We are pleased to inform you that we have 6 Events as part of Our Black History Month Programme for next month

WATCH THIS SPACE AS THE FULL PROGRAMME WILL BE OUT VERY SOON.

We are also pleased to inform you that copies of our Black History at The UK House of Parliament booklet are still available to order.

The Booklet highlights My Journey of organizing The Black History Month Celebrations at The UK House of Parliament for many years.

GET YOUR COPY TODAY FOR 3 POUNDS. 50 PENCE VIA PAYPAL to afripoet@hotmail.com

T.T.F

http://www.tonyfernandez.co.uk

We are pleased to inform you that entries are now open for TONY TOKUNBO FERNANDEZ INTERNATIONAL ONLINE POETRY COMPETITION 2022

The aim of the competition is to encourage the art of writing poetry and promoting the work of people from different backgrounds living in different regions around the world

WHY NOT APPLY TODAY ? HERE IS WHAT TO DO

Send your poem entry and personal bio to afripoet@gmail.com with “TTF ” as the subject heading

The Closing date for the competition is Friday the 31st of December at 12 Noon.

Gold , Silver and Bronze Certificate Winners will be announced in the first week of January 2021.

For more info, SEND US AN EMAIL TO afripoet@gmail.com

THE AMAZING ALINA BARBU, SENIOR LECTURER BASED IN ROMANIA – COMING SOON ON THE TONY TOKUNBO FERNANDEZ SHOW

Alina Barbu is a graduate of the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, from the University of Bucharest, Romania, with a major in English and a minor in French. She has been working in higher education for more than 20 years. She is the author of 11 books with a focus on ESP (English for Special Purposes) and comparative literature. She is a Ph.D. holder in comparative poetry and her thesis was acclaimed by Romanian critics, being awarded a prize for literary debut in 2009. Ever since 2013, she has been teaching maritime English with Constanta Maritime University where she had the wonderful opportunity to teach a lot of 110 African students. This experience was extremely enriching for both teacher and students and the educational outcome was very fruitful. The exchanges of linguistic knowledge led to the improvement of students’ intellectual skills and cognitive strategies. 

Therapy has helped me to cope with the many changes in my life; from living in different countries to working in different sectors alongside experiences of loss and change. The more we know ourselves the better the choices we make. I know what its like to feel scared, lost and overwhelmed. I know what it is like to lose people you love. Sometimes we are faced with difficult choices but avoiding them doesn’t make things better, it often makes it worse.

Through counselling, I hope to make a positive impact on the lives of others. I am constantly learning and reflecting. Hopefully, we can work together and I can use all my skills to support you at this difficult time. Contact me to see if we can work together.

My Back Story

I became a counsellor in 2007 following a diploma in Integrative Psychosynthesis at Re.Vision – therapy for the soul. I have always had an interest in human behaviour. I began my career in financial audit in the City of London and soon realised how different I thought and felt to the people around me. This led me to study Behavioural Sciences (B.Sc.) in psychology and sociology at university.

I followed this with a postgraduate (M.A.) in Careers Guidance at Reading University. This gave me the chance to use my knowledge of the world of work and psychology to support and guide teenagers in making a good choice for their future careers. I loved the job and making a difference in the lives of young people but the nature of the work and the politics around it changed and I felt called to work more therapeutically. I have since trained as a Counsellor with Re.Vision in London and completed several courses on Mindfulness and Therapeutic Writing. These are my passions and I will continue to offer counselling, talks and workshops that support people to find their voice in a noisy world.

AND THE DRUMMERS CAME.

And the drummers came with their drums,

A long time ago they came, from distant lands.

And they arrived upon our shores

Their drums, with drumbeats strange, yet overpowering.

.Soon the drumbeats sounded far across our land

And we began to dance to new rhythms

,And the drummers became our new dance masters;

setting the pace for us to follow

As we danced in foreign ways –

waltzing away in borrowed steps

choreographed in distant lands

Our movements stripped of our culture, our tradition.

.Then, it was time for the drummers to go

And the drummers left

But their drumbeats still remain with us

Our culture, our tradition fighting for survival.

.© Bassey Itam AsuquoSeptember, 2021

THE CRY FOR SECESSION

My father’s roof is on fire!

And we cry & crave for secessionas water.

Tribalism is the gloom sitting on our face

So we can’t see unity as a saving grace

.Alas! Secession does not hold water,

Rather, oneness is our perfect panacea

.Adio will always buy Uche’s goods,

Uche will forever find a home in Adio’s land

And the duo will forever enjoy Musa’s beef.

So let unity rain & reign on this inferno

!©Oyèdókùn Ìbùkún Penawd

The Odudubariba1 of Africa Odudubariba is simply put, a spiritual warrior

The butterfly that swallowed what swallowed an elephant.

Here you see the symbol, butterfly is soft and yet extremely strong.

That’s who Charlyboy is, spiritual, sensitively soft and very strong

Catch him on Netflix original series king of boys:The Return of the King

Follow Charlyboy, Collect Sense.Instagram @AreaFada1@charlyboyareafadaFacebk@charlyboyareafada@emeka oputa.Twitter@areafada1

youtube.com/CharlesOputaCharlyBoy

Alina Barbu is a graduate of the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, from the University of Bucharest, Romania, with a major in English and a minor in French. She has been working in higher education for more than 20 years. She is the author of 11 books with a focus on ESP (English for Special Purposes) and comparative literature. She is a Ph.D. holder in comparative poetry and her thesis was acclaimed by Romanian critics, being awarded a prize for literary debut in 2009. Ever since 2013, she has been teaching maritime English with Constanta Maritime University where she had the wonderful opportunity to teach a lot of 110 African students. This experience was extremely enriching for both teacher and students and the educational outcome was very fruitful. The exchanges of linguistic knowledge led to the improvement of students’ intellectual skills and cognitive strategies. 

NO BREAKFAST FOR THE NICE

In a world . . .

Where “The new reality” has stolen the conscience of THE GOOD HEARTS,

And planted new seeds filled with cold secrets and all kinds of poison.

And if you listen carefully …

The righteous have started to loose their voice,

As we woke up one morning,

And all we could hear where the loud songs of a corrupt anthem.

In a world ..

where a warm gesture has been raped by the new eyes of the day,

For even the air feels different.

The language of greed unfolds – giving birth too many new souls

And all that matters – is a ride on the fast lane,

For these are different days – AND THERE IS NO BREAKFAST FOR THE NICE

*Crowing of an African Queen* 
On 25 July 2016, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution A/RES/70/293, proclaiming 2016-2025 as the Third Industrial Development Decade for Africa (IDDA III). 
In proclaiming this Decade, the international community is recognizing that people of African descent represent a distinct group whose human rights must be promoted and protected. Around 200 million people identifying themselves as being of African descent live in the Americas. Many millions more live in other parts of the world, outside of the African continent.
As proclaimed by the General Assembly, the theme for the International Decade is “People of African descent: recognition, justice and development.”
Saturday,  21/08/2021 at the Ambassador Bloomsbury Hotel, London saw the crowing of Ms Esther N. Osakwe being recognised as the MISS COMMONWEALTH AFRICA 2021/2022 at the MISS COMMONWEALTH INTERNATIONAL PAGEANT. 
Following Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II warm acknowledgement with appreciation of our introduction of the concept of Miss Commonwealth to her in July 2002, the Miss Commonwealth Pageant Organising Committee (MCPOC) had developed the 4-part ‘Miss Commonwealth Pageant 2003 programme.The Commonwealth International is a unique culture and charity beauty pageant where beauty is ageless and age is no barrier to participation because the organisation’s mission is delivered by real people of all ages as a life-long objective.We have an effective programme to building bridges, promoting community cohesion and working across religious and cultural divides. We also work to encourage these elements of the programme through the Miss Commonwealth Beauty Pageant readily obvious in the Style, objectives and activities.Working together by their respective national cultural charity queens and ambassadors, Commonwealth nations in Africa, Asia-Pacific, Euro-Atlantic and the Caribbean employ the Commonwealth International Cultural and Charity Evening TV-Special Showcase (CICCETSS) as a platform for the celebration of cultural diversity and promotion of the engagement of people from all cultural backgrounds in the pursuit of the common values of promoting the Quality of Life Improvement.
Queen Esther (35), who represented Nigeria in the finals had this to say ‘ Winning this title has brought many things into perspective for me, such as the importance of using your platform for good. I intend to focus on nation building, welfare and wellbeing reforms as well as being an advocate for the unheard voice of the  young ones. 
Queen Esther, is also a seasoned artist, author, Speaker & Well-being Consultant. 
She resides in England with her 3 children and pet rabbit. To get in touch please email her – lifeimprovedconsults@gmail.com
For more information kindly visit https://misscommonwealthpageant.org/about/
https://www.un.org/en/observances/decade-people-african-descent— 
Osakwe Nonyelum Esther (HRH)Educator and ConsultantMental Health, Well-being & Fitness Coach.   Tel: 01274 787072Mobile: 07597372302https://life-improvement-consults.business.site/