Dear Family and Friends,

I am pleased to inform you that we shall be organizing THE BLACK HISTORY MONTH CELEBRATIONS AT THE UK HOUSE OF PARLIAMENT FOR THE 7TH YEAR IN A ROW on FRIDAY THE 25TH OF OCTOBER 2019 AT 1PM ON THE DOT –

OUR KEY SPEAKERS AND PERFORMING ARTISTS HAVE NOW BEEN CONFIRMED

SHOW YOUR SUPPORT TODAY 

MORE COPIES OF OUR NEW BOOKLET ON THE JOURNEY OF ORGANIZING BLACK HISTORY MONTH CELEBRATIONS AT THE UK HOUSE OF PARLIAMENT FOR 6 YEARS IN A ROW IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE MP SHARMA  ARE NOW AVAILABLE FOR JUST 3 POUNDS PLUS FREE DELIVERY IN THE UK.
GET A COPY FOR YOURSELF OR FOR A FRIEND TODAY (FOR JUST 3 POUNDS) AS A WAY OF SUPPORTING OUR JOURNEY PF PRGANIZING THIS ANNUAL INITIATIVE 

DONATIONS CAN BE MADE VIA PAYPAL TO afripoet@hotmail.com

Kashif Jones-Laguda has been around for over three solid decades in the entertainment industry. His dexterity with the turntable has earned him endearing names such as DJ KASHIF DA FLASH and the FAMOUS TURNTABLIST. His versatility in the business of music mixing has won him numerous accolades including the ‘Best Deejay Award’ at the Fame Music Awards (FMA ’95) in Nigeria, ‘National Deejay Championship (NDJC ’95) and MMV Deejay Championship, Nigeria. He also won the ‘Best Deejay’ in the UK (NYAA 2009) and ‘BEFFTA ENTERTAIMENT ICON 2016’ (UK)

Kashif has managed to turn his hobby into a thriving enterprise and the industry in which he operates clearly acknowledges his immense contribution to its growth.

He is the founder of the NIGERIAN CARNIVAL, UK – the most popular outdoor event amongst Nigerians and Africans living in the UK and the organiser of the OLD SCHOOL NATION Experience in London, Scotland, Leicester and Republic Of Ireland ‘an Every Other Month’ old school event, organised eight times in a year. He’s also co-convener of an organisation campaigning against gun and knife crime ‘LONDON AGAINST GUN & KNIFE.

For his contribution towards humanity, he has been awarded with  ‘OUTSTANDING MALE EVENT CO-ORDINATOR OF THE YEAR AWARD 2011’ by YHA UK. He also has in his kitty ‘DSRA’ ‘OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO AFRICAN ENTERTAINMENT IN THE UK 2018’, BEFTTA ‘ENTERTAINMENT ICON AWARDS 2016’, ‘ARTS AND CULTURE CHAMPION AWARD 2012’ by Life Changers awards UK and also ‘COMMITMENT TO YOUNG PEOPLE THROUGH CORPORATE BRIDGE BUILDING 2010’ by Britafrique UK.

For a guaranteed experience of bliss, book the Famous Turntablist for you next event. Call him on: 07495751615 or email: famousturntablist@yahoo.co.uk

DR Karen King-Aribisala invites you to the launching of her book: OUR WIFE AND OTHER STORIES.

This great event takes places at The Afe Babalola Hall, The University of Lagos on Wednesday the 24^th of July at 10.am on the dot. Do not miss it

You are all very welcome!!

ABOUT DR KAREN ARIBISALA

Professor Karen King-Aribisala was educated in Guyana, Barbados, England, Nigeria, Wales and Italy. She is a professor of English in the Department of English, University of Lagos. She is a writer of fiction and has published several short stories and poems in journals such as Wasafiri, Presence Africaine, Moving Worlds and The Griot; her work has been anthologized.

She is the recipient of several local and international awards, grants fellowships and Artists Residencies, among them a James Mitchener Fellowship and Scholarship; British Council Awards; Ford Foundation Grant; Residencies at The MacDowell Colony, USA; The Camargo Foundation, France; The Djerassi Foundation, USA; Yaddo, USA; she represented Nigeria at ROMAPOESIA, in Italy as a poet; and in India at a Women’s Writing Seminar.

She is the author of novels, among them The Hangman’s Game and Kicking Tongues; short story collections: Our Wife and Other Stories; and poems. She is the winner of the  Commonwealth Prize for Literature: Best First Book (African Region 1990/91); winner of the Commonwealth Prize for Literature: Best Book(African Region 2008); long listed for the IMPAC Literary Dublin Prize and shortlisted for the Guyana Prize for Literature.

KENYA IIN THE  PARK TAKES PLACE THIS WEEK IN LONDON

GET YOUR TICKETS TODAY , BY VISITING

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/kenya-and-friends-in-the-park-tickets-53932228748?utm-medium=discovery&utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-source=wa&utm-term=listing

This will be the 5th annual year of Kenya in the Park (Kenya and Friends in the Park) is an event bringing together Kenyans in the UK and those who love Kenya together to enjoy a day of activities, music, food and keynote speakers. Come celebrate with us as we help us it give it character and style.

Date And Time

Sat, 27 Jul 2019, 11:00 –

Sun, 28 Jul 2019, 22:00 BST      Location  Plaistow Park, London

ALSO WATCH OUT FOR MY STAND, AS I WILL ALSO  BE EXHIBITING A WIDE RANGE OF PRODUCTS ON SATURDAY THE 27^TH OF JULY (ALL DAY) , SO DO DROP BY AND SAY HELLO

Hi, I’m Yemi Akinsiwaju. Over many years, I have shared extensively with thousands of people on the subject of personal development, effective management and leadership and have come to be known as the Leadership Catalyst.

I am the Director of Operations for New Wine International, UK and founder of DaySpring Consulting UK, a consultancy dedicated to enhancing the leadership capacity of individuals and organizations.

I sit on the Board of Directors of the International Third World Leaders Association (ITWLA), an organisation devoted to training and developing leaders and aspiring leaders in over forty nations.

As an international speaker, business consultant and author, my focus is on the crucial issues of leadership, personal transformation, organisational effectiveness, social and spiritual development.

It is my privilege to have written hundreds of articles that have helped many thousands to discover, develop and deliver their leadership uniqueness in their own arenas of influence.

I am the author of three highly acclaimed books:

• The Leadership Jigsaw: Transforming Mystery into Mastery
• Scorecard: Achieving Success and Balance in a Turbulent World.
• Thrive: Keys to Living a Life of Purpose and Fulfillment

I have had the privilege of addressing audiences from over 50 nations as a conference speaker, seminar facilitator, mentor, trainer, coach and in television and radio appearances.

Sundiata (Sunjata) Keita was a West African political leader who would become the founder and first ruler of the Mali Empire in medieval West Africa. He founded the empire circa 1235 CE and ruled until his death in circa 1255 CE. The Mali empire was prosperous under his rule. Sundiata was also the great uncle of the most famous of the rulers of Mali, Mansa Musa, whose well-documented and lavish pilgrimage to Mecca in Arabia made Mali the most famous African empire in the world a that time. Although Sundiata Keita is a historical figure, much of what is known about his life and reign has been worked out by historians studying the near-legendary accounts described in the Epic of Sundiata. These accounts give modern historians a fairly complete idea of Sundiata Keita’s life, but with such accounts nothing is certain.

According to legend, Sundiata Keita was born the son of Chief Nare Maghan, of the Kangaba people on the upper Niger River around the year 1210. He was disabled as a boy, but it is said that he had incredible willpower and wanted to walk like the other boys in his father’s chiefdom.  Through his sheer will, he was one day able to walk but was later driven out of his home when Soumaoro (Sumaguru) Kante killed his father and too control of the Kangaba people. After living in exile Sundiata at the age of 25, amassed an army through alliances with nearby Mandinka people and faced Soumaoro in the battle of Kirina in 1235. Legend has it that Sundiata Keita defeated Soumaoro Kante in the battle because he was a more powerful magician than Soumaoro. Historians now suggest, however, that Sundiata’s superior military strategy played the decisive role in his victory.

After winning the battle of Kirina in 1235, Sundiata quickly founded the empire of Mali that same year.  Initially the empire was set up as a sort of federation, with Sundiata ruling from his capital, Niani, but allowing trusted warlords and chieftains to rule individual provinces with relative freedom under him. This system proved successful during his reign, ushering in fir the first time political stability through much of the interior of West Africa. Part of Sundiata’s success came from being a strong military leader but also in having other strong generals under his command such as Tiramakhan Traore.  Subsequent rulers of Mali, however, beginning with Mansa Musa, consolidated and centralized power at the capital.

The Mali Empire would become the largest and most prosperous state in West Africa with much of its wealth coming from the long-distance salt and gold trade with North Africa across the Sahara.  The Empire at the height of its power would stretch fifteen hundred miles from the Atlantic Ocean to the bend south of the Niger River. Thanks to the strong foundation set by Sundiata who died in 1255, the Mali Empire became one of the most influential states in the African history.

SOURCE-   BLACKPAST.ORG

Paulette Nardal was one of the founders of the Negritude intellectual movement. Nardal was born on October 12, 1896 in Saint-Pierre, Martinique, to Paul Nardal, the first black engineer in Public Works on the island, and Louise (Achille) Nardal. Paulette was the eldest of seven sisters.

After her studies in Martinique, Paulette arrived in Paris (France) in 1920 and became the first Black student from Martinique at La Sorbonne University. As a student, Paulette Nardal regularly attended Le Bal Nègre, a dancing and jazz club where black people gathered and which allowed her to remain connected to both the Black Diaspora and Africa.  At the end of her studies Paulette Nardal presented a dissertation on Harriet Beecher Stowe, who wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin. This work introduced her to the intellectual struggle of black people in the United States.

Paulette was later joined later in Paris by sisters Jane and Andrée. Jane (or Jeanne) Nardal, was the fourth among the seven sisters.  She studied Literature at La Sorbonne University, was interested in Negro Spiritual songs and contributed to its spread in Martinique. Andrée was also interested in music and was a pianist.

In 1929, the three Nardal sisters opened a Paris salon called Le Salon de Clamart. This salon was also a gathering place where black intellectuals met, networked, and reflected on black peoples’ condition which was dominated at that time by colonialism in Africa and racial discrimination in the United States and the West Indies.

Jean-Price Mars, René Maran, Marian Anderson, and Marcus Garvey were among the many black intellectuals and artists who visited the salon. The visitors also included Aimé Césaire, Léopold Sédar Senghor, and Léon Gontran Damas, who are considered the founders of the Negritude movement.  Historians now however credit Le Salon de Clamart as creating the intellectual environment that produced the major ideas related to the concept of Negritude and the subsequent Negritude movement. The Nardal sisters, for example, used the salon to create the intellectual review journal La revue du monde noir (The review of the Black world). Although the review lasted only one year, Paulette became known for their articles which explored the condition of black women throughout the diaspora.

Paulette was crippled in 1941 at the beginning of World War II when the ship she was traveling on from Martinique to France was attacked by a German warship. During the war, she actively participated in the French resistance to the German occupation.  She also created another salon as well as the feminist intellectual review La femme dans la cité (The woman in the city).

In the post-World War II period Paulette Nadal was nominated in 1946 as a delegate to the United Nations where she worked in the Division of Non-Self Governing Territories. She returned to Martinique in 1948 and in the 1950s and 1960s, she supported Dr. Martin Luther King in the campaign for civil rights in the United States.  Paulette Nadal, who never married, died in Fort-de-France, Martinique on February 16, 1985. She was 88.

SOURCE-  BLACKPAST.ORG

Calvin Coolidge, former United State president and lawyer once said that no person was ever honoured for what he received, rather honour has been the reward for what one gave out to the society. This, no doubt is a statement of fact and true reflection of hard work, consistency, commitment and dedication to service.

Aspiring music star and DJ john onyeanwusi popularly known as johnel was born on the 1st of may 2002 in Lagos,Nigeria. he started his primary education at mylod private school after which he proceeded to the prestigious Nigerian navy secondary school Abeokuta Ogun state,for his secondary school education, where he graduated in 2018.

The singer & songwriter started his music career at the tender age of 12 while creating music he has released hit tracks such as HOPR & coco which is presently bursting the Nigerian melodic air waves .You can follow him on the various social media platforms :Instagram @neljohnel SoundCloud : johnel ..twitter : @shizzyww.

His tracks ijo (dance) & London girl are due for release next week & next month respectively

This will be the 5th annual year of Kenya in the Park (Kenya and Friends in the Park) is an event bringing together Kenyans in the UK and those who love Kenya together to enjoy a day of activities, music, food and keynote speakers. Come celebrate with us as we help us it give it character and style.

Please book early to facilitate better crowd control and safety for all.

Date And Time

Sat, 27 Jul 2019, 11:00 –

Sun, 28 Jul 2019, 22:00 BST

Location

Plaistow Park

Plaistow Park, Greengate

London