Oliver Luke Taylor

The following piece includes an extract from a more extended interview to be featured in an upcoming series by the multidisciplinary audio artist, creative producer, and broadcaster Weyland McKenzie Witter in 2022. In 1969 on December 3, at the age of 21, Fred Hampton was a radical organizer, leader, and chairman of the Black Panther Party (BPP) in Illinois and deputy chairman of the national BPP. On December 4, Fred was assassinated along with BPP leader Mark Clark, double-tapped in the dome b

In different Afrikan spiritual beliefs, the end and death are not actual states but rather cyclic successions of events. After death, there is always rebirth. After the end, a new beginning. The past few years have felt wildly apocalyptic: from the 2006 Pangandaran earthquake and tsunami to the more recent pandemic and the age-old discourse on White supremacist capitalist-induced climate change. There’s a mixed sense of angst, hopelessness, urgency, and injustice. As Oliver wrote in an article

A little more than a year after an aesthetically pleasing, empowering, and moving film, arresting us with the ancestral glory and depths of various continental Afrikan beliefs and cultures was released on the streaming platform owned by the rat corporation, I mean Disney+, Beyoncé, and Jay-Z made their appearance in Tiffany’s flashy ABOUT LOVE campaign with Knowles-Carter wearing the famous Tiffany yellow stone. Black may be king ,but that mighty green dollar is god. Before looking at how stark

The events of the last month have been utterly heartbreaking but not surprising. Afghanistan has fallen to the Taliban. While America’s presence in Afghanistan has been a completely unnecessary, violent, and greedy venture, how they are withdrawing with no regard to refugees, civilians, and issues such as data handling, can tell us a lot about the tyrannical fickleness of colonialism, Western capitalism, and American exceptionalism. America stands on the world stage as a toddler, picking up coun

This week the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) dropped its landmark climate change (6th) assessment. It’s the verdict: global warming will hit 1.5°C by 2040 without radical intervention. In the IPCC’s most up-to-date special report on climate science, AR6 Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis, scientists have written that “it is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean, and land.” Looking back, scientists found that human activity has i

August 1st, unofficially Augirst (a play on the day, like Juneteenth, the US equivalent of Emancipation Day celebrated June 19th) marks Emancipation Day across some of the Commonwealth of “Colonial” Nations. Earlier this year, Canada’s House of Commons voted unanimously to designate August 1st Emancipation Day officially. It’s official. Now for all the symbolism in our refusal to accept enslavement and recognition that the enslavers could no longer continue slavery without consequences, the pas

Three Black England players, Marcus Rashford, Buyako Saka and Jordan Sancho (23, 19, 21 respectively) took penalties in the EURO Finals 3-2 shoot-out against Italy, they all missed and England lost. What happened next? RACISM! Post-game, within the hour, videos of Black and Brown people being violently assaulted began circulating on social media; and emojis of monkeys left in the comments of the Blacks players’ social media posts. Hardly a post-racial moment, eh? And where are the clips of “d

We thought the days of ‘No Blacks, No Irish, No Dogs’ pubs were a thing of the past, think again! A search for The Venue* online, a thriving, growing bar and restaurant venue, reads: “The Venue provides you with a sense of being somewhere special with a hint of nostalgia.” What White people want in a pub, Black people have historically unable to access. A staff member’s former Black colleague also asked when he visited, “Is this legit? It’s reminiscent of the days when we could not get served

Pioneering filmmaker, educator and writer Menelik Shabazz has passed on at the age of 67. Let’s keep his loved ones in our thoughts and his powerful legacy living on. In this unheard interview with the legend, six months before his death, Kehinde Andrews discusses Blood Ah Go Run, a film about the response to the New Cross Fire, being part of the moment then and now, and other historical works of the Black British experience.

Earlier this year, the collective behind Black Fly Zine announced their manifesto: an exciting pledge, full of energy and idealism, to support the wellness of Black and Brown bodies past, present and future. Their aim is to centre the sexual lives of Black and Brown people, recognising the colonial legacies of sexual trauma, and honouring intergenerational experience. Using each other as inspiration, they collectively unpack binaries, embrace the complexity of desire and see the journey to sexua

A group of more than 200 Black published writers have come together to form the Black Writer’s Guild (BWG) to represent the interests of Black authors in the UK.

Just days after starting his campaign to pressure the Government to provide free school meals to disadvantaged pupils in England during the summer holidays, footballer Marcus Rashford has scored a victory which sees Boris Johnson performing a U-turn by pledging £120 million to the issue.

Ninety-five-year-old Ghanaian WWII veteran, Private Joseph Ashitey Hammond, has walked 14 miles in just seven days in Ghana to raise money for frontline workers in Africa and his fundraising efforts has attracted royal recognition.

Last week we showcased the Black British Queens who are using their voices for positive change, this week we take a look at some of the personalities who are digging deep into their pockets to support the movements for racial justice. Always leading from the front when it comes to supporting the Black community, earlier this week Stormzy announced he would be donating £10 million to Black British causes over the next 10 years as part of a lifetime commitment to lift fight racial inequality and

The Black Cultural Archives (BCA) was founded in 1981 and remains the only national heritage centre dedicated to collecting, preserving and most importantly celebrating Black British history, but what can we expect from the BCA over the next 10 years?

Lydia Amoah, award-winning business coach, diversity specialist and author, is championing a new STOPIT Protocol to offer businesses advice and guidance on what to do when their employees are faced with online abuse.

When it comes to Black Lives Matter, these well-known Black British female personalities are eloquent and resolute. Read on for how they are using their voices to challenge and demand for positive change.

Producer pick: What Matters with Alex Reads Chosen by Oliver Taylor (Positive Action Scheme participant) What matters to you? Is a question podcaster and journalist Alex Reads asks us all in his podcast about living with purpose. Alex interviews guests who explore how to live with more energy, focus and clarity. It’s an enriching listen as Alex intimately delves into what makes people tick. Guests include lifestyle writer Tonia Buxton and author Mariezain Kabba, whose vision for her book came to her in her sleep. Several of the forthcoming episodes will particularly focus on men and on mental health and wellbeing. His guest next week is Medical Director Dr. Earim Chaudry from the website Manual.co, who say they’re “challenging the outdated notion that real men shrug their shoulders and carry on.” Since you’re here ...

Karl’s win gives the Tories back control of all Lincolnshire’s seven constituencies, which they also had control over between 2010 and 2015 (Lincoln was a bellwether seat for years until 2015). The Tories also upped their majority in Lincolnshire with their vote up by 47,127 votes on 2017, a 23.5% rise.

Sadly, 36% of those on the UK waiting list for a kidney transplant are Black and other minority people. Professional football legend, Andy Cole, knows what that’s like after suffering kidney failure in 2015 and has set up the Andy Cole Fund with Kidney Research UK, to help others like him.