audio by year 2008

Dominik Lukeš talks to Alan Berry about the history of Quakerism and its relationship to Black History Month.

Dr. Allan Glaisyer Minns was elected the Mayor of Thetford, making him the first black person to be elected mayor in the United Kingdom. This is an exciting new discovery since until recently, it was thought that Britain's first black mayor was John Archer in 1913 (about whom more in fact 18). Dr Minns was born in the Bahamas and worked as a medical officer at the Thetford Cottage Hospital. He was a member of the British M.A. & Norwich Medico Chirurgical Society and President of Horticultural Society.

Dominik Lukeš and Tonia Mihill talk to Amal Douglas about race, racism, black identity, black history, and the Black History Month. All three are joined by Tony, a caller, sharing his experience of biracial marriage and fatherhood.

In 1906, John Richard Archer was elected as a Progressive councillor for the Latchmere ward.  In 1913 he was elected as the Mayor of Battersea and until recently he was thought to have been Britain's first Black mayor, but as we learned in fact 17, that distinction belongs to Dr. Allan Minns who became the mayor of Thetford in 1904. Archer went on to be elected alderman in 1925 and at the time of his death in 1935, he was serving as the deputy leader of Battersea council.

In 1930 Paul Robeson, a well-known African-American actor who spent much of his time in Britain played Othello in London opposite a white actress. At the time this caused some controversy but the overall success of the play solidified his career and popularity in England.  Robeson was also involved in political campaigning including fight against fascism and involvement in the British labour movement.

1931 saw the foundation of several black organisations including the League of  Coloured Peoples  and the African Churches Mission in Liverpool. The aim of the African Churches Mission founded by the Church of Sctoland was to provide support to black poor in Liverpool. It was run by pastor Daniels Ekarte until it ran out of money in 1949. In contrast, the League of Coloured Peoples was a political organisation concerned with social injustice and racial harmony. Its founder doctor Harold Moody also published a journal The Keys addressing some of these same issues.

In 1938 the journal International African Opinion was first published in London. It was trying to involve black intellectuals in more radical writing than was previously common. Its motto was the 'Educate, Cooperate, Ema ncipate. Neutral in Nothing affecting the African People. It succeeded previous two publications Africa and the World and the African Sentinel and was the official organ of the International African Service Bureau a campaigning organisation founded in the previous year. Its activities were disrupted buy the second world war.

In 1941 the British government began the recruitment of people in the Caribbean to help with the war effort as service personnel and skilled workers. More than 12,000 West Indians were on active service in the Royal Air Force and another two and a half thousands worked in factories in the North West of England. 600 West Indian Women served in the Auxiliary Territorial service since 1943. The position of the black troops was complicated by the arrival American Army in which segregationist policies were still in effect.

In 1943 the BBC started broadcasting Caribbean Voices, a programme aimed at representing the Caribbean through creative writing. By its end in 1958, it had broadcast over 400 stories and poems. The programme was first produced by the Jamaican feminist writer Una Marson and later on by Henry Swanzy. Under Swanzy the programme expanded and helped foster the careers of many young Caribbean authors including two future Nobel prize winners Derek Walcott and V. S. Naipaul. Swanzy also established an office in Jamaica and started paying authors for their contributions.

Dominik Lukeš talks to Clive Wilkins Jones, community librarian, about his research into local history including Olaudah Equino. Clive also talks about the Norfolk Heritage Centre.

In 1945, the fifth and last Pan African Congress was held in Manchester. It was attended by 90 delegates from organisations from various African countries, the United States, Britain, and the Caribbean. Also participating were representatives of the trade unions. It was attended by many future political leaders such as Hastings Banda,  Kwame Nkrumah or Jomo Kennyata  and prominent black intellectuals including the organisers Amy Garvey and George Padmore, as well as the African American historian W. E. B. Du Bois who organised the first congress in 1919.

In 1948 the former German cruise liner Empire Windrush brought the first large group of Caribbean immigrants to the United Kingdom. Most of the 492 passengers were young men who only intended to stay for a short time to learn a trade and return to Jamaica. Their arrival caused some controversy within the Labour government but most of them were able to find work within a month and establish themselves in the community.

1958 saw the first major British production of a play by a black writer when the Royal Court Theatre in London produced Moon on a Rainbow Shawl by British journalist, playwright and actor born in Trinidad Errol John. The play won the Observer Play of the Year in 1953 and is still performed around the country today. Errol John later played a black solicitor in the 1967 BBC series Rainbow City which was the first BBC serial to feature a black actor in a lead role.

In 1962, the Trinidad-born cricketer, lawyer, politician and broadcaster Sir Learie Constantine was awarded his knighthood while he was serving as High Commisioner to London for Trinidad and Tobago. Constatine who started his careers as a cricket player in the 1920s and played in test matches for West Indies until 1945. In the same year he was asked to serve as the president of the League of Coloured People in London. After receiving an MBE in 1946 he qualified as a barrister in 1954.

In 1974, David Pitt became the first black leader of the Greater London Council. Born in Grenada, Pitt studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh in the the 1930s. After a frustrating time in Caribbean politics, where he helped found the West Indian National Party, Pitt settled in England to practice medicine and later became involved with the Labour Party and played an active role in the Anti-Apartheid Movement. He was elected to the Greater London Council in 1961 where he served until 1977. Several times, he unsuccessfully ran for parliament but was made a life peer in 1975.

Tom Buckham spoke with Darshan Jesrani, one half of DJ and production duo Metro Area, prior to their release of the latest Fabric mix. Darshan speaks about how they put the mix together, how Metro Area began and future plans for the production duo.

Listen to the winning performance by Ed Sheeran at 2008's Next Big Thing Competition

Mira Calix from Warp Records spoke with Tom Buckham on the Rotation show before her apperance at the Norwich Art’s Centre as part of the Aurora festival in November 2008.

In part 2 of the interview Mira talks about how she got involved with Warp, her feelings on the growth of the label and some of the current musicians and artists she’s listening to at the moment.

Find out more information on Mira at her website - http://www.miracalix.com

Tom Buckham speaks with House/Techno legend John Tejada about the history of his label (Palette Records), his new Fabric mix and his production plans for 2009.

For more info on John Tejada head to http://www.paletterecordings.com

David Brunton, Head Teacher at Earlham High School  and NELM Chief Executive Nick Craig in conversation with Tim MacWilliam on the challenges facing the school and their ambition to become an academy

Mike Stevens speaks all things wine with James and Alistair from local wine merchants 'Buy The Case'

Mike Stevens speaks with Norwich CAB who offer advice on dealing with debt in the festive period and consumer advice for Christmas shoppers.

Richard Fair talks to Kate Roma about what he would do if he ruled the world

Hotrod Hector interviews Tom from the Hanson Brothers and NoMeansNo.

Back in november, the hanson brothers played at the Victoria Inn in Derby. I had the jolly good fortune to interview Tom Holliston (aka Tommy Hanson) and this is the result.

What a splendid chap!

On the cusp of Refugee Week (16th-22nd June) Dominik Lukes talks to representatives from a range of local refugee-related charities, Sue Gee, head of the Norfolk County Council Asylum and Refugee Service, Reverend Hereward Cooke, the Coordinator of the Norwich Multi-Agency Forum for Asylum-Seekers and Refugees and Helen Casson, retired teacher and volunteer mentor on the TimeTogether Mentoring Project.