there consider a trip to Snowdonia. Or more specifically, a trip up the explosion of rocks that are Tryfan and the adjacent Glyders. These mountains are often overlooked in favour of neighbouring Snowdon but are a very rewarding alternative to the famous peak, offering climbs up rock faces and scrambles up steep scree slopes amid some of the most challenging terrain in Britain. And if that’s not enough, tradition dictates that the hardiest of souls take a death-defying leap across two column-like rocks that adorn the tiny summit of Tryfan.

Bob and I spent last weekend in the Welsh mountains, fuelled by a desire to detox and have 48 hours in the countryside with only the most essential items. It takes about 4 1/2 hours from London and it’s not until you get onto the A5 past Shrewsbury that the route becomes interesting. From Llangollen it begins to wind through rolling forest, past low lying hills and picturesque Welsh villages to Betws-y-coed, famous for its old iron bridge and ‘ugly house’, and gateway to the mountains.

On the Sunday, under cloudless skies and tingling with a mix of adventure and fantasy of Tolkienian proportions, we parked up at the foot of Tryfan at the east end of lake Llyn Ogwen that lines the valley floor (according to legend the final resting place of King Arthur’s Excalibur) between the Glyders and the Carneddau range. There is no gentle introduction to Tryfan. From the lay-by it’s a thigh burning two hour climb to the peak. The start is steep but with a defined route; after a while this changes to a mix of scree, sheer rock and thicket tufts with no obvious path. There are many ways to the top and all of them will have nerve jangling moments involving thin ledges, scrambling and rock climbing.

The summit is a small expanse of craggy rock that’s only big enough for a few groups of walkers at a time. Its main attractions are ‘Adam and Eve’, two boulders that stand three metres high and about a metre apart, visible from the valley floor where they look like human figures. It’s common to see brave souls jump from one to the other to gain the ‘freedom of Tryfan’, although I never mustered the courage to get that honour.

Tryfan sticks into the sky like a jagged dome. From the A5 past Llyn Ogwen it stood noble and sublime in the perfect weather we had that day, separated from the ‘bristling ridge’ at the start of the Glyders by the Bwlch Tryfan pass. But the mountain has been labelled one of the most challenging walks in mainland Britain and has claimed several lives over the last few years, most recently in April this year. Although this is a great and thrilling climb, walkers beware: treat Tryfan with caution and the utmost respect.

Join the campaign for a political debate

2009-09-20T12:55:00.001+01:00

This week, as the party conference season gets under way, the choice that we, the electorate, face is becoming ever more apparent and even more immediate.

In just under eight months, the UK will get the chance to choose its next leader in a General Election. This time, there’s no opportunity for the Prime Minister to change his mind about calling a ballot or dilly-dally over the timescale because, the fact is, he is required to do so. So, this final conference season before the next election is crucial for all the parties in contention.

The party conference is a particularly good opportunity for the Liberal Democrats whose leader, Nick Clegg, is all but anonymous in the public consciousness. Since his election as party leader two years ago, Clegg has failed to register with the electorate in any significant way and his party has remained stagnant. The coverage of the LibDem conference will provide Clegg with a timely chance to raise his profile, if not his poll ratings, and give him a head start in what will undoubtedly be an upward struggle in the run-up to next May.

For the Conservatives, who will descend on Manchester the week after next, the issue is not to increase their visibility but to build upon it. Cameron is clearly regarded as the prime minister in waiting by the media. No one seriously doubts that the Conservatives will win the election come next spring. The Tory task is to further enhance and reinforce their standing with the electorate and showcase concrete policies that will enable voters to visualise them as a party of power rather than a party that’s been in opposition for the last 12 years.

As for Labour, well, there’s an air of predictability about the party’s Brighton conference because even the Labour faithful know that they have little chance, short of a miracle, of reversing the poll trends, though there’s doubt that their defeat will be as big as has been predicted. So, we’ll wait and see what Mandy and co. can pull out of the box in this pre-election platform.

Incidentally, Sky News is running a campaign to get the three main party leaders to take part in the first ever televised debate of prime ministerial contenders. This format, which is new in the UK campaigning arsenal, is the norm in American and German politics where the aspiring heads of government go head-to-head live on TV before huge viewing audiences. So far, Cameron and Clegg have said yes to Sky’s invitation and their eagerness to face-off with each other and, more importantly, Gordon Brown is hardly surprising. Both have everything to gain from the encounter. The debate will undoubtedly attract record numbers of viewers, if nothing else because of natural curiosity because it’s a first, and both leaders will get the chance to reach voters their party machines couldn’t possibly reach by themselves. And Cameron would have to perform disastrously to lose the sizeable poll lead and translate this to electoral defeat.

In contrast, Brown’s reluctance to agree to take part in the debate is understandable and even laudable. He has more to lose than his opponents, although some would argue not much more considering how low his poll ratings are. Perhaps things can only get better for Brown since they can’t get any worse? Nevertheless, Brown is not a natural performer and politics is as much about presentation as it is about policy.

So, what will this election be fought on? Hopefully, the issues since the personalities are virtually non-existent: public spending cuts, the economy, the environment, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan… the list goes on.

A televised debate is unlike the traditional Party Political Broadcast in that the aspiring PMs won’t be talking at the electorate but talking to them, guided by the debate chair whose task it will be, not only to ask the questions but to demand the answers that the public want to hear. It provides a unique opportunity to hear and see just what the candidates can do for you as an individual and the country at large.

You can sign Sky News’s online petition for a television debate by going to www.sky.com/leadersdebate.

The Good WAR? Afghanistan in the media by Atiya Munir

2009-07-15T10:20:00.000+01:00

14th July 2009

The Good WAR? Afghanistan in the media

With an increase in the number of British troop casualties in Afghanistan hitting the news and our Ministers and military still insisting that this is a ‘good’ war that can be won, I seized the opportunity to attend a meeting organised by Media Workers Against the War1 and Stop the War Coalition2 to get an alternative perspective on what really is going on inside Afghanistan. As I walked down Euston Road towards Quakers Friends House, the venue of the meeting, I wondered how many and what kind of people would be turning up for an event like this. I expected a small gathering of anti-war activists and young students but was surprised to enter a large hall packed full with an enthusiastic audience of over a hundred people of all ages and very ethnically diverse.

It was emphasised that all speakers would be giving their personal perspectives on what’s happening in Afghanistan and, therefore, would not be representing the views of their organisations. Lindsey German, founder of the Stop the War Coalition, opened the plenary with a reminder that, though it may have been the worst week in terms of casualties for British troops, worse days has been experienced by Afghani civilians, which largely go unreported in the Western media or the scale of casualties is denied. The session then kicked off with Guy Smallman, a photojournalist recently returned from Afghanistan with a slideshow showing the casualties in the Afghan village of Granai in which a US air strike in May had killed 140 civilians, the highest number of civilian casualties since the conflict began. Guy showed us photos of small children that had sustained serious burns from the air strikes with some having lost their entire families, a ruined mud mosque, destroyed mud-houses and stacks of unrecognised body pieces waiting to be buried. A particularly haunting photo was of some young boys and girls who stood aloof with blank faces. Contrary to the United States’s claim that the heavy air strikes were carried out in response to their surveillance showing the presence of the Taliban, the villagers denied this saying that they hated the Taliban and had not allowed them to enter the village. When American un-manned drones started their air-strikes the villagers ran to take shelter in the mosque, which was then probably read by the US Army's drone operator sitting behind a laptop looking through its cameras as a group of Taliban. Tragically, 93 members of this group were children and not a single Taliban!

Stephen Grey, an investigative journalist embedded with British troops in Helmand, narrated his personal account of what it was like on the ground and his experiences of reporting through the Ministry of Defence (MoD). Stephen gave a vivid description of the fierce nature of fighting in Helmand province during which he saw Afghani cars packed with women and children escaping the combat zone in the midst of intense firing. On one occasion, a car door exploded open and the bodies of two dead children fell out. Due to the MOD restrictions imposed on the reporters, and the journalists having to clear their reports with the military first, many incidents of soldier deaths and civilian casualties go unreported in our media. Journalists who are critical of the army’s strategy or of the conditions under which the soldiers are fighting are denied entry into the army as embeds. However, based on his time spent with the soldiers, Guy was clear that a large number of soldiers are aware of these government tactics and are becoming disillusioned about the real purpose of the war in Afghanistan. A fuller account of Guy’s frontline experiences in Afghanistan along with his extensive interviews with the soldiers can be read in his recently published book “Operation Snakebite: The Explosive True Story of an Afghan Desert Siege”.

The final talk was given by the Guardian columnist Seumas Milne, who analysed the ever shifting objectives presented by the government, from capturing Osama Bin Laden, getting rid of Al-Qaida, installing democracy and freeing the women, none of which have been achieved so far. If anything, the situation appears to be worse in Afghanistan with one of the most corrupt Western-backed governments installed, a soaring production of opium and a rise in honour-killings and crimes against women. Gordon Brown's assertion that the war in Afghanistan is helping to prevent terrorism on the streets of Britain does not bear scrutiny either - the bombing of Afghan villages and the slaughter of civilians is only fuelling a rise of recruits for the Taliban and a hatred for the West. The best strategy would be an immediate withdrawal of British troops and to let the Afghani people run their own country as they have been doing for centuries past. The only military option should be to set up a small regional coalition force made up of Pakistan, Iran, China and Russia to help in the reconstruction of the country.

A lively question and answer session followed with a reminder that as the government is lacking any clear strategies on the war in Afghanistan it was up to the British public to get a clear message across that it was time to withdraw troops. One way of doing this would be by becoming active campaigners and by taking part in the protests that the Stop the War Coalition will be organising in the coming months before the next election.

Next week3 I plan to attend a public meeting at which Malalai Joya, an Afghan female Member of Parliament, will give an eye witness account of life in Afghanistan under war and occupation. I’ll keep you posted.

1 www.mwaw.net
2 www.stopwar.org.uk
3 Stop the War Public Meeting: Thursday 23 July 7pm Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, London WC1

New powers to prosecute war criminals living in UK

2009-07-08T11:31:00.003+01:00

Four Rwandans suspected of genocide may face UK trials after loophole is closed
By Cahal Milmo, Chief Reporter
Wednesday, 8 July 2009

Vincent Bajinya, who is also known as Doctor Vincent Brown, Celestin Ugirashebuja and Emmanuel Nteziryayo were arrested in Britain 28 December 2006 after being accused of involvement in the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

Suspected mass murderers and war crimes suspects living in Britain, including four men accused of taking part in the Rwandan genocide, will face prosecution for the first time after the Government announced the closure of a loophole which had made the United Kingdom a haven from justice.

The Justice Secretary Jack Straw unveiled the biggest change in British laws covering crimes against humanity in 20 years, following an outcry over a High Court decision in April not to send four Rwandans resident in the UK back to their home country to face prosecution.

Under the proposals, the law which bars charges relating to any war crime, act of genocide or crime against humanity committed before 2001 will be changed to allow prosecutions for atrocities committed since 1 January 1991, including the Balkan wars and the 1994 conflict in Rwanda, in which 800,000 people were systematically exterminated.

Mr Straw said the change, which will be put before Parliament in the autumn, could lead to "tens" of alleged war criminals and "genocidaires" who have gained British passports or are resident in the UK facing trial in this country.

More
Rwandan genocide on Lucid Magazine

A Day of Contrasts

2009-05-07T23:18:00.008+01:00

Life is full of contrasts but when extreme disparities are presented with a human face, life can prove too much to bear. This is even truer when confronted with both ends of the emotional spectrum in the space of one day, from optimism to despair in just a few short hours.

The afternoon began and ended on a high. Joy that my country Ghana was being celebrated for its smooth transfer of power from one democratically-elected leader to another for the third time in twelve years. At a forum organised by the Commonwealth Business Club, business leaders from the UK met with a high-profile delegation from Ghana, made up of the president and 3 of his ministers, to discuss the opportunities for investment in this fertile West African nation.

I was deeply emboldened by the fact that the president of 4 months, John Atta-Mills, chose not to belittle the strides made by the previous government, now in opposition Eschewing politics and pot shots, he said, “We cannot reinvent the wheel and we will build on the achievements of the previous government”.

Such talk was music to my ears as it confirms the maturity which Ghana has reached in its political and democratic development. I left the reception with hope and happiness about the future of Ghana.

A few hours later, however, on a beautiful evening in the picturesque surroundings of London’s South Bank, the culmination of a week of events to highlight the continuing unacceptable situation in the Congo took place. A panel of speakers including journalist Tim Butcher, Congolese activist Marie-Clare Faray, MP Eric Joyce, chair of the APPG, and photojournalist Susan Schulmann each presented their view on the crisis based on personal experience.

It took every ounce of fortitude not to dissolve in to a torrent of tears as Marie Clare-Faray gave an impassioned response to a question on what can be done to bring stability to her country. In her answer she inadvertently revealed that she, like thousands of other women in the Congo, had been a victim of rape, which is systematically used as a tool of war, as well as other forms of sexual exploitation. She then asked brokenly through her tears, “Do we have to die so you can use a mobile phone?” The room fell silent.

I realised in the stunned silence that followed Marie-Clare’s words that, for a moment, I completely forgot myself. For that moment all my trivial and not-so-trivial worries - of which there are many - paled in to insignificance when confronted with this woman’s story. It may only have been fleeting but in that instant I was totally consumed by an overwhelming compassion for someone other than myself, someone who has lived through, and daily relives, unimaginable heartache of which there is no end in sight. We could all do with losing ourselves sometimes…

Today’s events brought home to me more than ever that, although there is one continent, there are two different Africas, just as those who carved up the continent had intended it to be. That isn’t to lay the blame entirely at the developed world’s door. As panel chair Oona King said, the actions of individuals are just as much to blame as the action (and inaction) of corporations and governments. And as individuals we can all play a part in helping to bring an end to the suffering of millions who, though they may not be known to us personally, are related to us as fellow human beings in this world of contrasts.

With a song in her heart and some sense in her head!

2009-04-23T21:31:00.009+01:00

This evening I had the pleasure of speaking to one of the UK's most talented and underrated vocalists in a no-holds-barred interview on the state of jazz music today.

Gill Manly is a jazz artist who's just released her second album "With A Song In My Heart" to much critical acclaim. Having been in the industry for a couple of decades, Gill spoke honestly and refreshingly about her experiences in music and her thoughts on the industry, warts and all. After a sabbatical of a few years, Gill returned to the stage and the recording studio to find not much has changed since she exited the business and found spiritual enlightenment.

Look out for Gill and other talented women in jazz in a feature on the rise and rise of women in jazz in the next issue of Lucid Magazine, online on Monday, 4th May.

Photographer Patrick Farrell wins Pulitzer for Haiti images

2009-04-22T12:27:00.001+01:00

BY ANDRES VIGLUCCI

Veteran Miami Herald photographer Patrick Farrell has been awarded journalism's biggest award, the Pulitzer Prize, for his harrowing images of the victims of the storms that ravaged Haiti in 2008.

Farrell, 49, visited Haiti four times during last year's hurricane season, capturing scenes of the dead and the survivors of a series of storms that generated devastating flooding across the impoverished nation.

He was in Haiti the night Hurricane Ike -- the fourth storm to hit there in a month -- washed across the already overwhelmed countryside, drowning even more homes and people.
Farrell's published photographs, along with stories by Miami Herald Caribbean correspondent Jacqueline Charles and Herald reporter Trenton Daniel, are credited with helping raise international awareness of the storms' toll on Haiti and its people's struggle to survive in the aftermath.

''Patrick's photography is the most provocative and at times disturbing storytelling work that I have seen or edited,'' said Luis Rios, The Herald's director of photography. ``It is exceptional documentary photography with a purpose -- to chronicle the misery and heartache of the Haitian people.''

The Pulitzer Prize jurors recognized a package of 19 black-and-white photographs, entitled ''A People in Despair: Haiti's Year Without Mercy.'' The images range from the flooded streets of Gonaives, to the aftermath of a storm-related school collapse in Port au Prince, and the deadly toll on children in the rural town of Cabaret who were washed away from their parents' grasp by rushing floodwaters.

In all, more than 800 Haitians died and more than 1 million were left homeless by the unrelenting series of storms.

Farrell's Haiti photographs have also won the Society of Professional Journalists' 2008 Sigma Delta Chi Award for excellence in journalism in Photography Spot News, as well as awards in the Pictures of the Year International competition and the 75th National Headliner Awards.

Farrell, a Miami native, has been a Herald staff photographer since 1987. He's a member of the class of 1977 at Christopher Columbus High, a Miami Catholic school, where he ran cross country and shot photos for the school yearbook. He graduated in 1981 with a bachelor of arts degree in television and film production from the University of Miami.

Farrell grew up in the High Pines neighborhood of unincorporated Miami-Dade County near South Miami, the seventh of 12 children born to Dr. James and Peggie Farrell.

Farrell says he owes his discovery of photography to an eye injury he suffered when he was shot in the right eye by a BB gun pellet while he was trick-or-treating on Halloween 1971. He spent a week with both eyes bandaged shut at Larkin General Hospital in South Miami.
His view of the world changed after his bandages were removed, and he began to pay more attention to the details and light around him, Farrell says. As a result of the eye injury, Farrell is a ''left-eye shooter'' and holds the camera up to his left eye. (Most people naturally shoot with their right eye.)

After he discovered photography, he destroyed a bathroom in his parents' home by turning it into a darkroom.

Farrell started his career working for several small community papers in Florida.
His Herald assignments have taken him to Turkey, Haiti, Cuba and throughout Central and South America, as well as the Caribbean. He was part of the Herald staff that won the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for the coverage of Hurricane Andrew's devastation in South Florida.

Indian literary talent takes centre stage

2009-04-19T00:42:00.028+01:00

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of being in the company of three distinguished Indian writers (and one Brit!) who had come to London as ambassadors for Indian literature as part of The London Book Fair.

In a discussion titled "Cities in Literature", part of the British Council sponsored India 09: Through Fresh Eye programme, writers including Sukhetu Metha (pictured above), author of the acclaimed Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found discussed what is it about cities that inspire so much writing. Each author spoke about their own experiences of city life and how it influenced their writing (novellist Shankar, who's penned 80 books in Bengali, has set all his books in Calcutta) and then read a passage from their chosen work. Austin Williams, the aforementioned lone Brit on the panel, spoke about London while Namdeo Dhasal's publisher, who attended in place of his awol client, read about the dark side of 70s Mumbai from Dhasal's radical collection of powerful poetry.

But it was Sukhetu Metha's shimmering account of contemporary Bombay life, a city of 21million people, that really caught my attention. Part reportage, part memoir, Metha's gift for capturing the spirit of the city was compelling to listen to and, I was told, even more fascinating to read. "The Londoners of the future are being born in Bombay today", he said, speaking of the relationship between global cities in the 21st century.

After hearing the panellists speak so eloquently and passionately about their cities and their work, I immediately went out and bought Metha's Maximum City (five years after everyone else it seems!) and read up on Namdeo Dhasal and Shankar. When I'm done with Maximum City, which is living up to the hype as an absolute page turner, I'll definitely go in search of other Indian writers and their words. There are worse ways to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Drum 'n' bass pioneer turned artist Goldie talks about his new Shoreditch show | thelondonpaper.com

2009-04-16T20:25:00.001+01:00

Drum 'n' bass pioneer turned artist Goldie talks about his new Shoreditch show | thelondonpaper.com

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Lucid's Top 5 for April 09: #2

2009-04-12T13:00:00.005+01:00

In at number two...

Much has been made of the USA’s first black president and Iceland’s first openly gay prime minister but we ask whether the UK is ready for either.

The question is: “Will the UK elect a gay PM before a black PM?”

Athena Kugblenu and Francis Kaikumba go head-to-head to debate a hot topic in the run up to our politically-charged May issue. Read our tête-à-tête then join the debate by leaving a message in the comment box: http://www.lucidmagazine.co.uk/#/headtohead/4532736292

Lucid's Top 5 for April 09: #1

2009-04-05T10:53:00.005+01:00

In at number one...

April 6th marks the 15th anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda and, in an exclusive interview, Paul Knipe talks to Mr Hotel Rwanda, Paul Rusesabagina, the man whose story inspired the 2004 Oscar-nominated film starring Don Cheadle, Sophie Okonedo and Nick Nolte. Mr Rusesabagina now runs the Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation and campaigns against injustice, particularly in the Great Lakes region of Africa, which includes Rwanda and the Congo. He says:

"Unfortunately it takes a movie for the world to wake up. It took 10 years for Hotel Rwanda to be made, for the international community to realise that there was genocide in Rwanda. It is taking just as long to realise that in the Congo – since 1996 I believe – more than 5 million people have been butchered, and yet we do not raise a single finger to say no to cruelty and crimes."

Read his inspirational story here.

Lucid exclusive! Eric Benet: Chocolate Legs

2009-03-22T19:55:00.004Z

Check out our review of Eric Benet live at the Jazz Cafe in the April Lucid Update. Sign up to receive it here.

Review - Plague Over England

2009-03-22T16:28:00.004Z

1950s London was a difficult place to be gay. A quick wink or a lingering look was enough to be charged for ‘importuning male persons for an immoral purpose’. Homosexuality had been denounced politically, and for the less liberally minded there was a gay plague over England.

So in 1953, when recently knighted John Gielgud entered a public lavatory off the Fulham Road and emerged in handcuffs with an undercover policeman, his reputation and career were on the brink of collapse.

Horniman’s curiosity shop

2009-03-22T15:05:00.007Z

Founded by Victorian tea trader Frederick Horniman in 1901, the Horniman Museum is full of curiosities from all over the world. The highlights include the aquarium that focuses on British pond and seaside creatures – an incredible display of natural life on our own doorstep; the natural history gallery showing all manner of birds, reptiles, mammals (stuffed and skeletons) still around and extinct; and African Worlds – a celebration of African history and diversity through cultural artefacts from the continent.

It’s a curious place, reminiscent to an old flea market or a Victorian quack’s surgery at times – there is none of the modern ‘white cube’ approach to the displays. And that makes it even more intriguing and exciting. The museum has been highly praised by critics and has won several prestigious awards, including Visit London’s Visitor Attraction of the Year, 2007. Just 15 minutes from London Bridge the Horniman is well worth a visit.

The Horniman Museum is open daily 10.30-5.30pm. Entrance to the museum and gardens is free.

The sidewalk critic / the art of looking upwards

2009-03-03T19:57:00.006Z

London: the daily grind, the constant pace, the constant fervour. It is a living and breathing entity with emotions, feelings and moods, just like you or I. Does London reflect mood or cause mood? Is my own fate dependent on its fate? We shape it over time, we mark it with signs, paint it with art, decorate / demolish / rebuild. At the same time the city shapes us. It gives us personality, memory and purpose.

Lewis Mumford, New York's 'sidewalk critic', once said the most beautiful thing about cities. He said that cities are a product of time, a fact of nature and a place where mind takes form. Adding “With language itself, it remains mans greatest work of art.”

Lost in thought and surrounded by strangers, somewhere between Hackney Central and Dalston Kingsland, a peeling patch of graffiti on an old brick wall reminded me of Mumford’s words. Someone’s imprint on the city – I don’t know its circumstances, its author, its purpose. But it has caused me to think about it and is part of my own consciousness now. Would that old wall have caught my attention without it? I doubt it. Would the graffiti have had the same impact on me if it wasn’t for the wall? I’ll never know.

Unique and imperfect details cover London; they cover all cities. Look sideways, look upwards (the image above shows an off-kilter square in Alexandra Palace's roof), downwards – they’re there. They are what makes the city appealing: at once both brightening the mood (mine and London’s) and providing a focus to counter the daily grind.

Human Rights Watch International Film Festival, 19-27 March, London

2009-03-03T19:38:00.012Z

From 19-27 March, the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival will take place in London for the 13th year with screenings and discussions focusing on some of the most pressing stories of the era.

The London festival this year premieres Youth Producing Change, a programme of youth-produced human rights films from around the world, in collaboration with founding presenter Adobe Youth Voices, the global initiative of the Adobe Foundation. Human Rights Watch will also present a photo exhibit, On the Frontlines, to coincide with the festival at the Frontline Club in Paddington from March 2 to March 27.

This year’s line-up includes 16 features and nine shorts from 21 countries, one world premiere, one European premiere, 10 UK premieres, and two London premieres. Thirteen of the 16 features focus on the following places: Afghanistan; Burma; Ecuador; Gujurat, India; Kashmir; Lebanon; Liberia; the Palestinian territories; Russia; Rwanda; South Africa; and Sudan. Other films take a global perspective, including the universal and poetically told story of an immigrant in the opening night screening on 19 March of Eden is West by the veteran filmmaker Costa Gavras (image above).

For the full programme of screenings visit the festival website at: http://www.hrw.org/iff

One to watch: How Art Made the World

2009-03-01T17:04:00.007Z

Sky Arts 2 series begins at 7pm on Monday, 2 March, 2009.

Ever wondered why humans are so obsessed with representing the human form in art? Or how politicans use images to influence and control? Then this illuminating series is just what you've been looking for...

Just why does the world appear how it does? Fusing social history, politics, science, nature, archaeology and religion, this landmark series unravels a universal mystery - why the world around us looks like it does. Modern-day mysteries are answered by journeying back to the beginning of civilisation via some of the most amazing man-made creations in the world. An intriguing narrative thread drives through each film as exciting scientific demonstrations reveal how our minds, and those of our ancient ancestors, relate to art. Beautiful, surprising, compelling and above all, relevant, with a visual ambition worthy of its epic subject-matter, this awe-inspiring adventure will appeal not only to art lovers, but to anyone who has ever wondered about humanity's place in the world.

Lucid Magazine is launching next week!

2009-02-22T21:58:00.002Z

Lucid is the place to find interesting, provocative articles that stimulate debate and inspire free thinking on everything from arts and culture to ideas and current affairs. Our tagline is “Clear Opinion, Sound Debate.” Interaction is key. Don’t be passive. Get involved in the discussions and leave your mark.

In the first issue, online on Monday, 2nd March:

· 15 years after the genocide in Rwanda what has the world learnt?
We speak to the authors of a new book on the plight of survivors of the 1994 Rwandan genocide that saw one million people killed as the world looked away and left a nation physically and psychologically scarred. But there remains hope. Plus, we ask what can be done to help those in the neighbouring Congo from suffering a similar fate.
· In search of the essence of Japan
When you think of Japan, the world’s second largest economy, what do you think of? Neon, Manga and high-technology? Or Geisha, Buddhism and quiet contemplation? Paul Knipe finds the essence of Japan, a country with the longest life expectancy in the world, coexisting in the traditional buildings and modern skyscrapers of the mighty Honshu cities.
· Hidden Histories
Between 1838 and 1917 over half a million Indians were transported to the Caribbean to work on the sugar plantations. Promised wages and rights, 240,000 of these migrants were taken to Guyana and today, East Indians make up 44% of the Guyanese population. Athena Kugblenu examines the reality of indentured labour and uncovers the truth about Caribbean Indians.
· Almighty Meltdown
In the first installment of a new series, Francis Kaikumba writes that the world is going through unprecedented change, not just economic but social and political, and offers his perspective on what the legacy of this period of upheaval will mean. Major institutions will crumble, systems of governance will collapse but, ultimately, people power will prevail.
· London: Capital of Cool
Twelve years after Britpop, Britart and Britfashion dominated the world’s media Sylvia Arthur argues that London is still the capital of creativity with its music, arts and culture scenes thriving despite the onset of a recession. The UK’s image may be in decline but the current economic crisis will serve as a catalyst for an outpouring of creative expression similar to that of the mid-1990s.

Sign up to the site now at http://www.lucidmagazine.co.uk/ to be notified when Lucid goes live and join our Facebook group here.

Lucid Magazine: Clear Opinion, Sound Debate

Paris, February 09

2009-02-11T21:16:00.008Z

Graffiti, Paris style! I love it! I spotted this while taking a detour down a narrow side street just off the plush Boulevard St. Germain. This interesting piece of street art was above an Accessorize shop. Parisian subversives sure understand irony-:) Angela Davis would be proud.

The Lost Libraries of Timbuktu

2009-02-09T18:13:00.004Z

12 Feb 2009, 21:00 on BBC Four

Aminatta Forna tells the story of legendary Timbuktu and its long hidden legacy of hundreds of thousands of ancient manuscripts. With its university founded around the same time as Oxford, Timbuktu is proof that the reading and writing of books have long been as important to Africans as to Europeans.

Athena Kugblenu by Paul Knipe

2009-02-07T18:40:00.003Z

Saturday evening near London Bridge.

Lucid editorial meeting

2009-02-07T18:22:00.005Z

The team gathered at Amano to discuss the launch issue. Athena was the first one there, Francis was an hour and a half late. Paul came with the goods. I came with my mind in check and my money right-:) All in all, a productive afternoon...

Truly Hypnotic Brass

2009-02-01T21:33:00.001Z

Hypnotic Brass Ensemble is a 9-piece, Chicago-based jazz group featuring 8 sons of Phil Cohran on horns. Originally from Chicago, the brothers started as a street ensemble before recording in 2004. They have performed with Mos Def, Aquilla Sadalla and Phil Cohran. In late 2007 they recorded with Erykah Badu and Maxwell and played at the North Sea Jazz Festival.

One to watch: Simon Schama’s The Power of Art

2009-01-04T19:51:00.000Z

Sky Arts' new series begins Tuesday, 6 January

Focusing on eight iconic works of art such as Caravaggio’s David With the Head of Goliath, David’s Death of Marat and Picasso’s Guernica, this powerful series places great art at the centre of great moments in human history.This series is not a stroll through a gallery, nor is it a demure tour through a museum, instead it takes us on an extraordinary journey to the centre of human struggle and the dark heart of history. A combination of dramatic reconstruction, spectacular photography and Simon Schama’s unique and personal story telling transports the viewer back to the intense moments eight great works of art were conceived and born.

Each programme takes us where only art can go; into the vortex of Turner’s murderous seas; the light Guernica shone on fascist slaughter; and into the deep gravitational force fields of Rothko’s pulsing planets of colour. See Bernini’s thumbprint impressed on the kneaded clay of an old man’s beard and the slather of Rembrandt’s pigment crusting on his canvas. The Power of Art is the epic story of an unfolding force, a chance to witness the power of the individuals who changed the way we view the world.

The eight works of art included in the series are: Caravaggio’s David With the Head of Goliath; Bernini’s The Ecstasy of St. Theresa, Rembrandt’s The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis; David’s Death of Marat; Turner’s Slave Ship with Slaves Thrown Overboard; Typhoon Coming On; Van Gogh’s Self Portrait; Picasso’s Guernica and Rothko’s Seagram Building Murals.

One to watch: Jazz: The Gift

2009-01-04T19:45:00.001Z

Sky Arts new jazz series begins Monday, 5 January, 2009.

Jazz: The Gift explores the evolution and the genius of America’s greatest original art form. Not simply a chronicle of musical fact or lore, Jazz shows this remarkable music in the context of the complicated country that gave birth to it and shows how this remarkable art form became a part of world culture. Jazz raises questions about race and class, art and commerce, virtuosity and collaboration, the individual and the community, the confluence of cultures and the universality of experience. Jazz: The Gift introduces jazz legends like Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, employing engaging and detailed portraits of the great men and women of jazz to demonstrate how and why they make their music.

A Twisted Affair

2008-12-31T11:54:00.001Z

Twisted Christmas, Barbican Hall, 11 December
Jarvis Cocker was the headliner at the Barbican’s alternative yuletide celebration but unfortunately for the audience the former Pulp frontman wasn’t the highlight. After two and a half hours of a bewildering mix of music, comedy and shadow puppetry – some of which worked, some of which didn’t - Jarvis sloped on stage to perform two brief and forgettable songs. Luckily, there were other revelations to enjoy.

Illinois-based singer-songwriter Daniel Knox was one of them. His deep melancholic vocals called to mind cold winter nights in front of the fire and were perfect for his heart-warming rendition of the classic, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. Blues-folk duo The Smoke Fairies were ubiquitous on stage, and proved to be even better on their own than when performing back up for others. Patrick Wolf, a piano playing ex-chorister turned art-rocker, was sensational while unbilled songstress Camille O’Sullivan was reminiscent of a pre-tabloid era Amy Winehouse.

As well as the eclectic there was also the eccentric. Canadian singer Mary Margaret O’Hara and American Sandy Dillon provided much needed light relief, though it wasn’t entirely clear whether this was intentional.

What was intentional, however, was the wry comedy of Radio 4 presenter Jeremy Hardy, who ably steered proceedings from one fragmented act to another. But the night belonged to the shadow puppetry and accompanist Matthew Robbins who together earned plaudits in an otherwise borderline show.

Umeda Skytower

2008-12-26T16:32:00.002Z

Umeda Skytower, originally uploaded by Paul Knipe.

Just west of Osaka station is the Umeda Sky Building, a 40 story skyscraper that looks like a vast postmodern triumphal arch. Circular windows adorn the viewing gallery and they're like portholes onto a sc-fi metropolis. Rail networks dissect the city, raised expressways snake around buildings and through skyscrapers, helipads sit like jaunty crowns on the tallest structures. These two elderly Japanese ladies observed the scene in total silence. I still wonder what they were thinking. I took this with an old pocket sized 5 megapixal camera.

Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 live at Cargo

2008-12-17T10:36:00.000Z

I'd been looking forward to seeing Seun Kuti live with such anticipation that the show was in danger of being a massive anticlimax. Luckily for me, Seun and his father's original Egypt 80 had tuned in to my expectancy and delivered a storming performance that left all in awe.

Playing at Cargo in Shoreditch, the former warehouse was the perfect venue for Seun's highly politicised Afrobeat, a blend of high-life, jazz and traditional African rhythms. Reminiscent of his father Fela, Seun emerged from the shadows of his legacy to put his stamp mark on the scene despite performing much of Fela's most famous back catalogue. In fact, the highlight of the night was the title track from Kuti's new album Many Things, a bold, original anthem that puts the world to rights.

Having played at the Barbican earlier in the year to a sell out crowd, Cargo was an intimate setting for the ten man band - the hot, sweaty atmosphere was thick with the sound of the solid brass section with rythmically pulsating bodies jamming shoulder to shoulder to the beat. It was standing room only and those who couldn't dance were forced along by the push of the crowd.

After a somewhat brief hour and a half set we were left eagerly wanting more but the pre and post show DJ set was the perfect antidote. All in all, a near perfect night that will go down as one of the shows of the year.

Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 performed at Cargo in East London on Monday, 15th December.

Clive Rowe: Nothing Like A Dame

2008-12-15T13:00:00.000Z

Clive Rowe is the consummate pantomime dame. Oh yes he is! Described by The Guardian as "one of the greatest ", the Lancashire-born thesp has become a Hackney institution. In the seven years he's been playing here, Rowe has cultivated a loyal local following who turn out in force each Christmas to see him camp up his dramatic chops. Last year it was in Duke Whittington; this year Rowe stars as the lead in the Empire’s production of Mother Goose. It’s the tenth anniversary celebration of panto at the Empire and is a comic caper of epic proportions. Written by Susie McKenna, who’s been responsible for a number of the Empire’s Christmas hits, the show incorporates high-jinks and high drama to charming effect with Rowe the shining star in a stellar cast. He explains: “Mother Goose is about what happens if somebody is given what they believe they want, what happens to them when they get it and how they deal with it. It is what it says on the tin, a family panto.”

Rowe is an accomplished actor whose dedication to panto has brought credibility to the genre. He’s appeared in some of theatre’s best loved productions, including Carousel and Guys and Dolls, for which he won a coveted Olivier Award. “To have your peers that are people that you respect, who are above you and have been doing it for longer than you look at you and say, “we think what you’ve done is amazing”, is an amazing accolade”, he says.

It’s not just the theatrical establishment who've taken Rowe to their hearts - Hackney has too. I suggest it must be his Northern charm. “Init!” he jokes in a sketchy east London accent. “One of the things I’ve always felt about theatre, but is even more true with the Hackney Empire, is the show starts the minute you walk through the front door, not the minute you sit down in the auditorium and the lights go on. The minute you’re received here you’re part of the panto and everybody is working towards a fantastic night”.

Rowe has appeared in television, film and on radio but says he feels comfortable on the Hackney stage. Panto for him is as much a craft as any other kind of acting. “There’s a difficult balance to get where you’re keeping everything panto level because you’re playing to the five year olds but real. The trick is finding that core of it where you may be upset about something but you’re not doing Greek tragedy, you’re not doing Chekov, it’s panto”.

And Rowe loves it. “My thing is I have a great time. I spend all year being told what I can’t do on stage and I get five weeks to do what I want to do. The fact is I’m having a good time.” And so are we.

Mother Goose is on at the Hackney Empire until 10 January 2009.

Robert Glasper: Live at Cargo

2008-11-21T22:39:00.000Z

Doo-rags, hoodies and baseball caps aren’t the usual attire of jazz aficionados but Robert Glasper’s crowd is as notable for its youth as its urban fashion sense. He, himself, is dressed like one of his tribe – oversized T-shirt, baggy jeans and obligatory glass of liquor in hand. “Don’t let this jazz thing fool you,” he jokes mid-gig as he threatens to break in to a rap after seizing the mic from guest MC, Kashmere. And it wouldn’t have been out of place if he had. For Glasper, it seems hip hop is as intrinsic to his being as his first love, jazz. The fact that his show is taking place in a smoke-filled nightclub rather than a venerable jazz venue is testament to his street cred. His warm-up act isn’t some young pretender polishing his bebop chops but a DJ whose vinyl cases are crammed with Soul and Old Skool Hip-Hop. It could so easily be a cliché if Glasper wasn’t the real deal.

Website: www.myspace.com/therealrobertglasper

Catching Up With the King of Shoes, Jimmy Choo

2008-08-07T11:43:00.000+01:00

Hackney can claim many famous fashion alumni but none are as synonymous with style as shoemaker to the stars Jimmy Choo. A-listers from the worlds of film, music and the arts all flock to Choo’s swanky Central London boutique to get their mitts on his unique handmade shoes for everything from glitzy parties to glittering premieres. But when Jimmy Choo arrived in London in the 1980’s he couldn’t have known how important a role the bustling creative Hackney would play in his life. The borough gave the Malaysian his start in the fashion world, which would see him go from a struggling student to a multimillionaire.

As an apprentice at the prestigious Cordwainers’ Fashion Technical College, Choo perfected his craft as a shoemaker, his family trade, while working part-time at restaurants and as a cleaner at a shoe factory to help fund his education. “During the eighties I was in London for a holiday and a friend of mine told me there’s a special shoe college in Hackney called Cordwainers’”, Choo recalls. “Although I had training from my father, it’s always good to have an education and I didn’t have a certificate. So I enrolled in the college to learn more and get more advanced.”

At the time, as is today, Hackney was a hub of offbeat creative talent. The artistic energy that buzzed through the borough’s streets inspired Jimmy to stay local and in 1986, after leaving Cordwainers’, he opened his first workshop, renting an old hospital building. “Hackney was a fantastic place, very peaceful and very relaxed in those days,” Choo says, nostalgically. “All types of designers and artists were in Hackney, and a lot of music stars as well. There was also a lot of factories and manufacturing, especially shoe manufacturing. It was a great place.”

Jimmy’s craftsmanship and designs were soon noticed by those in the know in the industry and it didn’t take long before Jimmy Choo shoes became the must-have brand for serious fashionistas. Patronage from celebrities and royalty, including Diana, Princess of Wales, led Jimmy to become an international fashion icon and in 1998 his success was crowned when he scored an incredible coup when his creations were featured in a record eight pages of Vogue magazine. In 2000 Jimmy was awarded the Malaysian equivalent of a Queen’s honour for his achievements and two years later he received an OBE from the Queen herself in recognition of his services to the shoe and fashion industry in the UK.

But even though he’s mingled with the world’s top names and continues to ply his stylish trade Jimmy’s love and respect for his Hackney roots remains as strong as ever. “Hackney is a multicultural place. You have the Chinese, people from Jamaica, Ireland, Holland, all sorts of people who love to be in Hackney. I get my inspiration from that because it’s very important that I love what I’m doing and I mix with people and get an idea of how they dress. It’s fantastic. Hackney is a special place.”

Still Black, Still Proud: An African Tribute to James Brown

2008-06-16T16:29:00.000+01:00

The Barbican was the setting for a thrilling night of funk and frolics as legendary saxophonist Pee Wee Ellis led an all-star tribute to his long time collaborator, James Brown, at Still Black, Still Proud: An African Tribute to James Brown.

Proving that good music never dies, celebrated musicians including Senegalese guitarist Cheikh Lo, Afrobeat pioneer Tony Allen and Vieux Farka Toure joined trombonist Fred Wesley and others to salute the Godfather of Soul. And what a night it was!

Interspersing traditional African music with Brown’s extensive back catalogue, the band - accompanied by singer Fred Ross, vocalist and dancer Wunmi and UK rapper Ty - put in a pulsating performance that had the audience dancing in the aisles, bringing the house down with interpretations of classics like I Got You (I Feel Good) and Say It Loud: I’m Black and Proud. But it was Cheikh Lo’s (above) hauntingly beautiful rendition of It’s A Man’s World that was the highlight, combining awesome musicianship with Brown’s signature showmanship. South African songstress Simphiwe Dana’s bluesy homage was also a revelation.

With each band member a star in their own right, Still Black, Still Proud was an awe-inspiring evening that’s testament not only to Brown’s indisputable legacy but also to the rich vein of African musical talent. It may be nearly two years since he passed away but the spirit of James Brown truly lived on in this wonderfully captivating show.

___

Still Black, Still Proud took place on Saturday, 14th June as part of the Barbican's Groove Nations Season.

Fire in the dark: Mos Def live

2007-12-01T08:45:00.000Z

Dante Smith, the brilliant rapper that is Mos Def was in town last week to showcase some tracks from his forthcoming album The Ecstatic and run through a selection of his greatest hits. Playing two sold-out shows at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire and Islington Academy, Mos worked his knowledgeable crowd in to a frenzy with classic cuts like Umi Says, Ms Fat Booty and Sex, Love and Money. Despite coming on stage at approx. 10.30pm on a Sunday night, Mos gave a solid performance in front of an audience that was clearly in awe of the talented Brooklynite. After the poorly-received The New Danger and True Magic Mos appears to have returned to form as one of the finest and most credible MCs in the game. Support was ably provided by London's own Pyrelli and Swedish-American hip-hop group OneSelf.

On another note, today I had the pleasure of interviewing an unusual rising star in the shape of British saxophonist YolanDa Brown. Brown is different because not only is she a black female instrumentalist in a male-dominated genre but she's also highly-educated. The 25 year old musician is studying for a PhD as well as regularly performing on the tour circuit and working on her debut album. Check out http://www.sylviaarthur.co.uk/ for more info on this woman to watch.

Until next week...

Lessons in transcendence: Rahsaan takes it to another level

2007-11-01T21:20:00.000Z

Picture the scene: It's 9.30pm on a mild October Wednesday. A hardcore contingent of soul music aficionados are gearing up for a short but satisfying gig from one of the genre's most gifted artists. By 11 o'clock it'll all be over and we'll go our separate ways, content until we meet again. Job done. Now for what really happened. Enter the world of Rahsaan Patterson:

In Rahsaan's world there are no worries about getting up for work in the morning or how to make the long journey home when the underground shuts down. No. In Rahsaan's world, where he is the Pied Piper and we are his followers, time stands still as he guides us through his outstanding collection of finely-crafted material, from his eponymous 1997 debut through to Wines and Spirits, his latest offering. Locked in transcendence for two-and-a-half hours of pure musical ecstasy, Patterson's rapt audience are consumed by the sheer force of his talent. If heaven were a sonic construct this would be it.

Patterson's voice is the central tool in a superior six-piece band that features two fine backing singers and a keyboardist who's notable, not as the lone white guy in the ensemble, but as a brilliant multi-instrumentalist. With undertones of Prince that speak of admiration not imitation, Patterson is an exceptional vocalist who epitomises soul. He simultaneously provides a lesson in artistry for wannabes while raising the bar for his peers.

At a time when it's the norm for artists to race through a set with little regard for their audience, Patterson is an utterly unselfish performer who clearly sees his role as paying his dues to his loyal fan base. And we were certainly repaid in full. Extended renditions of Sure Boy, Don't Run So Fast and the Van Hunt After Hours collaboration The Best were particular peaks in an evening full of highs. This is a man at the top of his game. There's Rahsaan Patterson, then there's everyone else.

At the end of the night I was disappointed to be leaving the Jazz Café. Forced back out in to the real world, the problem of getting home and being at work in just a few hours brought me back down to earth with a thud.

But I, like the rest of the crowd knew that for a time we were in the presence of greatness, treated to a very special show from a consummate artist who's truly out of this world. I can't wait for Rahsaan to return. "Earth to Planet Patterson... Beam me up Scotty!"

Wines and Spirits is out now on Dome Records.

Review: Joe Guy is the man!

2007-11-01T19:25:00.000Z

OK, I admit it. I was apprehensive about seeing Joe Guy, the new Roy Williams play currently in residence at the Soho Theatre. "Yet another production exploring the historically difficult relationship between Africans and Caribbeans, yet another vehicle for exposing our ignorance in public," I thought. Blah de blah, blah! And it’s themed around football to boot. Not my idea of a great night out. How wrong could I be.

This is not a play about football. Nor is it a clichéd or gratuitous attempt to cash in on the neuroses of black Britons. Rather, Joe Guy is an intensely engaging story of a young man wanting desperately to fit in to a society at odds with, and occasionally hostile to his culture and skin colour.

Joe Boateng is a successful Premiership footballer who arrives in the UK as a twelve-year-old from Ghana. Displaying a talent for hard work and the beautiful game doesn’t insulate him from schoolyard taunts about the thickness of his accent or the darkness of his skin. So taking solace from the adage that success is the best revenge he sets his mind to making it big as a way of getting back at the bullies.

The epicentre of the play is crystallised in a stirring and impassioned monologue which sees Joe transform himself from a harassed, awkward-speaking teenager in to a streetwise, slang-talking man. This marks a turning point in Joe’s evolution to wild egocentric, which ultimately sees him charged with rape.

The beauty of Joe Guy is in the detail. The dialogue is sharp and witty, delivered by a group of wholly identifiable characters that could have been drawn from any school or street in London. A stellar ensemble performance from an energetic cast makes it almost churlish to single out individuals. However, Abdul Salis in the lead role of Joe Boateng is a revelation and Mo Sesay, whose turns as a dim-witted bodyguard, an aging footballer and Joe’s curmudgeonly father are all equally utterly convincing. This combined with the fast-paced direction and simple but effective set makes Joe Guy an action-packed hour and a half of intelligent and compelling self-examination.

My one criticism of an otherwise excellent production is that some scenes were overly long, with a tendency to labour an already emphasised point. But this is just being finicky.

Williams’ unique powers of observation are evident through the crisp clear way in which he translates an otherwise overplayed subject in to a captivating cultural narrative of our times. All in all, Williams manages to encapsulate the complexity of a vexed and taboo topic without either trivialising or romanticising the

2007 has been a relatively good year for black British theatre but this is by far the best production I’ve seen all year. You have until 24th November to judge for yourselves. You have been warned. 4½ / 5.

Joe Guy is on at the Soho Theatre until 24th November. Book online or for more info, visit http://www.tiatafahodzi.com/.

Power to the People

2006-09-05T20:12:00.000+01:00

An increasingly vocal number of Labour MPs believe things can only get better if Tony Blair turns his back on Number 10 once and for all. But for whom?

It's typical of the arrogance of politicians to assume they can parashoot a leader in to power without a care for the wants of the electorate. The last time I looked we lived in a democracy and, hate it or love it, only last year the British public voted for Labour under Tony Blair. If Gordon Brown wants to be Prime Minister let him convince the public of his worthiness at the polls not seize power by default in a media-orchestrated coup.

Less than ten years ago, the Labour Party went to great lengths to proclaim Tony Blair the Political Messiah, the saviour of Britain. And from their collective standpoint, what could possibly have gone so wrong? Did they not cooperatively support the government on tuition fess, benefit cuts and Iraq regardless of their own or their constituent's opposition?

MPs clearly have their eyes fixed on next year's local elections. But can they honestly claim to be representing the views of voters or are they simply flexing their political muscle to teach Tony a lesson? After all, in a few short months Tony will be on a permanent holiday in the Caribbean while feverish Labour MPs will be left out in the cold, on the doorsteps dealing with the disgruntlement that's left behind.

Irrespectively, democracy is like a marriage into which both parties willingly enter. Unless he, Tony or we, the people decide to terminate the union we're stuck together for better or worse, at least for a period of four years. The Party is simply the third person in the marriage.

New Labour is showing itself to be no respecter of history. Didn’t the premature ousting of Margaret Thatcher ultimately lead to the long political exile of the Conservative Party? But, unlike the frenetic civil activity that precipitated Mrs Thatcher’s downfall there’s no sense of urgency in the country to remove Tony Blair from office. In terms of foreign policy, home affairs or any other contentious area of strategy would anything really change if Gordon Brown, John Reid or some other Anointed One came in to power tomorrow? I think not.

Presently the only thing the Labour Party is achieving is what millions of pounds and numerous spin doctors failed to - making the Conservative Party look good. And while our choices are limited to the Tony Blair or Tony Blair by any other name it's sadly a case of better the devil you know. But that's for the people to decide. SA.

Kanya King, Queen of the MOBOs

2006-09-01T21:44:00.000+01:00

It’s 7pm on a Friday night and while most of us are winding down for the weekend Kanya King, the dynamic founder of the Music Of Black Origin (MOBO) Awards has hours of work ahead of her. But hers is no average nine-to-five. In the weeks running up to the prestigious annual affair, the half-Irish, half-Ghanaian media mogul is juggling calls from the press, the public, artist liaison and show sponsors all at the same limited time. Yet after eleven years of organising the hottest event on the British music calendar King still has a palpable passion for her job.

King is a warm and personable character who is graceful under obvious pressure. As a businesswoman and role model she takes her responsibilities seriously and speaks freely about her steady rise up the corporate ladder. “We’re always looking for new ways to innovate and new categories to incorporate,” King says, in response to a question about the African Music award that’s running for the second year. “The African music category came at the right time. It was a big year for Africa in 2005 and African music is getting bigger every year so we have to respond to the mood of the market. Also, the MOBOs being the music of black origin started in Africa so it’s only right to have an African category.”

2005 was a landmark year for African music. MTV launched its regional satellite MTV Base Africa at the beginning of the year and later introduced the Best African Music Act award at the MTV Europe VMAs. This year’s contenders for the Best African Act MOBO award, which was also introduced in to the MOBO portfolio in 2005 include Nigerian artist Tony Tetuila and Ghanaian raglife star Batman. Asked whether she has a favourite in the fiercely contested category King shies away from any cultural nepotism, laughs and says diplomatically, “I couldn’t possibly say.” SA.

(© This is an edited extract from the forthcoming issue of What's On Ghana magazine, on sale mid-September 2006)

Africa Plays On... And why you should be listening

2006-08-31T10:53:00.000+01:00

Africa Plays On… was originally released to commemorate Africa’s participation in the 2006 World Cup but the songs on this disc will far outlive the Summer of ‘06. The album’s standout cuts are the opener Please Don’t Stop, a sublime collaboration between US R&B singer John Legend and Cameroonian bassist Richard Bona and the brilliantly epic 2000 Blacks Got To Be Free by Roy Ayers and Fela Kuti. Wahala Project’s Wahala, a groovy slice of Afro-funk also rates an honourable mention. The ubiquitous Akon makes an understated appearance on Amadou and Mariam’s Coulibaly while reggae fans can choose between Alpha Blondy’s rootsy Cocody Rock or Waldemar Bastos’ dancehall-tinged Pitanga Madurinha II. Man of the Moment K’naan shines on Ba Sissoko’s Silani and Osibisa show they haven’t lost any of their old sparkle on Watusi.

Africa Plays On… is an excellent introduction to the eclectic sounds and talents of a diverse continent. For neophytes it serves as a delectable taster of what Africa has to offer and perfectly enunciates how African music could compete in the international mainstream. Don’t worry if you don’t understand any of the many languages on this disc. The beauty of this compilation is that the truly universal rhythms transcend linguistic boundaries, taking the listener on a compelling journey through a musical soundscape.
A true aural delight! SA.

Shoot The Messenger: The Morning after the Night Before

2006-08-31T09:58:00.000+01:00

I felt compelled against my better judgement to stay up last night and watch Shoot The Messenger (BBC2, 9pm, Wed, 30/08/06), having been told by many friends that this was definitely watercooler TV. It’s not good to go to bed with an angry mind and I knew that like Channel 4’s The Great British Black Invasion this had the potential to rile me. And indeed it did.

Shoot The Messenger was train crash TV, an awkward juxtaposition of every stereotype that currently exists about black boys and men. Every character was a conflicted tragedy and every tragic character was black. In the first thirty minutes it became clear that the sole objective of the film was simply to see how many stereotypes can be easily crammed in to 90 minutes. And there were enough of them to go round:

The uneducated black boy
The undisciplined black boy
Black self-loathing
Black-on-black crime
The black man in prison
The black man in a mental health institution
The homeless black man
The tormented black man

The storyline was inconsistent and weak and based on a series of unconnected and flimsy premises. The relationships betweens the main characters were undeveloped and unbelievable. Why would someone like Heather or indeed any sane intelligent black woman go out with someone like Joe, who openly declares that he hates black people? Why wasn’t she shocked when she heard his declaration? Why would Joe himself want to go out with a black woman? What well-to- do black parent would see their child out on the streets, especially parents like Joe’s?

From beginning to end Shoot The Messenger careered from one inexplicable extreme to the next and was littered with gaping holes that left many unanswered questions:

Why did Germal, the teenage tearaway, go mad? While Joe’s descent into mental illness was understandable, if not questionable, Germal’s stay in a mental health institution was simply a gratuitous twist in an already hackneyed plot that saw another black male character end up in prison for black-on-black murder. Are we forced to assume that insanity or incarceration or both are an inevitable consequence of being black?

Where were Germal’s parents? Though his mother was twice alluded to again the viewer is left to assume that he is yet another fatherless product of a single mother and a victim of fate.

Why did the only ‘normal’ character, Joe’s girlfriend Heather have to have issues? And a weave? This isn’t the ‘60’s. Not every black hairstyle is a political statement. But of course there had to be a deep-rooted reason why she preferred human hair out of a bag to the natural hair on her head. And then the came the sob story … “When I was younger I was lined up with my sisters and put to the back of the line because I was dark and ugly.”

Just when you thought Shoot The Messenger was about to redeem itself, when the lead character Joe implored his girlfriend Heather to, “Sort out the mess on your head and I’ll sort out the mess in mine” you were left disappointed when the film once again descended in to a hyper-critical introspective muddle. While the film’s opening line has been much maligned - “Everything bad that has ever happened to me has involved a black person” – by far the most shocking and damaging dialogue came when Joe concluded that perhaps the reason why black people are obsessed with slavery is because “we were actually good at it. We were productive then.” In an interview in this week’s New Nation newspaper the film’s writer Sharon Foster says black people can’t be afraid to tell the truth. What possible truth can be derived from that statement?

If there was anything good to be taken from this film it was that the directing was slick and the acting was brilliant but that was never in question.

In the end I realised that there was really nothing in this film to get angry about. Shoot The Messenger was supposed to be clever and ironic. Instead it was tacky and submissive. Last night I went to bed content in the knowledge that thankfully I personally don’t know any of the characters portrayed in the film (and no, I don’t live in some backwater in the country). While some may question the truth of this statement I’d prefer instead to question the kind of society that has us believing that every black woman under 30 is an unemployed single mother with four children by four different fathers who will either end up in prison or in the mental health system. And it was then that I realised that I must take this film for what it was – an exaggerated work of fiction. SA.