Month: January 2014

ShakaRa Speaks On It: Black Deaths in Custody & the Criminal’s Injustice System

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For the British Blacklist 15th Jan 2014: http://www.thebritishblacklist.com/shakara-speaks-it-black-deaths-custody-criminals-injustice-system/ …………………… Mark Duggan, David “Smiley Culture” Emmanuel, Kingsley Burrell, Demetre Fraser and Jacob Michael are the names of 5 Black men who met the end of their lives at the hands of British police in 2011 alone. They are but 5 names on a long list of hundreds of …

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ASKALA SELASSIE: The Rising Princess of Roots Reggae

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For The British Blacklist 10th june 2013: http://www.thebritishblacklist.com/askala-selassie-rising-princess-roots-reggae-shakarabks/ People of Afrikan descent in the UK have a long history of home grown Reggae music. Regardless of mainstream notoriety, Reggae is strongly embedded in the expression of all Black Music art forms developed on these shores and in every era, there are those inspired to remain true …

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Does ‘Black Pride’ Instil “Victimhood” in Black Children?

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Written Aug 2013 ———————————— In a recent article for the ‘Readers Digest’ entitled “Black Communities? There’s No Such Thing”, leading Black academic & education consultant, Tony Sewell has taken some pretty comprehensive shots at “Black Pride”: “Minority” should be the badge that people are trying to rip off. Instead, in the case of certain musicians, authors …

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ShakaRa Speaks On It: Choice FM vs Capital Xtra & the Battle for the Soul of Black Radio

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For The British Blacklist 26th October 2013:  http://www.thebritishblacklist.com/shakara-speaks-choice-fm-capital-xtra-battle-black-radios-soul/ —————————- I have no desire to insult or disrespect any DJ or presenter who has decided to join or remain at the station formerly known as Choice fm. I have even less desire to simply complain about the fact that the Capital take over of Choice is …

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ShakaRa Speaks On It: The Black British Classical Music Legacy

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For http://www.thebritishblacklist.com 17th Aug 2013:  http://www.thebritishblacklist.com/black-british-classical-music-legacy-tafafdzwa-shakara-mbandaka/ While many cultural historians consider Jazz as “the Black Classical” music, the many contributions of Afrikan-Caribbean composers & musicians to the genre popularly known as western Classical, have often been overlooked. The reasons for this vary. Classical music largely developed in an upper middle class European context that traditionally disenfranchised the decedents of Afrikans …

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ShakaRa Speaks On It: The History of Notting Hill Carnival

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 For http://www.thebritishblacklist.com 26th Aug 2013:  http://www.thebritishblacklist.com/shakara-speaks-history-notting-hill-carnival/ The bank holiday weekend festivities are always well anticipated as people from around the world prepare to “touch de road” for Europe’s largest street festival, Notting Hill Carnival. The urge to jump and whine is exceedingly hard to resist and while festivities are well within the spirit of the occasion, it is also …

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