Blackpresence

In 1991 Stephen Bourne and his adopted aunt, Esther Bruce (1912-94), collaborated on her autobiography Aunt Esthers Story. This is now recognised as one of the first books to document the life of a Black working-class Londoner. In 2007 Bourne assisted in the production of a short documentary, also called Aunt Esther's Story, with no money, ...

Call for submission open to poets, writers, journalists, bloggers and graphic artists from all backgrounds and origins. We invite you to write in solidarity for Haiti. You can send us poems, song lyrics, short stories, opinion pieces, drawings, paintings or photographs. The work must be about or inspired by Haiti, its people and its culture. The ...

Senegal, long held up as a great example of African democracy has it seems slipped into the mire of unreasonable corruption and despotism. What else could possibly explain the actions of President Abdoulaye Wade? Wade commissioned the building of the "African Renaissance", it was billed as Africa's Statue of Liberty, an artistic ...

Moira Stuart has accepted another job at the BBC, on The Chris Evans Breakfast Show on Radio 2. Stewart who was Britain's first African-Caribbean female newsreader became? the subject of huge controversy when she originally left the BBC in 2007, with many observers concluding the BBC was intent on getting rid of its middle-aged female newsreaders. Ms ...

by the Right Hon. The Lord David Alton of Liverpool November 19th marked the Centenary Anniversary of the Great Congo Demonstration when , one hundred year ago, the Archbishop of Canterbury and Christian leaders, along with many Peers and fifty Members of Parliament assembled at the Royal Albert Hall to protest against the abuses by ...

The late Mrs.Joy Gardner died on 28.7.93, after being gagged and restrained with a body belt at her home, whilst being served with a deportation order - leaving a 7 year old son. Police officers were charged with manslaughter, and later acquitted. She had come to visit her mother, Myrna Simpson, but overstayed her 6 month ...

This queen of Zazzua, a province of Nigeria now known as Zaria, was born around 1533 during the reign of Sarkin (king) Zazzau Nohir. She was probably his granddaughter. Zazzua was one of a number of Hausa city-states which dominated the trans-Saharan trade after the collapse of the Songhai empire to the west. Zaria's wealth ...

Dame Kelly Holmes, DBE MBE (born 19 April 1970) is a retired British middle distance athlete. She specialised in the 800 metres and 1500 metres events and won a gold medal for both distances at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. She set British records in numerous events and still holds the records over the ...

Claudia Jones founded the first major black post- war newspaper -The West Indian Gazette; and also helped launch the Notting Hill Carnival.? Claudia Jones was born in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad in 1915 Cladia moved with her family to Harlem. She had a short education as she was plagued by lung and heart problems, which would persist for ...

Sarah Forbes was a Yoruba girl captured by the King of Dahomey in 1848 during a war in which her parents were killed. She was given as a present to Commander Forbes when he was visited Dahomey as an emissary of the British Government in 1850, and she subsequently took Forbes' name as well as ...