Campaign and Conscience:

WHAT IS THE BLACK BRITISH PRESS FOR?

Privately Black editors and journalists complain about the slavery of the racially divided media industry and society. Yet year after year they resist all reform efforts that would liberate them to pursue their historic purpose. We show you where the fault-lines are and the path to recovery 

Writing about race and the media a decade ago, I held up the weekly Black press as one of the major ethnic presses in Britain. Its militant and intellectual history is impressive.

Black editors “speak to Black people” out of a history of anti-slavery protest in the colonies and London. That’s what Ionie Benjamin says in her highly regarded examination of “The Black Press in Britain” from 1901 (Trentham Books).

 

Black press credentials are impressive. Dr Harold Moody’s newsletter/paper, The Keys, listed Black, radical, pan-africanist and freedom fighters among his writers and supporters in the 1930s; it included the West Indians, the left-wing C L R James and the socially-conscious cricketer Learie Constantine and the African liberationists Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah and  Kenya’s Jomo Kenyatta.

In the 1950s, Communist stalwart, the Trinidadian Claudia Jones, rallied Black activists, migrants, students and workers and artists and their white and Asian allies in a hardy band of comrades. They launched protests against the racist murder of Kelso Cochrane, the Stephen Lawrence of that era, and Jones went on to start the joyous multi-racial Notting Hill carnival that attracts over a million revellers and spectators every year.  

However, I have some misgivings now. Critics say the ownership of the main post-war UK titles, The Voice and New Nation, fall way short of the lofty aims of their predecessors.

Owners are conservative and distantly controlled, as is the case of the Voice, now owned by the Jamaican Gleaner once the mouthpiece of white planters. Or, editorial direction and ownership are lost in a conglomerate of competing ethnic titles such as the Ethnic Media Group, publishers of the Asian Eastern Eye as well as the New Nation.

It is also troubling that the Black press is seen as merely purveyors of Black victim-hood, suggests Lester Holloway, the new editor of the New Nation.  

Others add, there are too many pages of pouting, butt-shaking celebrities and never, with very few exceptions, a reasoned editorial piece written by a scholar or Black Public Intellectual.

Critics point to a number of crucial failings. Current marketing and advertising strategies need overhauling. Upgrading office environments and info-tech facilities are essential. Black newspaper managers must learn to use digital radio, television, cell phones and internet to attract Black consumers.

Business as usual is no longer an option. Contentment with the way things are and the lack of committed, independent Black owners are crippling barriers to innovative writing, reporting and leadership in the Black community.  

Furthermore, allegiances to government, London boroughs advertisers on whose largesse they survive handcuff editors, who might otherwise be visionaries in the historical mould. Official Police, nursing, children, schools and family, diabetes, arts council and city development agencies are the sole advertising sources and top-income earners.

Coupled with this lack of financial independence, and without a solid base in Black communities, the future looks bleak. Trying to keep current readers and win more at a cover price people can or are willing to pay is a constant challenge. 

Owners are unable to attract bright, young graduates of journalism schools. A social conscience is hard to feed on low salaries and poor working conditions. Furthermore, the brain drain of good Black writers and journalists to the mainstream press takes its toll.

Nevertheless, Black newspapers and magazines have their supporters. “Each identifies ideals and observes current trends. The debates about equal rights and Black identity take place on their pages,” says Benjamin.

Why? Because “The Black press are organs of resistance to the exclusion of Black people from power and their omission and stereotyping in the White media: says Benjamin. “They assert the equal of Black people…And they create and supply an identified market while also providing the training ground for Black journalists and entrepreneurs.’

After all, isn’t this what all the ethnic presses in Britain aim to do, be they Jewish, Italian, Irish, Muslim, Polish, or whatever?

Why not make up your own mind? Read a Black newspaper this week. High acheiving Black commuters from the leafy suburbs should grab one at a British Rail station. Here’s a rough guide to what you might read in the latest news and commentaries from The Voice printed editions.

Your views are welcome to: editor@thechronicle.demon.co.uk

 

 

The Voice, 2-8 June 2008

Cricket Opinion – “The greatest of cricketers in the history of the game emerged from Barbados. Sir Everton Weekes, Sir Frank Worrell, and Sir Clyde Walcott, some of the world’s greatest batsmen, lived within a half-mile radius of each in the heart of working class communities,” says Darcus Howe.

Say What? — “Black people are changing the world,” Letter of the Week.

Afro-Beauty – “Thousands of beauties and hunks turned out to be preened and pampered at Alexandra Palace for the 29^th annual show”,  reports Janelle Oswald

Religious media – Leading UK faith magazine, Keep the Faith, has published its first ever of Britain’s 10 most influential Black Christian women. The list includes top women in the YMCA, the Baptist Union of Great Britain, and Anglican minister Rev Rose Hudson-Wilkin, recently appointed Chaplain to the Queen

Clairvoyants – “Famous African Leading Healer, Professor Imam, works with powerful spirits to help you out on marriage, jobs, evil spirits, family ties, bring back loved ones, exam worries, etc. Fluent in English, Spanish, Arabic and French. Call for an appointment now”. Advertisement.

Sports Hero Africa Bound – The pending trip to Lagos of Champion League winner Rio Ferdinand will attract thousands fans to line the streets. The visit will launch youth seminars and a Street Soccer tournament to stress the importance of sports and education, reports Leon Mann.

Editorial comment – “We are backing the anti-knives campaign. Youngsters are killing youngsters and the epidemic has to stop”.

“The Voice supports the government campaign to reduce the number of knives on Britain’s streets but the buck doesn’t stop with them.

“Parents need to do their jobs. Know where your child is, know what they are doing and most importantly’ know if they if they are the type of person that would carry, for WHATEVER   reason.”

 

The Voice, 9 June – 15, 2008  

Media safeguards for children — A media watchdog group has blasted dancehall music, claiming that its explicit lyrics and sexually suggestive dance moves are sending wrong messages about relationships to children.

 From war to Windrush – The 60^th anniversary of the arrival of post-war Caribbeans on the  MV Empire Windrush in Britain in 1948 coincides with a tribute to West Indian men and women on the war front and the home front in the First and Second Wars. At the Imperial War Museum until 29 March 2009.

Bid for Black Magistrates — Forty graduates of a new scheme by Operation Black Vote a rights group,  have been appointed magistrates across the country.

Stop the youth killings – Dramatically in London, June recorded its sixteenth murdered teenager and first female stabbing victim. (Across the UK, 29 young people (under 25 years old) have lost their lives.)  Bishop Wayne Malcolm, founder of Christian Life City (CLC), plans to tackle gangs and knife and gun killings in the infamous “murder mile” in Clapton, east London. The question “What to do?” has baffled seasoned social workers. Black community worker, Ray Lewis, recently appoint deputy for youth to London’s new mayor says, “We are working to find solutions”.

Doors open – The Voice says: On the eve of the Obama Democratic presidential nomination, it’s useful to recall some Black firsts in Britain. Among them, Lord Bill Morris, the first Black leader of a British trade union (General Secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union, 1991; Bernie Grant, Dianne Abbott and Paul Boateng first Black MPs, 1987; Linda Dobbs QC, first Black person to  become a High Court judge, 2004; Baroness Patricia Scotland, first Black female Queen’s Counsel, 1991; and Baroness Valerie Amos, first Black woman appointed to the Cabinet.

 Dads and sons — “Are men from the UK Black community playing a role in the lives of their children?” Statistics reported on Father’s Day 2008 reveal they are not. The Voice reports on the dads of USA Black sports star who broke stereotypes.

Editorial comment – “Obama is already a winner…. There is still a long way to go – battles to fight – in Obama’s bid to become president of the United States.

“However, it is worth acknowledging that he has already won a very important for Black people.

“By standing out, Obama…Obama has sown the seeds for other Black boys and girls to aspire to follow in his footsteps.”

 

You can read my earliest articles on race and the media in http://www.chronicleworld.org. (Scroll to and select Archive 01, and scroll to 5.211   What Colour is the News? See also 6.104   How militant journalists fought to enrich press reporting and employment for blacks is revealed in “From little acorns” by Mike Jempson

Copyright © Thomas L Blair 2008. The Chronicleworld.org is being archived by the British Library as a record of contemporary life today.

 

Afro-Europe — Listen to rebel Black youth, scholars told

Something in my e-mail box caught my eye. International scholars were meeting in Paris to honour Aimé Césaire, the poet of Black Consciousness. 

There were high-brow topics like “Black Ontology”. But, after a quick perusal, none appeared to cover my politics – “Black French youth”.

It seems to me that academics must learn to adapt their ivory tower poetics to youth’s new Black Urbanism.   

This blog gives some pointers to how this can accomplished.

 By Thomas L Blair

It took rebellious Black youth in France to force attention to their jobs, housing and health needs. However, still simmering in their emerging Black consciousness, the cultural longings of France‟s African and Caribbean minorities have been largely neglected. Distinguished academics can redress this oversight when they meet in Paris to pay tribute to Aimé Césaire, the legendary poet activist of “negritude” or Black consciousness.

 

 Black poetics

Negritude was the driving force in Césaire‟s most widely acclaimed work, “Notebook of a Return to the Native Land” (1939). Rooted in his childhood Martinique and Paris experiences, Césaire urged Blacks to cast off the traumas of slavery, colonialism and bondage. Stand tall in unity. Refuse to give up your African and Antillean cultural heritage for dominant western cultural norms, said Césaire. Take on the robes of humanity, he thundered, and proudly affirm your place among the world‟s major cultures.  

 

Cultural longings 

Youth, his cultural inheritors, are under pressure today. Three big changes have sharpened their mood of defiance. Twenty-first century France is less welcoming to Blacks. Their numbers have swelled into the millions. Fears of immigration, inflamed in the popular press, prompted a public outbreak of xenophobia.”Go back to where you came from” is a common, menacing and unpardonable insult. The young Danny‟s, Julien’s, and Zobaly’s of urban suburbs (banlieues) say they are not compliant colonials. As one youth complained indignantly: “We are French citizens, by birth or status of their parents whether from Senegal and Mali, Congo Zaire or the French West Indies.

 

  

Black youth appreciate their “Frenchness”. Nevertheless, they also sense the power in Césaire‟s Black poetics. Many among them proclaim “We‟re Black and Proud” (“Nous sommes Noir et Fier”).

Youth confidently assert a new set of cultural aspirations from the barricades of their polyglot and poor districts. The influences are multi-cultural and transnational. The urgent, and political, Afro-beat of the Congo‟s soukous is strong. The prophetic chants of Senegal inspiring. And, the nostalgic scent of mango trees in a Guadeloupe afternoon are enchanting.

Match this with “slam”, a heady mix of French pop, rock „n‟ roll, hip-hop, rap and funk and a portion of Algerian raï. Then add the zest of pure youthful joy and re-mix in subtle and sophisticated ways.

With this richly seasoned recipe, young people say “We‟ll create our new Black Urbanism with our North African (Algerian and Moroccan), Antillean and working class white allies) in the mean streets of Paris and French cities”.

 

Why should scholars be concerned?  

Academics at the Paris meeting of June 6 and 7, must explore and expand their conference title: “France Noire – Black France: The Poetics and Politics of Blackness” and strengthen youth‟s resolve. Bearing the impeccable credentials of linguistics, arts, literature and social science, let them wrestle with the cultural issues of youth‟s advocacy. (The African American contingent should be no strangers to youth‟s yearnings for equal rights, artistic expression and Black pride).

 

Literary and history scholars must affirm youth‟s place in the making of 21st century French and francophone (French speaking) African and Caribbean culture. Abiola Irele, a Harvard professor, can chart new directions on the horizons of Black literature and intellectual history. Historian Prof Allison Blakeley of Boston University can explain what his studies on Black urban Europe mean to young people.

 

Invited government ministers have an important role, also. They should support youth‟s awakening sense of civic responsibility and political participation. This has national and foreign implications. Mme Christiane Taubira, Member of Parliament for French Guyana, can share pride she felt in 2001. Against all odds, Parliament passed her bill declaring slavery and the slave trade as crimes against humanity.

 

Professor Fred Constant, the Guyanese political analyst in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, can update Black youth about their kinfolk in the Overseas Departments of Martinique and Guadeloupe, the independent islands of Haiti and Dominica, and francophone Africa.

 

The crippling effects of political and popular prejudices on young people should be revealed by Peter Lozes, head of CRAN, the Association of Black Representative Councils, France‟s first umbrella organisation of Black advocacy groups.

 

 Action and ideas are needed now
Youth‟s cultural demands are not yet a full-blown storm but they are more than a squall of little significance. What should be done to equip them to face the uncertain future?Let the scholars invite youth‟s advocates to speak. Schedule a Youth Advocacy session. Offer them some tips on cultural advocacy. Bring the results back to the closing assembly. Video-cast the whole proceedings for worldwide Internet distribution.

 

 Major forces for cultural action

Celebrating youth‟s legacy from their ancestors is equally important as nourishing the modern trends that affect their lives. However, this takes time – and money.

Let the conference organisers and their sponsors, among them Harvard, Vanderbilt, Minnesota and Columbia universities and the Ford Foundation, commit to investing in an action plan.

 

They should generously fund heritage centres for education and research on Black life and history. These will attract local, as well as national and foreign visitors.

Cultural action like this requires direction by knowledgeable and experienced cultural guardians.

In this regard, the heirs of Black French scholarship, Mme Y C Diop, subject of a recent documentary film, and her colleague Wole Soyinka of the Community of African Culture, are particularly capable and deserving.

 

Their Paris offices at Éditions Présence Africaine, publishers of Césaire‟s most important works, are close to the Sorbonne. They are a storehouse of literature for informative seminars, exhibitions, talks and readings. Moreover, they are a rich vein of resources of significance to French speaking Africa, the Caribbean and world regions.

 

Powerful aids to youth‟s cultural and linguistic development are needed.

Let specialists and students in Caribbean culture and Francophone literature take on a new mantle. Youth need to know that Creole is a significant extension of French standard language. They also need to appreciate that the inadequacies of negritude as been explored the writers of the Creolite literary movement of the 1980s. Prominent among them are the Martinican‟s Patrick Chamoiseau, Jean Bernabé and Raphaël Confiant.

 

Youth can also benefit from fresh interpretations of the social and political influences on the writers of today. It is essential they appreciate how to use these treasures to enhance the rich fabric and lively colours of their modern urban styles.

 

The action potential

The Paris meeting can reignite scholarly efforts to construct a platform of ideas and action to address youth’s cultural longings. My own work, Pillars of Change, offers some clues. Let me explain.

 

Pillars of Change offers a trio of responses. Creating linkages of scholars, grassroots organisations and youth groups is a prime requirement. Confronting social and cultural ignorance with Afro-European Studies educational programmes is another. In addition, there must be collective action to change deprived terrestrial reality and mobilise the African Digital Diaspora in cyberspace. These three pillars provide a platform for launching Black achievement in European societies.

 

What better way to redress the neglect of youth‟s cultural longings and pay tribute to revered “Pa” Césaire, poet of negritude, scholar and political activist.

Who knows where the 1st great laureates of the new Black Urbanism will come from. I am convinced they will not come from a cadre of the cognoscenti. No. They will emerge as  the youth of the banlieues creatively distill their feelings. 

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Resources for action

 

Pillars of Change by Thomas L Blair.  “Provocative, intelligent and impassioned, Pillars of Change is a survival guide for Black scholars as alienated youth force the pace of urban change. Based on the Black experience in Afro-Europe, the analysis and solutions will be welcomed in all parts of the Black World.” London, 2007, pamphlet 40pp. Version français par Valerie Kanza

Présence d’esprits un film de Valérie Kanza “Au coeur du quartier latin à Paris, voyage dans une petite librairie où l‟esprit d‟Alioune Diop, premier éditeur noir, et de ses illustres compagnons de Présence Africaine inspire une nouvelle génération….” Paris, avril 2008, DVD ou DV CAM, Durée : 35 min, français

 

Notes on the author (copyright 2008) Thomas L Blair is a sociologist writing on creative renewal in Black Britain and Afro-Europe, see Chronicleworld web site http://www.chronicleworld.org; and the Chronicleworld’s Weblog http://chronicleworld.wordpress.com. He welcomes contributions to a resource list for Black scholarly web sites on Afro-European culture, history and action for social change.

 

Contact details are: Tel/fax 44+ (0)1992-581207; e-mail: tb@thechronicle.demon.co.uk