I think every black British person on my Twitter timeline had seen the video of the woman who launched into a racist tirade on a tram somewhere in London before noon on Monday morning (watch it here if you fancy topping up your daily dose of rage, avoid if not – it’s pretty vile). A [...]
Category Archives: London
“Dear Primark…” A Letter I Never Sent
Hey, y’all. Last week, at a literary night called ‘Letters You Never Sent’, I read out a letter to a roomful of strangers (and a few friends). It was the first time I’ve ever read any of my fiction in public, to a paying audience (eek!) and I enjoyed it very much – thank God [...]
Are The Players Playing?
I’m currently in a job which gives me Fridays off. I’m so grateful for it – as well as having a designated day of non-work writing, it allows me to have a lie-in on a weekday (woo!), and I get to do the necessary-but-boring stuff like paying bills and returning library books.
On ‘sexy’ accents
In the course of my job, I have been invited to speak on radio programmes, about subjects that I have some knowledge of. I’ll be honest, it’s always thrilling – “Me? Really? YOU REALLY LIKE ME!” – and appeals to the inner social retard Hollywood has convinced me exists deep inside. Anyway, after one such [...]
PLUG! Broadcasting House, 14 August
I recorded a (very) short piece about the London riots – specifically Hackney – over the weekend. It’s available to listen on the iPlayer until the very precise time of 10:02 on Sunday, 21 August. My ego thanks you.
Black Thursdays*: The London riots, me on NPR and ‘whitewashing’ the clean ups
We’ve all been glued to the internet and our TV screens for the last few days, watching as London seemingly imploded. So many voices have piped up with opinions (like areseholes, we’ve all got one) and they range from the ‘WTF?’ (see Max Hastings in Daily Mail – highlights include references to polar bears, wild [...]
Also posted in Black Fridays, Black Thursdays, Identity, Politics, Society Tagged Best Of British, London, London Riots, Race Leave a comment
The Day I Got Kicked In The Street
Yeah, that totally happened. Last Wednesday, I was sitting at a bus stop in east London, waiting for my sister to come get me so I could help with her house move (we were due to to clean the flat’s carpets, cos we’re just this side of OCD). So there I was, late afternoon August [...]
Why I Love… Libraries
It really is this simple: I cannot imagine my life as it is today without libraries. I joined my first library at the age of 4 – when we were doing a massive clearout some time in 2001, we discovered an unreturned library book (sorry!) from 1987. Civic irresponsibility aside, it was one of my [...]
Also posted in Books, Career, Education, Identity, Literature, Love, Why I Love... Tagged Friends, Joy, Library, London 2 Comments
Um, plug?
Morning, all. Last Sunday I was invited into the hallowed halls of Radio 4, to do the newspaper review on Broadcasting House. I was so excited, a little wee may’ve come out. Ahem. I had a lovely time, the other guests – former head of the Arts Council, Sir Christopher Frayling and hynotist and author [...]
YorubaGirl at A&E: A Saga in Ten Tweets
Last Monday night, I left my parents’ house in quite a bit of pain – the left side of my back was in agony – shooting pains that got worse every time I attempted a deep breath. My dad insisted he follow me to the hospital, but I convinced him – finally, at the bus [...]
Also posted in Health & Fitness, Humour Tagged A&E, Best Of British, London, Manic Monday, NHS, The Opposite of Joy 7 Comments
All’s Fair In Love and Internships
Last night, I caught Who Gets The Best Jobs? on BBC2. The epg on my cheapo Freeview box gave the following synopsis: “Richard Bilton investigates how class continues to restrict access to professions and well-paid careers to a small exclusive pool of the well-connected in modern Britain.” I couldn’t not watch this.
Also posted in Career, Education, Magazines, Review, Society, Television, Work Tagged Getting started, Journalism, London, School, Telly, The Opposite of Joy 3 Comments
The Electrician Always Buzzes Twice
Perception is a powerful thing. What we see, and what we think when we look are inextricably linked in the dark and murky recesses of our brains. I was thinking of this last Thursday afternoon, after the fire alarm in my building went off.
Also posted in Home, Humour, Work Tagged London, Sigh, Stereotypes, The Wire, Ugh, Writing 6 Comments
On Being A Bit Poor…
For all the things that life can be, what it ultimately is, is relative. Whatever you are and whatever you have can only be measured by what somebody else is, what somebody else has. So, if you have £100 in your pocket, there’s somebody out there with £101, and there’s another with £99. Your position [...]
The Populist
Around this time last year, I noticed that Love Actually, aka Notting Hill With Added Black People! was a trending topic on Twitter. I’d seen that it was showing on ITV1 that evening, so of course, I clicked the hashtag to see what people were saying about it. Somehow this innocuous little movie manages to divide people as if it [...]
Also posted in Culture, Literature, Movies, Television Tagged Film, Love Actually, Meme, Popular, Richard Curtis, Sigh, Twitter 1 Comment
First Night: The Family
I loved The Family. Seriously, check my Twitter feed – I live-blogged the whole thing. The first episode centred around the 60th birthday of dad Sunday and all the things that revolve around such a momentous occasion. In this case, there was the baking and icing of several cakes, preparing for a special church outing [...]
Also posted in Family, Humour, Identity, Nigeria, Television Tagged Best Of British, Black People, Family, London, Nigeria, Telly 3 Comments
