Fownhope’s Heart of Oak Society traces its roots to the age of friendly societies, when communities provided their own safety net. Its anniversary celebrations reveal a tradition still very much alive, says MARK SEDDON
Latest editorial
Why Are Black Artists’ Achievements Downplayed?
Artist Antonietta Torsiello explains how she had to overcome racist and sexist attitudes to get her career off the ground
ANGUS REID explains the significance of Cuba’s egalitarian in letter and spirit Family Code and the pertinent lessons it holds for democracies anywhere in the world
Special report by PEOPLE’S WORLD
NICK WRIGHT considers how the isolation of Israel and a new film on the controversial Italian communist leader are creating new reference points for Italy’s left
CARLOS MARTINEZ says Cuba’s achievements in the face of a criminal blockade are startling, but the island’s future if the United States succeeds in crushing it looks bleak
AMNON BROWNFIELD STEIN reports that far-right MPs who mobbed the event organised by Hadash may have helped raise awareness of the brutality of the Israeli right
AS A black female artist running my own art and textile business, I have come a long way, but it hasn’t been easy by any means.
During my university studies I experienced a lot of structural and institutional racism in the way I was expected to conform to Eurocentric concepts about fashion, creativity and culture.
One of my course projects based on the Black Panthers was laughed at and dismissed by my tutor, and the topic for my final year dissertation was viewed as too black for discussion. While at university I was invited by activist and trade unionist Zita Holbourne to exhibit at a Left in Vision exhibition at University College London and this led me to start exhibiting my artwork at other local venues in London.
Similar stories
For generations black women have shaped Britain’s activism, arts and public life despite exclusion and discrimination. ZITA HOLBOURNE pays tribute to these political trailblazers and cultural icons, whose courage continues to inspire
KEVIN DONNELLY accepts the invitation to think speculatively in contemplation of representations of people of African descent in our cultural heritage
Artists should not be consigned to a life of precarious working – they deserve dignity and proper workers’ rights, argues ZITA HOLBOURNE
OLIVER SNELLING, a south London stonecarver and yeoman stonemason, relates how he is helping bring about a new festival next month