A reflective week

My week started off pretty routine until I received a phonecall on Wednesday evening informing me that Daniel De Gale had passed away. Now I'm sure many are familiar with Daniel's story, but in case you aren't, see below for an overview (sourced from Janice at Mad News.)

Daniel was diagnosed with Leukaemia in 1993 at the age of six and was put on a 2 year course of chemotherapy which he completed in March 1995. But after being in remission for just 9 months, he relapsed in December 1995, when a routine blood test revealed leukaemia cells again. With no assurance that a second course of chemotherapy would be successful his mother, Beverley De Gale, sought a bone marrow transplant for Daniel.

Daniel’s chances of finding a match within the UK were as low as 1 in 250,000 as there were only 550 African, African Caribbean, and people of mixed parentage on the UK register. Beverley and her partner, Orin Lewis, set up the African-Caribbean Leukaemia Trust to raise awareness, and to support and assist Black and Mixed Parentage people suffering with Leukaemia and all other blood related cancers. The charity also became involved with recruiting potential donors from many influential organisations such as the Fire Brigade, the Black Police Association, colleges and universities.

In 1999, after six years of treatment, a matching donor was found (Doreene Carney from Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A), making Daniel the first black person in the UK to receive a bone marrow transplant from an unrelated donor.

Daniel died from an illness unrelated to cancer.

Now I've never met Daniel but his untimely demise rocked me to the core. The De Gale family through their African Caribbean Leukaemia trust  have worked tirelessly to increase the number of bone marrow donors as well raise the awareness of the disease to the masses. Daniel was our success story. He was a handsome, articulate and well mannered young man who had his whole future ahead of him. I know it's sounds childish of me, but his death just doesn't seem fair. Not when so many of his peers are walking around aimlessly, recklessly throwing away their lives and taking those of others, as if life were a pair of tatty old shoes that can easily be replaced. It can't. Daniel's death reminds us once again that it's a temporary gift that we will all have to return at some point. I never figured I'd ever have the need to quote Rihanna, but in the words of the Bajan beauty "So Live your Life".

R.I.P Daniel 

NOTE: The work of the ACLT still continues, so if you haven't registered to become a bone marrow donor please visit www.aclt.org for further information on how to do so. That would be the greatest gift you could give Daniel and the De Gale family right now. 

Oxford Companion to Black British History out on paperback

In case you hadn't realised - it's Black History Month this month. In the past I seldom get round to checking the plethora of events taking place but will try and make an effort this year (for an official guide to what's happening across the country visit www.blackhistorymonthuk.co.uk). I came across The Oxford Companion to Black British History last year,  a fantastic reference book which details black British history from Victorian times to present day. It's now been released as a paperback and can be purchased from www.amazon.co.uk 

The Oxford Companion to Black British History, Edited by David Dabydeen, John Gilmore and Cecily Jones.

Adulthood released on DVD

Noel Clarke's Adulthood will be released on DVD on October the 13th. The gritty street drama is the sequel to Kidulthood and picks up with the main protagonist, Sam, being released from prison and  trying to redeem his actions of the past. I never did get round to seeing Kidulthood, but I managed to see Adulthood a couple of weeks ago and found it surprisingly compelling. Yes, it indeed panders to all the negative stereotypes of black, inner city youth, but if you can remove yourself from that for a moment and look at it in isolation, as a film it has all the right elements  - a well written script, drama & suspense, witty dialogue and convincing performances. What we need now is a more diverse offering of the black British experience on screen, following a succession of these so-called 'urban street dramas'.

But anyhoo, to celebrate the release of the DVD Noel Clarke and the Adulthood cast will meet fans and sign copies of the DVD at HMV, 150 Oxford Street, London on Monday 13 October at 6.00pm. The evening will be hosted by KISS FM's DJ Manny Norte and feature performances from Adam Deacon, Femi Oyeniran and MOBO Award nominee Bashy.

 

Who will be crowned the black beauty of Britain?

Miss Black Britain is the brainchild of Aneka Johnson, a one woman powerhouse who wanted to provide a platform for black beauty hopefuls to gain much needed exposure in the fashion and beauty industry. The annual beauty competition is in its third year and in its short existence has garnered much mainstream press, helping to launch the modelling careers of Rachel Williams (winner of 2006) and Hannah Osunsina (winner of 2007) who is pictured above.  This year the young hopefuls will sashay their little hearts out at the Leicester Square Theatre on Saturday 22nd November. Heading the proceedings will be Rickie & Melvin from MTV and KISS FM. Expect special celebrity guest performances, guest judges and a whole lot of fun shenanigans. For further info and to take a peek at this year's contestants visit www.missblackbritain.co.uk 

Prince reminisces on London in '21 Nights' book

I know he's not everybody's cup of tea, but anyone who knows me knows that I loves me some Prince. The media shy singer has just released a coffee table book comprising of snaps taken during his record-breaking 21 nights tenure at the 02 Arena. Although I was hoping to see some real candid, behind the scenes snaps of him slouching around in his jeans, or doing something mundane like sitting on a couch flicking through TV channels, alas it certainly isn't that type of party. Instead we are treated to some really nice, but pretty safe, stylised shots of the Purple One in his hotel and around the streets of London. The photos were shot by renowned photographer, Randee St. Nicholas. 

21 Nights (Atria Books), by Randee St. Nicholas available at www.amazon.co.uk 

Afro Saxons - new documenary about black hair competions

As most black women can testify - black hairdressing is serious business. A new documentary entitled 'Afro Saxons' lifts the lid on Afro-Caribbean hair competions in the UK. Sounds prety cool. See synopsis below:

Mark Currie and Rachel Wang, the young principals of London based Chocolate Films, have produced and directed a sharp and funny observational documentary that follows four hair salons as they prepare for the biggest Afro-hair competition in the UK. This exceptional and insightful film will be released in selected London cinemas in October.
 
The film features Angela, a braid stylist to the stars; Wayne and Cyndia, who are the leading junior stylists at the UK's biggest chain of Afro hair salons; George and Apple, a Thai husband and wife team obsessed with Afro hair; and Michael, Birmingham's leading Afro stylist who is out to beat the all-powerful London salons. Afro Saxons follows all of these stylists as they enter the Black Beauty and Hair awards - the most competitive Afro hair competition in the UK.
 
“Afro Saxons is a story set within the black British community which is not about guns, drugs, gangs or any of the regular filmic clichés”, comment co-directors Mark Currie and Rachel Wang. “As filmmakers we are passionate about portraying a realistic vision of contemporary black British culture. The one place where all sectors of the black British community converge is in the Afro hair salon. We find the creativity and diversity of Afro hair-styles to be visually arresting and have shot a film that showcases the work, and pay respect to the effort and skill of the artists that create it.”
 
Afro Saxons, a warm, inspirational and touching film that delves into the professional and home lives of the stylists while they express them selves with mind-blowing gravity-defying hair designs. It will be showing at Rich Mix from Friday 17 – Thursday 23 October. For more information and to book tickets, call the Rich Mix Box Office on 020 7613 7498 or visit www.chocolatefilms.com 
 
Update: Just had word that the trailer is now up for Afro Saxons. Visit www.afro-saxons.com to view or see below for a slightly lower res version.

Who has the X-Factor this year?

Above: Rachel Hylton

Last year I swore off X-Factor after bearing witness to the diabolical brother and sister group that massacred George Michael’s ‘Wake me up Before You Go Go.’ Thankfully I switched over to watch Strictly just in time to see Alesha emerge as the Queen of the Ballroom. So with great reluctance I decided to give the Vex Factor another go this year (well, what else is there to watch on a Saturday night?) and so far have been pretty impressed by the pool of talent. Not surprisingly the two standout singers for me are Rachel Hlyton and Alexandra Burke.

Rachel, God bless her, has lead a colourful life to put it mildly. The mother of 5 kids at the age of 26, her deterioration into crack addiction resulted in 3 of her children being placed into foster care. But you know what? It takes a brave woman to come on national TV and speak so freely about her personal demons, so huge kudos for that. She could easily have chosen to sit on her arse lamenting what she's been through in life, but she’s put that all behind her now to focus on her ambitions of becoming a professional singer. Her actions will hopefully demonstrate to her kids that where you start in life does not necessarily indicate where you’ll end up. But hey, I digress. Back to the matter at hand - her voice. At first I wasn’t too keen to be honest as I thought her tone was too coarse and too unrefined. But after seeing her emotive performance on Saturday’s boot camp I think with a bit of tweaking and learning how to control those powerful pipes, we should hopefully see stronger performances in weeks to come (that’s assuming that she makes it through to the final stages.) I do worry for her though. She seems awfully fragile, and as you can see on the clip, that manifests itself into aggression and defensiveness. How will she handle being in the bottom 2? How will she fare against Simon’s criticism (unfortunately she’s not his mentee and we all know Simon’s game plan – tear down the competition no matter how good they are)? Will the British public embrace her? I soooo fear not. I’m scared that middle England will take one look at Rachel and have all their worst nightmares confirmed about what a young black woman from the inner city is like – an angry, agressive, single mother who feeds off state benefits. I just can’t see them endearing to her despite the redemption song. 

Below: Alexandra Burke

Now Alexandra is a totally different kettle of fish. Whereas Rachel is raw, candid and cocky even. Alexandra seems quite shy, reserved and not entirely confident of her talent. From what I know she’s the daughter of a professional singer so music is obviously in her blood. In my opinion she has the most amazing sweet, songbird singing voice I’ve heard in a long while, and she’s still only a tender 19 years young. When Louis failed to pick her the first time she auditioned three years ago I lost all manner of respect for that guy (now you know why I call it the Vex Factor). It’s as if unless you are a 5 piece boy band or a camp soul diva type singer, he just doesn’t get it. But never mind, like my folks always remind me – nothing comes before it’s time. Now she’s back and her voice has definitely matured within those couple of years. My money is definitely on Alex, but its early days yet. Let’s see how it all shapes up this Saturday.