Unity101 Conversations: Recent Episodes
Jim Baker
"Unity 101 Conversations. Where Community becomes Unity.Bollywood, Soul, RnB, Health, History, Celebrities, Artists, Neighbours, Friends. Listen and understand Asian, Black and Ethnic community. TAKE THE STEP BE UNITY."This site is developing, all of the material about 1919 remains available but Unity 101 Radio Station in Southampton, UK is going to give you a magazine that brings together: CULTURE: with conversations with Soul and RnB artists, Bollywood singers and actors, authors and artists from our Black, Asian and Ethnic Minority communities.HISTORY: Already the 1919 material has been a real success but now we will widen that to include short stories acknowledging those that are and those that should be recognised for their achievements. Conversations about moments and movements that our part of our history, coming from experts and from community members that simply want to say why someone matters to them.HEALTH: Not just the facts but how health affects people. Testimony from individuals, families and friends of those affected.BOUNDARIES; There are none. Except we are not intentionally political nor is religion part of the story we want to share about our communities. We know that in this world today almost everything is affected by politics and religion but we will not tell you how to think.EQUALITIES: We have a very clear position about discrimination, whether it is racism, sexism or any other form. We will not tolerate it.
On behalf of Unity 101 Davis Deen conducts a series of conversations with local Southampton people, people that are part of the fabric of the City having contributed to the development of local communities and the local services that they need.
The Journey – A Changing Southampton
Ep 13 “Support & Change – Secondary Education”
The 13th episode from our 18 month project ‘The Journey – A Changing Southampton’ made possible by monies received from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Help! Something the Beatles sang about and something we all need from time to time.
But what help is available and how do people access it? When you move to a new country – do you even know the number to call for the Police, Fire or Ambulance Service?
In this week’s episode, Natalie speaks with 3 ‘helpers’ from the local area – Ben Taylor from Hampshire Fire & Rescue, Bella Crawford from Citizens Advice Eastleigh and Fiona Pink from Hampshire & IOW Victim Care Service.
They discuss the broad range of help available to people in the area – both emergency and non-life threatening plus look at how the organisations themselves have changed over the years to better support new arrivals.
www.unity101.org/thejourney
Presenter & Producer: Natalie Barrass
Mix & Master: Anuj Deo
The Journey – A Changing Southampton
Ep 10 “Support & Change – Radio”
The 10th episode from our 18 month project ‘The Journey – A Changing Southampton’ made possible by monies received from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Ever wondered how and why Unity 101 FM started? When was the first British Asian broadcast?
Host Natalie Barrass chats with Dr Gloria Khamkar and Dr Ram Kalyan Kelly about the “Evolution of British Asian Radio”.
From the origins in the 1960s – all the way through to today – it’s a fascinating exploration of something we’re all familiar with.
This episode is the first “Support & Change” show which brings the stories of settlement within Southampton fully up to date.
Learn how radio helped the new arrivals of the sixties to integrate and assimilate into the UK way of life and how today’s Community Radio plays a big part in strengthening communities.
A CHANGING SOUTHAMPTONEPISODE 9 – “SETTLEMENT – PART 3 OF 3”The 9th episode from our 18 month project ‘The Journey – A Changing Southampton’ made possible by monies received from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Our interviewees have already shared many of their thoughts and feelings about settling in Southampton. In this final episode of these specific ‘Settlement’ themed shows, host Divya Singh takes a look at the different communities around us.
Our neighbours, friends and the wider groups of people we surround ourselves with can help (or hinder!) how we adapt and feel connected.
Divya shares her personal stories to compare and contrast a more modern experience with our interviewees who arrived during (and pre) the 1970s.
Enjoy this, the 9th episode of this fascinating project, sharing and preserving the stories of Southampton and its citizens.
Producer: Natalie Barrass
Mix & Master: Anuj Deo
A CHANGING SOUTHAMPTONEPISODE 8 – “SETTLEMENT – PART 2 OF 3”The 8th episode from our 18 month project ‘The Journey – A Changing Southampton’ made possible by monies received from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Host Divya Singh continues to share the highs and lows of settling in the UK over the years.
In this episode we hear about the opportunities for entertainment, the impact of marriage and the challenges of relationships – both within a single community and across two differing ones.
Our interviewees give us an insight into the ways communications have changed – from airmail to telephone and even the changes that have come from mobile sim packages to today’s instant video calls.
Where to live within Southampton and how families came together to make things work is a popular topic.
Tune in for an intriguing window to the past through the lens of today.
Producer: Natalie Barrass
Mix & Master: Anuj Deo
EPISODE 7 – “SETTLEMENT – PART 1 OF 3”The 7th episode from our 18 month project ‘The Journey – A Changing Southampton’ made possible by monies received from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Some time has passed and our interviewees have been steadily adjusting to life in the UK.
Of the many aspects that contribute to feeling settled, this episode covers the task of ‘putting food on the table’.We learn how people earned their money – the work undertaken – and the food they were able to buy.
Our host is Divya Singh, an Indian arrival of more recent times.
Join her for a fascinating insight into the process of settling both in today’s time and in years gone by.
The Journey – A Changing Southampton
Ep 6 – “Arrival over the years”
The 6th episode from our 18 month project ‘The Journey – A Changing Southampton’ made possible by monies received from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Our focus now shifts away from our Ugandan Asian interviewees to those who arrived in the UK, over the years, from elsewhere.
We hear about arrivals from India and Kenya, understand the reasons they came and reveal their first impressions of Southampton.
Arriving at different ages and during different times, our interviewees recollections are varied and insightful.
Though from different corners of the planet, they are united by a shared heritage and the choice to make Southampton, and the surrounding areas, home…
www.unity101.org/thejourney
Presenter / Producer: Natalie Barrass
Mix & Master: Anuj Deo
The Journey – A Changing Southampton
Ep 5 – “Arrival! Camps & the British Weather”
The 5th episode from our 18 month project ‘The Journey – A Changing Southampton’ made possible by monies received from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Landing in the UK our interviewees from Uganda had to face some immediate challenges.
Whilst food and accommodation was taken care of in one of sixteen camps, the British weather caused a more pressing need for warm clothes!
In this episode we learn about life in the camps and how our interviewees ultimately ended up in Southampton – for some, many, many years after arrival.
The third of a series of round table discussions hosted by Kelly, and featuring the personalities that have contributed to the post war growth and settlement of Southampton.
This roundtable features Abdulie Sannneh Community Cohesion and Diversity Officer of Southampton City Counci, Jill Ghanouni Engagement Officer of NHS Trust and MBE and Saranjit. It was facilitated by Ram Kalyan, Kelly.
The fourth of a series of round table discussions hosted by Kelly, and featuring the personalities that have contributed to the post war growth and settlement of Southampton.
Round Table participants Jayanti Shah, Vilma Scott and Manoj Patel.
Sarla Manek in conversation with Manisha (Unity101)The Journey Project is a Heritage Lottery funded project undertaken by Unity`101, intended to show the motivation, changes and the experiences of people that have travelled from around the world to make Hampshire their home.
Consisting of Oral History Testimonies, information and other conversations that tell the stories of a changing Southampton and Hampshire.
Thanks to the work of volunteers and a small staff team a resource will be created that will be held in Southampton Archives as a record and resource for people in the future.
Kavita Kapoor in conversation with Natalie BarrassThe Journey Project is a Heritage Lottery funded project undertaken by Unity`101, intended to show the motivation, changes and the experiences of people that have travelled from around the world to make Hampshire their home.
Consisting of Oral History Testimonies, information and other conversations that tell the stories of a changing Southampton and Hampshire.
Thanks to the work of volunteers and a small staff team a resource will be created that will be held in Southampton Archives as a record and resource for people in the future.
Manoj Patel in conversation with Emma Golby-KirkThe Journey Project is a Heritage Lottery funded project undertaken by Unity`101, intended to show the motivation, changes and the experiences of people that have travelled from around the world to make Hampshire their home.
Consisting of Oral History Testimonies, information and other conversations that tell the stories of a changing Southampton and Hampshire.
Thanks to the work of volunteers and a small staff team a resource will be created that will be held in Southampton Archives as a record and resource for people in the future.
The Journey – A Changing Southampton
Ep 4 – “The Journey out of East Africa” Part 2
The 4th episode from our 18 month project ‘The Journey – A Changing Southampton’ made possible by monies received from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Continuing to uncover the personal stories of Ugandan Asians who fled the country in 1972 due to Idi Amin.
In this episode we hear from Chandrakant, learning how he left with his family thanks to the Uganda Resettlement Board.
He describes the process to escape and the 150 mile journey to the airport, through 18 army barriers. He also gives us some insight into what Amin was thought to be capable of – which some listeners may find upsetting.
www.unity101.org/thejourney
Presenter / Producer: Natalie Barrass
Mix & Master: Anuj Deo
The Journey – A Changing Southampton
Ep 1 – “The British Empire & The Homeland”
The 1st episode from our 18 month project ‘The Journey – A Changing Southampton’ made possible by monies received from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
We have been training volunteers to record Oral History interviews with members of our community who have made Southampton home. Their journeys from India and East Africa are being heard, shared and saved for evermore in the city’s archives.
In this first episode we hear from Jayanti, Indra, Chandrakant, Ravi, Manoj, Vinod and K. They help us to understand the impact of the British Empire across the world and people’s connection to the UK, despite great distance.
Learn about the shared history that we are all a part of…
Presenter / Producer: Natalie Barrass
Mix & Master: Anuj Deo
The Journey
The Journey – A Changing Southampton
Ep 2 – “Childhood Memories”
The 2nd episode from our 18 month project ‘The Journey – A Changing Southampton’ made possible by monies received from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
In this episode we travel back in time, learning about life growing up in India and East Africa. Hear the early memories of school, festivals, and childhood games that our interviewees shared with us.
Nostalgic reminiscence that paints a fascinating picture for the listener of life in another place and time…
www.unity101.org/thejourney
Presenter / Producer: Natalie Barrass
Mix & Master: Anuj Deo
The Journey – A Changing Southampton
Ep 3 – “The Journey out of East Africa” Part 1
The 3rd episode from our 18 month project ‘The Journey – A Changing Southampton’ made possible by monies received from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
In this episode, our interviewees from East Africa retell the various reasons for leaving their homes. Some decided to join family members who had already settled overseas, others went to seek employment or education and then there were those in Uganda…
For the Asians who had grown up in Uganda, the year of 1972 changed their lives forever; it was when Idi Amin announced they had just 90 days to leave.
This episode touches on the highs and lows of leaving East Africa. We hear from Kavita – an amusing and memorable journey.
We are also invited to share Ravi’s experience – one he may prefer to forget…
www.unity101.org/thejourney
Presenter / Producer: Natalie Barrass
Mix & Master: Anuj Deo
The second of a series of round table discussions hosted by Kelly, and featuring the personalities that have contributed to the post war growth and settlement of Southampton.
This roundtable features Don John, race & diversity Expert, author of The Black History of Southampton 16th Century to 21st Century and one of the founders of Black History Month South. Andi Lai former police officer in Hoe Kong and Hampshire. Former Secretary ad Chair of The Chinese Association in Southampton. Ravi Parmar, Vedic Society, Project management Expert and Meena Parmar.
The first of a series of round table discussions hosted by Kelly, and featuring the personalities that have contributed to the post war growth and settlement of Southampton.
This roundtable features Derek Burke, former Councillor, Mayor, Stevedore and born in Shirley, Southampton. Beverley Dowdell, former Nurse, Midwife, Chair of Black Heritage Association ad born in Jamaica. Sarwar Jamil, academic, former manager of Southampton's Community Language Service and born in Bangladesh. Dahlia Jamil, Arts Asia, Citizens Advice Bureau, Southampton MELA, born in Bangladesh.
Jayanti Shah in conversation with Natalie Barrass (Part Two) (Unity 101).The Journey Project is a Heritage Lottery funded project undertaken by Unity`101, intended to show the motivation, changes and the experiences of people that have travelled from around the world to make Hampshire their home.
Consisting of Oral History Testimonies, information and other conversations that tell the stories of a changing Southampton and Hampshire.
Thanks to the work of volunteers and a small staff team a resource will be created that will be held in Southampton Archives as a record afd resource for people in the future.
Chandrakant Joshi in conversation with Kamla Sharma (Unity 101).The Journey Project is a Heritage Lottery funded project undertaken by Unity`101, intended to show the motivation, changes and the experiences of people that have travelled from around the world to make Hampshire their home.
Consisting of Oral History Testimonies, information and other conversations that tell the stories of a changing Southampton and Hampshire.
Thanks to the work of volunteers and a small staff team a resource will be created that will be held in Southampton Archives as a record afd resource for people in the future.
Jayanti Shah in conversation with Natalie Barrass (Part One) (Unity 101).The Journey Project is a Heritage Lottery funded project undertaken by Unity`101, intended to show the motivation, changes and the experiences of people that have travelled from around the world to make Hampshire their home.
Consisting of Oral History Testimonies, information and other conversations that tell the stories of a changing Southampton and Hampshire.
Thanks to the work of volunteers and a small staff team a resource will be created that will be held in Southampton Archives as a record afd resource for people in the future.
Chandrakant Joshi in conversation with Kamla Sharma (Unity 101).The Journey Project is a Heritage Lottery funded project undertaken by Unity`101, intended to show the motivation, changes and the experiences of people that have travelled from around the world to make Hampshire their home.
Consisting of Oral History Testimonies, information and other conversations that tell the stories of a changing Southampton and Hampshire.
Thanks to the work of volunteers and a small staff team a resource will be created that will be held in Southampton Archives as a record afd resource for people in the future.
A Conversation between Divya Singh (Unity 101) and Ravi Parmar. The Journey Project is a Heritage Lottery funded project undertaken by Unity`101, intended to show the motivation, changes and the experiences of people that have travelled from around the world to make Hampshire their home.
Consisting of Oral History Testimonies, information and other conversations that tell the stories of a changing Southampton and Hampshire.
Thanks to the work of volunteers and a small staff team a resource will be created that will be held in Southampton Archives as a record afd resource for people in the future.
A Conversation between Divya Singh (Unity 101) and Ravi Parmar. The Journey Project is a Heritage Lottery funded project undertaken by Unity`101, intended to show the motivation, changes and the experiences of people that have travelled from around the world to make Hampshire their home.
Consisting of Oral History Testimonies, information and other conversations that tell the stories of a changing Southampton and Hampshire.
Thanks to the work of volunteers and a small staff team a resource will be created that will be held in Southampton Archives as a record afd resource for people in the future.
A Conversation between Divya Singh (Unity 101) and Vinod Chopra The Journey Project is a Heritage Lottery funded project undertaken by Unity`101, intended to show the motivation, changes and the experiences of people that have travelled from around the world to make Hampshire their home.
Consisting of Oral History Testimonies, information and other conversations that tell the stories of a changing Southampton and Hampshire.
Thanks to the work of volunteers and a small staff team a resource will be created that will be held in Southampton Archives as a record afd resource for people in the future.
This is a conversation between Sucith and Geesehma Shetty (Unity 101 volunteers) and Inderjeet Kotakta. The Journey Project is a Heritage Lottery funded project undertaken by Unity`101, intended to show the motivation, changes and the experiences of people that have travelled from around the world to make Hampshire their home.
Consisting of Oral History Testimonies, information and other conversations that tell the stories of a changing Southampton and Hampshire.
Thanks to the work of volunteers and a small staff team a resource will be created that will be held in Southampton Archives as a record and resource for people in the future.
The Journey Project is a Heritage Lottery funded project undertaken by Unity`101, intended to show the motivation, changes and the experiences of people that have travelled from around the world to make Hampshire their home.
Consisting of Oral History Testimonies, information and other conversations that tell the stories of a changing Southampton and Hampshire.
Thanks to the work of volunteers and a small staff team a resource will be created that will be held in Southampton Archives as a record afd resource for people in the future.
A Conversation between Natalie Barrass (Unity 101) ad Lynette Jeevan. The Journey Project is a Heritage Lottery funded project undertaken by Unity`101, intended to show the motivation, changes and the experiences of people that have travelled from around the world to make Hampshire their home.
Consisting of Oral History Testimonies, information and other conversations that tell the stories of a changing Southampton and Hampshire.
Thanks to the work of volunteers and a small staff team a resource will be created that will be held in Southampton Archives as a record afd resource for people in the future.
Indians were taken to Kenya as indentured labour to build the railway, or went there as part of the administration of the region by the British colonial authorities. This podcast shows how they got there, what they did, the way that the British colonial authorities created a class system that favoured the Indians but also created jealously and animosity within the local Black communities.
The Indian indenture system was a form of debt bondage, by which 2 million Indians called coolies were transported to various colonies of European powers to provide labour for the (mainly sugar) plantations. It started from the end of slavery in 1833 and continued until 1920.
… but they were often ignorant of the places they agreed to go to or the challenges they were going to face.
Made possible by money raised by National Lottery players, the project will enable all residents of our city to understand the journey from arrival to citizenship.
This wonderful City has been a changing place long before The Mayflower sailed, it has welcomed and absorbed new people and families, changing its DNA in the process, becoming an international City, a fusion of faces, faiths, cultures and businesses that overlap in our every day experience.
Culminating in an exhibition in Sea City Museum and a new archive collection in the City Archives, The Journey will create a series of radio programmes and podcasts, and social media, with contributors from many of the communities in the city, to tell the actual story of who these people were and who they have become, record the Testimonies (Oral histories) of those who left their home behind and became the parents and grand-parents of new generations of Saints fans. At the centre of this will be volunteers trained and given the skills to do this work.
In 1838, with the abolition of slavery at its onset, the British were in the process of transporting a million Indians out of India and into the Caribbean to take the place of the recently freed Africans (freed in 1833) in indentureship. India’s population provided the British Empire with a ready source of cheap and mobile labourers.
Many Indians agreed to indenture which increased dramatically after the abolition of slavery in 1834. They were sent, sometimes in large numbers, to plantation colonies producing high value crops such as sugar in Africa and the Caribbean.
The Journey (A Changing Southampton). Despite the fact that the history of people from the Indian Sub-continent is part of British because India was a vital part of the British Empire. The economic wealth it provided being as important as the Industrial Revolution. Despite its importance generally far too little is known about the experience of the people who are now Southampton citizens but who came from India, Pakistan or Bangladesh. Slavery in what we now know as South Africa began soon after Jan van Riebeeck set up a Dutch settlement at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652 to supply provisions to Dutch ships plying trade routes to and from India and the East Indies, people from India were taken to the Cape and sold into slavery to do domestic work for the settlers, as well the dirty and hard work on the farms.
Amol Deshmukh in conversation with Unity 101.
Faisal Javed talks to Amol Deshmukh
Amol started acting on stage in Marathi and Hindi..He then became News anchor in local cable channels…Gained many state level awards for acting.
Did a part time course with National School of Drama. After few years he joined Film and Television Institute of India.
After passing in 2013 Amol did lots of films starting from one scene to lead … IMAGO is a film where he played central character which was officially selected by The Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI) is a public trust that organizes the annual international film festival in Mumbai. Actress Deepika Padukone was the former chairperson of the trust. Now streaming on NETFLIX…… His other film TURTLE got National award as Best Rajasthani film opposite Sanjay Mishra. Was a part of many commercial Hindi mainstream films Mardani 2, wake up Sid, City of Dreams…
Recently done two web series in Hindi and Marathi…
In Hindi one of the important characters for Amazon n Central Character in Marathi for new App Planet M i.e. planet Marathi…
Tasha Kapoor in Conversation. Tasha Kapoor
A Post Graduate in English Literature but decided to study Fashion designing from SNDT in Mumbai. After working in the televsion industry for 5 years in front of the camera as an actor on popular GECs like Maharana Pratap on Sony, Hanuman on Sony, Krishnadaasi on Colors, Tv ke uss paar on Zee zindagi
She is currently successfully running her own Label since the last 5-6years and recently launched her passion project in luxury Skincare. Juggling between her fashion line/styling and Skincare is what tests her entrepreneurial skills. She is a big advocate for Women Entrepreneur
Styled many projects like Havells, Paytm, Hindustan Times, Zeno, Lakme, and many more
Pratika Sen in conversation with Amol Kamkar of Unity 101.
- The elephant in the room (short film) – directed by Krishan hooda
- Supporting lead in feature film – SYNDICATE- directed by Shekhar Ghosh
- Undercover- directed by Anushree Mehta
- Theatre worker and actor for past 4 ½ years at Ashokenagar natyaanan (Bengali theatre)
- Worked as an assistant director
- Ranked the highest player for the Orleans, France team in the league tournament
- Played league tournaments and won for Lake City, Florida, USA
- Played in All India Tennis Association (AITA) tournaments
- Played International Tennis federation juniors (ITF), where she represented India
- Along with competitive training took part in various training workshops and camps in India, Spain, France, and USA
- Was associated with an animal rescue team named Shashakt, for dog training purposes and public speaker in events conducted.
- Experience in dog training and dog handling in shows for 2 years
Adawitiya in Conversatiion with Adeshi Joshi. A Post Graduate in construction management – And also a Graduate in economic honours.
He is also a trained actor and has been working in this industry from past 4 years now. He has done work for Dharma productions movie Good newwz’s song Sauda Khara Khara. Also worked for Govinda Mera naam (upcoming in 2022). Worked in TV shows, Molkki as Karan and kundali bhagya as Shiv.
Done a LGBTQ short movie Un.Suitables which got selected for Asia’s biggest LGBTQ film festival Kashish International Film festival and won awards at many more film festivals and now is on YouTube with over 2.5 million views in just two months.
Shika Chauhan in Conversation with Moly Mukhertee Gupta.
Completed 2 years course in Indian Classical Dance – Katthak from Bhatkhande, Lucknow. And also a Graduate in BSC.
She has done Adverts for Tata, Sketch with TVF. Have been a part of Movies like MUKKABAZ, BOLE CHUDDIYAN and worked in a Web Series – LITTLE THINGS (Season 3 and 4) and part of few YouTube short films.
Working as a Casting Assistant at “The Perfect Way Casting Company”, Mumbai.
Had been part of Mirzapur 2 with Casting Bay and some Adverts as a freelancer or Casting Assistant (Mahindra, Vivo, Mumbai Indians, Google, OLX, Cred, Instagram and many more).
Katish Jain in conversation with Meena Vashisht.
Katish Jain is an actor and a model. Studied in Gujarat but lived in Mumbai, graduating with B Com degree. Had 88 auditions before getting an advert with Upgrad. Was in a movie with Sharukh Khan.
Bhakti D Marnier in Conversation with Darshana Ghalsasi.
She ia a Chartered Accountant and currently a full time actor by profession.
Bhakti quit her corporate job in 2018 to explore the artist in her. She started off with Theatre and got opportunities to not only perform in India but also perform in London and Nairobi. She started venturing into Ads and web shows and since then she has done over 40 ads that tops major brands like Cadbury, Swiggy, Spotify HDFC Mutual Fund, Instagram, Starbucks, etc.
She has been a part of 4 web shows for OTT platforms like Eros Now and Zee5. One of her short film ‘Anita’ got screened in multiple European Film festival and won ‘The best short in Dublin’.
Ria Sadhwani in conversation with Adesh Joshi of Unity 101.
A lawyer by qualification and actor by passion came to Mumbai in the year 2017. She was a part of different beauty pageants including being a finalist at Miss Diva Universe 2017. She has also won one of the local pageants. Ramp gave her a push towards this industry wherein she discovered she is more of an acting person than modelling. Since then she has been working in different projects which includes 2 ads: one for McDonalds the other for 5star
Scam 1992, Section 375 in secondary parts
Parallel lead in one of TV crime Series “Indian Case Files”
Comedy sketches for RVCJ, Promo shoots for Amazon Prime and Zee TV
Webseries ‘Kalamanch’ on Hotstar and ‘Ba Ba Black Sheep’ on Amazon Prime.
Darshana Ghalsasi of Unity in conversation with Chitransh Raj, who is from Indore, an artist and trained actor
Studied mass communication in my College degrees then started to learn about Film making for 3 years.
Then moved to Mumbai did his diploma course in acting to begin his acting career.
Chitransh has made adverts for whatsapp , 7up , British Airways , Philips, in total 34 adverts to date
My name is Ritesh Singh - Acting is my passion and painting is my hobby
Ritesh Singh in conversation with Mehreen Malik of Unity 101. Ritesh a post graduate in Journalism from NRAI School Of Mass Communication (PTU) at New Delhi. And also graduate in BFA from Prachin Kala Kendra, Chandigarh. And also i am a registered artisan of Ministry Of Textiles (DC Handicrafts) Government Of India .
Runs an Art and Crafts School in Delhi & Mumbai, by the name "Krps Arts
He has produced many plays such, which is conduct by N.S.D & SRC Mandi House-New Delhi.
and acted in many plays/ theatre, Serial, Ads, Films , Webserise & short films
Adesh Joshi talks to Akshay Raj Jawrani
A Post Graduate in construction management – And also a Graduate in economic honours.
He is also a trained actor and has been working in this industry from past 4 years now. He has done work for Dharma productions movie Good newwz’s song Sauda Khara Khara. Also worked for Govinda Mera naam (upcoming in 2022). Worked in TV shows, Molkki as Karan and kundali bhagya as Shiv.
Done a LGBTQ short movie Un.Suitables which got selected for Asia’s biggest LGBTQ film festival Kashish International Film festival and won awards at many more film festivals and now is on YouTube with over 2.5 million views in just two months.
Karuna Banerjee talks to Sandeep kapoor
Sandeep kapoor.an actor by profession. Has MBA and into corporate world for 18 years working as General Manager /National head for multinational company and Telecom Company.
His childhood dream was to be an actor and did theatre in his school and college days as a hobby. I was watching film fare awards in 2010 where Boman Irani won an award and he said I started acting at the age of 44 so never leave your passion. In 2013 I left my job and moved to Mumbai without any reference and started my auditions like any other strugglers .
It’s been 7 years now in Mumbai and now I have worked in films, serials, Web series and tvc
Faisal Javed talks to Hemant Rathi
Born in Muzaffarnagar (UP). Studied in meerut and Delhi. Moved to Mumbai in 2015 for Acting career. His most recent work is with Mr Manoj Bajpayee and with Mr Amitabh Bacchan, both releasing soon. Hemant is accredited for his theatre work and WebSeries : Illegal Season 2 (Voot).
Delhi Crime (Netflix), Zidd (on Zee5) plus Television : Reporters, Crime Petrol, Mann Main hai vishwash (Sony), Police Factory (Sab TV), Yeh Hai Mohabbatain (Star). He also has worked on short Films – Main Kaun Hoon, All I Want, and Motherland
Meena Vashisht talks to Sammy Kahlon
A graduate in commerce and then Studied and practised theatre for four years in Mumbai in which I have performed more than 13 plays.
Had the privilege to live all over India due to the transferable job of my dad, have enjoyed various cultures and ethnicities and learnt a lot from them. I am a state-level badminton champion and have won a district Gold in swimming and well acquainted with almost every kind of sport played in India. I am also trained under the World dance school for three years and I am a black belt in taekwondo and practice kickboxing and other forms of martial arts as well
Mehreen Malik talks to Priyank Pandav
Priyank Pandav has MBA and Priyank Pandav works in corporate sector, simultaneously pursuing acting for the past 4 years. i have worked in 14 commercials such as Game of thrones promo, Fogg Deo, Vodafone TVC, ICICI bank, Sprite, and a tertiary role for a new hot star based series named Gharwaapsi
Meena Vashisht talks to Sahir Maan
Sahir has M.A in theatre and a Graduate in Fine Arts, as an Applied Artist.
He is trained actor and have been working in this industry from past 2 years now. He has been a part of TV Serials like Batwara, Rakhi or sindoor.
Awarded Punjab Natyashala in Amritsar for outstanding performance and exceptional commitment as a THEATRE Artist
Adesh Joshi talks to Vaibhav Verma
Vaibhav Verma, an Actor | Acting Coach | Voice Over Artist by profession. He trained from Department of Indian theatre Punjab University Chandigarh.
For the past three years I have acted in 5 digital Ads with brands like Swiggy , ludo Supreme , Healthcare products, Vaibhav has done 1 web series with Vir Das Which is yet to be release ,as well as directed stage plays ,worked as an Acting coach with Balaji telefilms, Mahesh bhatt ki Pathshala also in different schools as theatre facilitator. Worked as a production controller in the film Attack Produced by John Ebrahim. Also did serials like Imlie, Yeh hai chahatein, Akhiyaan udeek diyan, Badey Achey lagtey hain, Vignaharta Shri Ganesha
Haimanti Kumar talks to Pratibha Singh
Pratibha Singh Baghel is a Bollywood playback singer paying tribute to Lata Mangeshkar. After appearing on a music reality show, she lent her voice to feature films including: Issaq, Bollywood Diaries, Shorgul , Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhaniya, Zid, Manikarnika and Baba Ramsaa Peer. Deepak Pandit is the composer of the album Inheritance. You can listen to all the songs from album Inheritance on Sufiscore YouTube channel
Sohinee Day Pal talks to Vikas Saini
Vikas Saini, an Actor and writer and currently writing a web series show in Hindi. After spending 3 years in the industry, he has done 5 + TVCs adverts. Played 5-6 Characters in Serials and web series, Mirzapur- 2
Sweta Somani talks to Raghav Binani
Raghav Binani, is a actor. After spending 7 years in the industry I have done 4 big banner movies ‘Mumbaikar’ , ‘Mili’,‘Runway 34’, ‘Dosatan2’ and ‘Shakuntala Devi,’, 1 Independent film as lead, ,40 + tvc,40 +digital ads, 2 viral comedy sketches ,5 web series (Bicchoo ka khel on Alt Balaji amd zee5),Hey Prabhu 2(MX player,Chutzpa (sonly live),Mind the Malhotras 2(Amazon Prime)and (Crime Stories on Flipkart).On and off continuity track in Kuch Rang pyaar ke aise bhi 3, Kumkum Bhagya serial,on and off track in Katelal and sons,5 short films,2 print shoots
Meena Vashisht (Unity 101) in conversation with Inderjeet Modi. Inderjeet Is a bachelor in commerce, A certified sports nutritionist and a personnel trainer. He is a trained theatre actor from a renowned theatre group in Mumbai; he has performed more than thirty shows. He is been working in this industry from past 4 years. Worked in T.V show “Amma ke babu ki Baby” as a parallel lead. Done several cameos in different TV serials and films
Gloria Khamkar (Unity 101) talks to Nikhil Dixit
Nikhil Dixit. Comes from a small town known as Vrindavan, did schooling from Agra. He worked in corporate world for 5 years before coming to Mumbai and trained myself as an actor. Nikhil worked in few projects such as movies like “Shiddat” & “Haseen Dilruba”. Also worked in web shows like “Chacha Vidhayak hain hamare” and have done couples of ad films.
In Mumbai run a theatre company known as “Roobaru Roshni” wherein we have done 6-7 different shows such as “Daastan-e-Ghalib”, “LGBT-Love Goes Beyond Terms”, Adab, Tamasha, and currently working on “We are Hiring” it’s a story based on call centres in Delhi. All these shows have written and directed by Nikhil
Vinod Suryavanshi in conversation with Meena Vashisht of Unity 101.
Vinod Suryavanshi has been in film industry for over 5 year’s
He has worked films such as Dreamgirl ( Babloo) Mumbaikar upcoming ( Chaman) Zombivali and ( Gopalan)
Vinod has also acted on many Web series like Cartel (Tambe) MX player Jamtara (Teacher) Netflix Murder in Agonda ( Cyrus)
Upcoming (Amazon) Yeh kali kali Aankhein (Pathak) Netflix (Upcoming) He has worked on now to date 64 Adverts
Priyanka Kumari born in Baliya Zila (Baliya district, Uttar Pradesh). She did mass communication and video production from St. Xavier’s Ranchi and while her semester internship in Doordarshan Ranchi
Attending Barry John Acting School. Played Students character in movie “section 375” (Akshay Khanna & Richa Chadha)
worked in Google search app and Pepsi adverts
Worked in the movie Radhey, in which I played a reporter.
OUR intrepid Bird Eye Reviewer, Nat, has been flying high this month and looking around to see what attracts her beady eye and she has settled on and gets her beaky claws into Roots – all these are connected to this, in episode 19. ‘Hum Do, Hamare Do’ – (‘Us Two, Our Two’), a film starring Rajkummar Rao and Kriti Sanon, Paresh Rawal and Rana Pathak Shah. You can find this film on Disney + Hotstar. It’s about the Rao character prepping to get married to Sanon in the film but he’s an orphan and worries how this will look, so enlists Rawal and Shah to help out. Does it work? ‘Tryst with Destiny’ is a series of four short interconnected films – a trio screened at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2020 and one has been added to that – See what our Nat makes of these currently available on Sony Liv. All are interconnected by the idea of Roots! Last but certainly not least and something a little different is Amit Trivedi’s new (branded) music series. Brought to us by Skoda ( don’t forget this, Nat won’t – she mentions it at least five times! And nothing in it, as far we, the Mother Bird, know…) So there on its own merits…and courtesy of the Nat Bird filming skills…Trivedi travels around India and homes in on musical traditions and genres in certain states and produces a music video while subtly promoting the car brand. Looks great and sounds lovely too – individual music videos are available on Youtube as is the music on various streaming platforms but the actual series – released in parts – is only currently available on - India digital platform only – Voot. Don’t forget to subscribe, if you haven’t… The Asianculturevulture Bird Eye Review show drops every third Friday of the month… https://www.youtube.com/c/asianculturevulturecom1
So, what have you been watching online? Are you ready for this month’s Bird Eye Review Show? Sitting comfortably? What will be the beady bird eye verdict on a series of three short films (under 40 minutes) all under the umbrella of ‘Ankahi Kahaniya’. It’s out on Netflix. What does our Nat have to say about it and the three films contained within…watch! She also looks at another Netflix series, this time ‘House of Secrets – The Burari Deaths’. Does this three-part documentary series looking at the deaths of 11 family members who were found hanged in their Delhi home one morning in 2018, work? Director Leena Yadav talks to the police and others at the heart of the investigation to ask what really happened? And how did it happen? With Hollywood editor James Haygood (who has worked with director David Fincher), Yadav builds tension and the documentary investigation is more like a thriller and narrative feature - listen to what Nat says about it… The series dropped on Netflix last week (October 8). Also, Nat also interviews Pavan Malhotra, one of the stars the new Sony Liv Series, Tabbar – meaning family. It dropped on the digital channel today (October 15). Malhotra started his career on ‘Gandhi’ , hung out with Martin Sheen - and has an interesting family background. You can find out what he likes in the OTT space by watching! He also talks about having his pants down for ‘Tabbar’ – that may or may not be true… watch and what is that series with Michael Douglas and two actors? Please help Mr Malhotra and our Nat… The Bird Eye Review Show drops every third Friday of the month. It’s a monthly review show of what’s just dropped or coming up in the month on the OTT/digital/online space. Do subscribe and become an asianculturevulture – lots more from us soon, not just the Bird Eye Review Show. Take a look around... We’ve got our vulture bird eyes on lots of things – check out the website, http://www.asianculturevulture.com
Yogenra Vikram Singh in conversation with Gloria Khamkar (Unity 101)
Yogendra has Professional training- Theatre, Ariels (Dance), Bollywood Dancing
He graduated from FTII (Film and Television Institute of India), Won best actor award for a play “Normal” in Thespo festival at Prithvi theatre.
Yogendra has been in – Trapped, Mirza Julliet, NH10,Baabarr
Saand ki aankh anurag kashyap production films.
Gunjan Saxena(dharma production)
Ads-Vodafone,flip kart,b natural juice,Combiflame,Marie gold biscuit Etc.
Broadway- “Jaan-e-Jigar” Broadway Musical in Dubai parks and resorts by Wizcraft as Lead Jaan and Jigar.
Currently doing a TV show with star plus “ghum hai kisi ke pyaar mein”.
Daksh Sharma is a trained actor and an entrepreneur. He completed his post graduation from Indraprastha University, Delhi. He has more than 3 years of experience in theatre from Ekjute theatre group, mumbai and featured in number of ads like Zomato Digital, Life’s Good Refrigerator, PikaMoji App , Indian Soccer League and few short films. Daksh sharma played important character in Qubool hai 2.0 on zee5 and currently he is working with Star Plus show ~ Zindagi Mere Ghar Aana. He is Active in Sports and Running too.
Sawan Tannk is an Indian film actor who appears in Hindi films. A Graduate from the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, He made his feature film debut from Yash Raj’s production film “Sui Dhaaga made in India” (2018). His other critically acclaimed film includes “Ram Prasad ki Tehrvi” Directed by Seema Bhargav Pahwa. He is also soon to be seen in directorial debut of Shiladitya Bora’s “Bhagwan Bharose”
Mehreen Malik talks to Urvashi Pardeshi
Has been a part of the show Tara from Satara airing on Sony tv. Besides that she’s been acting in plenty of music videos, Tvcs, Prints, digitals etc. She’s venturing out and experimenting new things like she’s working in South Films as a Heroine, she’s been modelling for plenty of brands, she’s also an influencer on the social media platform, and she has her YouTube channel wherein she puts up dancing video which has more than 10 million views. She believes in living her life to the fullest and follows where her heart takes her. Acting and dancing both has been a major part of her life but apart from that she is a spiritual person who has been living a different lifestyle.
In conversation with Haimanti Kumar of Unity 101 is Rishpal Singh Rekhi, better known by his stage name Rishi Rich, is a British-Indian music producer based in London. He began his career in the Asian Underground scene and later became internationally known for his bhangra tracks, his Hindi remixes, and as a pioneer of Asian-R&B fusion music
Anjali Mavi (of Unity 101) talks to GULAL SHARMA
A Post Graduate in Indian Classical Dance – Bharatanatyam from Prayag Sangeet Samiti, Allahabad. And also a Graduate in Fine Arts, as an Applied Artist.
She is also a trained actor and have been working in this industry from past 3 years now. She has done Ads for Emami Spices, Keventers. Have been a part of TV Serials like Kum kum Bhagya, Kaha hum kaha tum, Wagle ki duniya and more.
Runs an Art and Dance Academy in Dehradun, Uttarakhand by the name “Rising Star”.
Awarded Pearls of Nation Award 2018 for outstanding performance and exceptional commitment as a Dance Artist.
Challenges of care in Asian Culture It's A Brown Thing with with Parita and Saiqa.
When two friends of many years talk to each other they talk
straight and direct, they don't hide what they think but they also
don't show off by trying to seem clever.
It's A Brown Thing does not seek to talk down to you, educate
you or impress you. Parita and Saiqa are talking to each other
about the things that are in their min and things in life that
interest them. Sometimes they will make you laugh because what
they say reminds you of your own life experiences, and sometimes
they may make you disagree with them, but in the end what
matters is you listen, enjoy the conversation and if you want then
to join in.
In this episode, they discuss the challenges faced in the brown
community when caring for the elderly. Have you faced any
challenges when caring for a loved one? Do your non Asian
friends face the same challenges? What can we do to help make
things easier? Guest speaker Amee who runs a successful business
within the care sector speaks of her own personal challenges and
tries to offer some solutions!
Pooraj Kapoor in conversation with Sohinee of Unity 101. Pooraj Kapoor is an alumnus of College of Art-Delhi and FTII-Pune, Pooraj has been a film maker and photographer since 2013. He has been felicitated by Mr. Amitabh Bachchan for his short film “Sattvika” and the same had been selected by Vicaom 18 “Cineshorts”. He had also been selected amongst top 10 photographers from the country by the National Geographic channel as a photographer for their show “Natgeo-Covershot”.
Has Directed many Adverts for brands like Paytm, Havells, Hindustan Times, Max Bupa, Tata tea, OTT play, Zeno Pharmacy and many more
So, what is on your online (OTT) viewing radar this month – let our Nat help you as she looks at the latest releases far and wide from Mumbai… In this episode, looking at – August-September, she goes into Bombay General Hospital – the setting for ‘Mumbai Diaries 26/11’ an eight episode series that covers the comings and goings in the hospital on that fateful day when terrorists wreaked havoc in the city from that date. Not for the squeamish – and in keeping the theme of horror, Nat watches ‘Uravidam – The Source’ from Malayalam language channel Saina Play (also available free on Youtube) which goes into the depths of the imagination of a troubled young man – you have been warned! Finally and prompted by ACV Bird Eye Review Show team Hindi-scripter Roy – Nat casts her beady bird eyes over ‘Bhoot Police’ from Disney+ Hotstar and its all-star cast: Saif Ali Khan, Arjun Kapoor, Jacqueline Fernandez, Yami Gautam, Jaaved Jaaferi. What did our Nat make of the two brothers whose job it is to track down ghosts and what happens when they have to confront a ‘kichkandi’ – an evil feminine spirit with special powers that are common in Nepali folklore. The Bird Eye Show contains reviews of three offerings to be found in the online (OTT space) and either from South Asia or with a strong angle relevant to it. It drops on the third Friday of every month! Subscribe and never miss! Connect with Natalie - tell her what you want to watch!
Part of ongoing collaboration between Unity 101 and KC21 Productions.
An interview with Jatin Negi. Jatin Negi is a trained actor and educator. He has completed his Post Graduation diploma in acting from Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electronics and communication engineering (B.Tech).
He has more than 10 years of experience in theatre and has featured in number of Ads, short films and feature films.
IN THIS www.asianculturevulture.comBird Eye Review Show, Episode 15 (July), our Nat looks at ‘Aani Maani’ (Round & Round) , on Mubi, watches the trailer of ‘Toofaan’ starring Farhan Akhtar and now available on Amazon Prime and reviews Netflix’s ‘Haseen Dillruba’ (Beautiful Beloved) in which Taapsee Pannu, Vikrant Massey and Harshvardhan Rane all appear. Is Harshvardhan Rane the visual lovechild of John Abraham and Randeep Hooda? What do you think? Have you watched any of the above? Do you want to? How is Nat’s Hindi? What do you think of her reaction to ‘Toofaan’? Do you think she would be a good actor? The www.asianculturevulture.com Bird Eye Review Show drops on the Third Friday of every month....
In conversation with Chris Ballin, who has just released his new single What's Going On, a song that is relevant to our times Chris Ballin was born in Nottingham, England with his musical journey beginning at the tender age of 8yrs, when he was a keen and active drummer. By the age of 10yrs he had joined his first family band. Chris was born into a musical family with his mum playing church organ and dad a keen social singer. By the age of 16yrs, Chris took centre stage as lead vocalist in a local band in Nottingham. His vocal talents began to shine as lead singer performing on the club circuit in Nottingham.
Chris was driven and moved to London to pursue his musical career. He was quickly snapped up to tour with many established European artists and bands to work as a featured lead vocalist and backing vocalists. Chris has worked with Caron Wheeler (Soul to Soul), Candy Dulfer, Kim Wilde, Maxi Priest. Chris is strong song writer and has developed this skill through many collaborations with many of Europe’s most gifted writer/producers, which culminated in the creation of his debut album ‘Do It Right’. ‘Do It Right’ was released to critical acclaim and is widely regarded as one of the finest recordings ever created by a UK artist. He went on to do lead vocals with Incognito in 1997 on 2 of their albums “Beneath The Surface” and ‘Inner Shade’. Chris has now developed an extensive catalogue of ballads and R&B tracks and is busy working on a new album
Kahaniyon Ka Safar.... Moly ke Saath . Aankhen the short story written by Sadat Hassan Manto.
Stories considered in Hindi on Unity 101.
The reading is from Aankhen the short story written by Sadat Hassan Manto.
Kahaniyon Ka Safar.... Moly ke Saath . Short stories read in Hindi, this story is entitled Aahuti, written by Munshi Premchand.
Is it A Brown Thing
When two friends of many years talk to each other they talk straight and direct, they don't hide what they think but they also don't show off by trying to seem clever.
Is It A Brown Thing does not seek to talk down to you, educate you or impress you. Parita and Saiqa are talking to each other about the things that they come across o a daily basis and things in life that interest them. Sometimes they will make you laugh because what they say reminds you of your own life experiences, and sometimes they may make you disagree with them, but in the end what matters is you listen, enjoy the conversation and if you want then to join in.
In this fourth episode, they talk about what we learned from Prince Phillip. Are brown people judgmental when a man lives with his In Laws? Why is that an issue? What is the cultural duty amongst the Asian cultures and let's talk about the pressures of “The Big Fat Indian Wedding” and beyond and the “The Haq Mehr” in the Islamic culture?
MONSOON MARRIAGES - it sounds like a film, doesn't it? Mira Nair's film was ‘Monsoon Wedding’ (2002), but this is theme of our Nat Bollywood’s June Bird Eye Review Show (Episode 14) as she digs her bird claws into ‘Maharani’ (Sony Liv), ‘Ek Mini Katha’, a Telugu production available on Amazon Prime and finally, ‘Triple Whammy’ starring social media sensations Urvashi Goverdhan and Sanjay Manaktala (Malayalam/English) and available on Neestream. Maharani, which stars well-known Huma Qureshi (see her Asian Culture Vulture interview with from Cannes, link below) is about the wife of a politician thrust into the top job when her husband decides to hand over the reins unexpectedly to his wife. In ‘Ek Mini Katha’ a young man really thinks he won’t measure up – yes in the trouser department! And in ‘Triple Whammy’ a cute couple go off the rails…but why and how? Have you seen any of these? What do you think of these series? Huma Qureshi in Cannes 2018 https://youtu.be/zLCJ70Vd2rA
Birds Eye View in this episode, ACV's Natalie Barrass battles the damage caused by Cyclone Tauktae to bring her regular look at the OTT scene in India, reviewing ‘His Storyy’, a web series currently streaming on Alt Balaji, ‘Ahaan’, a 2014 film which can now be viewed on Netflix and finally the blockbuster Eid release of Bollywood megastar, Salman Khan’s Radhe on Zee5. Natalie gives her ever-growing Hindi vocabulary another outing, as she dives deep into bromance this month and examines a gay love affair between two married Indian men, the friendships and joys the character Ahaan experiences as someone with Downs Syndrome and finally, the end of the world as we know it, when a Salman Khan films drops on the Internet and crashes the site screening it. Well, that’s what we heard. Natalie views all these films with her cold, detached, smart vulture eye. Enjoy!
The UK relies on the bravery and sacrifice of members of the UK Armed Forces drawn from across the Commonwealth yet charges them thousands to continue to live here when they leave. This has to end.
Currently when Commonwealth personnel leave the UK Armed Forces and wish to apply to continue to live in the country they have served for years, they face thousands of pounds of fees to do so.
A Service leaver with a partner and two children will be presented with a bill of almost £10,000 to continue to live in the UK, despite their years of sacrifice and service on behalf of our nation. Exorbitant immigration fees are no way to say thank you for their Service, and risk pushing commonwealth personnel into poverty just for wanting stability as they leave Service.
Without leave to remain, UK Armed Forces veterans are cut off from being able to access employment or state support, leaving them and their families reliant on charitable funds or facing repatriation to their country of origin.
Windrush generation families have been condemned to uncertainty, lost jobs, lost homes and even been forced to leave the country. Now we find that this is going on again and at the same time every year the Government has a target of 1350 people from the Commonwealth to join the armed forces. No-one promised them a home in Britain but they are doctors, nurses, skilled people with children born in Britain who after years could be forced to leave this country.
PLEASE SIGN UP AND SUPPORT THE BRITSH LEGION CAMPAIGN, if someone can die for a country surely they should not have to pay to live in that country.
When two friends of many years talk to each other they talk straight and direct, they don't hide what they think but they also don't show off by trying to seem clever.
It's A Brown Thing does not seek to talk down to you, educate you or impress you. Parita and Saiqa are talking to each other about the things that are in their min and things in life that interest them. Sometimes they will make you laugh because what they say reminds you of your own life experiences, and sometimes they may make you disagree with them, but in the end what matters is you listen, enjoy the conversation and if you want then to join in.
In this third episode, they discuss the uncomfortable symptoms of menopause. Think you know how to deal with menopause? Listen to hear their experiences and learn more!
The Bird Eye Review show from www.asianculturevulture.com is a monthly look at what can be found on the various OTT platforms (digital streaming sites). It’s hosted by former Unity 101 drive time presenter Natalie - a fan of content from the subcontinent - who is currently based in Mumbai.
Each month she picks three films, shows or serials and casts her beady eye to decide whether it’s worth your time to watch or not.
If you want the low-down on the Over The Tops (OTTs) then have a listen - it’s witty, intelligent and thoughtful - much like her!
The full uncensored video episode can be found on Asian Culture Vulture's Youtube channel, dropping the third Friday of every month.
When two friends of many years talk to each other they talk straight and direct, they don't hide what they think but they also don't show off by trying to seem clever.
It's A Brown Thing does not seek to talk down to you, educate you or impress you. Parita and Saiqa are talking to each other about the things that are in their min and things in life that interest them. Sometimes they will make you laugh because what they say reminds you of your own life experiences, and sometimes they may make you disagree with them, but in the end what matters is you listen, enjoy the conversation and if you want then to join in.
In this second episode, we talk about Ageing Parents, The funny Stories, Parents & Technology, Care for the elderly There is more, but we suggest you listen to find out.
Remember if you want to comment or get involved email Parita and Saiga on Isitabrownthing@outlook.com.
Every month Natalie will do a film review and this month is Girl On A Train, the Hindi remake/new version.
The Girl on the Train is a 2021 Indian Hindi-language mystery thriller film directed by Ribhu Dasgupta and produced under the banner of Amblin Entertainment and Reliance Entertainment. The film is based on British author Paula Hawkins' 2015 novel of the same name and stars Parineeti Chopra as an alcoholic and troubled divorcee who gets embroiled in a murder investigation. It also features Avinash Tiwary, Aditi Rao Hydari and Kirti Kulhari.
I**t's A Brown Thing
Parita Patel & Shaiqa Ali**
Is it A Brown Thing
When two friends of many years talk to each other they talk straight and direct, they don't hide what they think but they also don't show off by trying to seem clever.
Is It A Brown Thing does not seek to talk down to you, educate you or impress you. Parita and Saiqa are talking to each other about the things that are in their culture and things in life that interest them. Sometimes they will make you laugh because what they say reminds you of your own life experiences, and sometimes they may make you disagree with them, but in the end what matters is you listen, enjoy the conversation and if you want then to join in.
In this first episode, can Brown people be racist? Did your parents have crocheted armrests on the settee. The dreaded brown childhood bath time. Could your child marry a white or Black person? There is more, but we suggest you listen to find out.
Toqueer Butt in conversation with Strings. Strings Pakistani hard rock band composed of two members, plus four live band members from Karachi, Pakistan. The band was initially formed by four college students—Bilal Maqsood (vocals and guitars), Faisal Kapadia (vocals), Rafiq Wazir Ali (synthesizer) and Kareem Bashir Bhoy (bass guitar)—in 1988. In 1992 the quartet disbanded, only to make a comeback with Maqsood and Kapadia in 2000. While the initial band rode the new wave of Pakistani pop music, the later lineup ushered a revival in the Pakistani music industry.
RIVERS OF LIFE
”A river doesn’t just carry water, it carries life.”
- Amit Kalantri
Rivers are more than water, once (before planes, trains and cars), they were our path to each other. Yet, how much do we know about them, are they simply a central part of the heart of nature and this earth that we take for granted.
This series of podcasts within our site will tell you about rivers. They are in Hindi, but they could also be in English if you want, you simply need to ask.
Ram Kalyan Kelly talks to Richard Russell, Consultant Physician Senior Clinical Researcher Respiratory Medicine, NDM University of Oxford about Stop Smoking.
Rivers of Life Series: The River Nile.
RIVERS OF LIFE
”A river doesn’t just carry water, it carries life.”
- Amit Kalantri
Rivers are more than water, once (before planes, trains and cars), they were our path to each other. Yet, how much do we know about them, are they simply a central part of the heart of nature and this earth that we take for granted.
This series of podcasts within our site will tell you about rivers. They are in Hindi, but they could also be in English if you want, you simply need to ask.
Ram Kalyan (Kelly) of Unity 101 seeks to allow our audience to ask questions of the experts to help Black & Diverse people understand Covid 19, the vaccine program and. hopefully, enable them to reach decisions about what they should do next.
This Episode Number Two is with Debbie Chase, Director of Public Health, Southampton, Hampshire UK
Ram Kalyan (Kelly) of Unity 101 seeks to allow our audience to ask questions of the experts to help Black & Diverse people understand Covid 19, the vaccine program and. hopefully, enable them to reach decisions about what they should do next.
This Episode Number Two is with practitioners Dr Kirti Rokade & Professor Partha Kar
Ram Kalyan (Kelly) of Unity 101 seeks to allow our audience to ask questions of the experts to help Black & Diverse people understand Covid 19, the vaccine program and. hopefully, enable them to reach decisions about what they should do next.
This Episode Number One is with practitioners Dr Shiba Qamar and Dr Abdul Hafeez.
Unity 101 in conversation with the three Womack Sisters. BG, Zeimani and Kucha, three gifted, soulful siblings who make up The Womack Sisters. Daughters of the renown songwriters, producers and multi platinum recording artists Cecil and Linda Womack (of Womack & Womack); Nieces of singer, songwriter and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Bobby Womack and Granddaughters of the legendary Grammy Lifetime Achievement award winner Sam Cooke.
The Womack Sisters have inherited the legacy of music giants and declared themselves the rightful bearers of the royal scepter of soul troubadour. When these gifted and equally beautiful young women lift their voices to sing, we the listeners can do but one thing... Bow Down!
Not Womack in name only, The Womack Sisters and the real deal. They are the living embodiment of Soul and R&B music.
It's fair to say, The Womack Sisters have good music implanted in their DNA. The second eldest, second youngest and the middle child of seven other siblings compose this bubbly sophisticated young singing trio. They are also the best of friends, they finish each other's thoughts and are as close as sisters could be, due in part to their extraordinary upbringing. Their father, Cecil was an incredibly focused and intellectual man, tiring of the politics of the American music industry,
Cecil and Linda left the USA and moved to the UK in the mid 1980's. Thus began a lifetime of travel, moving again to Europe, Asia, and Africa. The sisters stayed close, they were homeschooled and got used to a lifestyle of heavy travel, where they encountered somewhere new every six months or so.
It wasn't long before Cecil brought his children into his music, the girls were taught the ropes at an early age, not just writing, but production, and publishing, he wanted his children to understand the business of the music business. Looking back now the sisters are ever grateful for the gifts they were given, what they missed in High School and Boyfriends they made up for with incredible life experience; the sheep farm in Dublin, the water well in Kenya, the rural village in Tanzania overlooking Kilimanjaro, and their longest memory of all; London. Also performing to crowds of 10,000 plus, working with the Rolling Stones, Kid Rock, Ozzy Osborne,
Annie Lennox and many more, are all in their own way life changing moments that have crafted the sound, the feel and the depth of The Womack Sisters.
Making their home in Los Angeles, the girls have been busy writing and recording, featuring on the 7xGrammy nominated Billboard #1 album "The Adventures of Bobby Ray" by B.O.B, and writing songs for double platinum recording artist The Game. The Womack Sisters have a long lineage of timeless musical history to draw strength from and a bond between them that is as unshakable and as strong as the music they create.
Conversation with Rishpal Singh Rekhi (born 30 June 1976 in Croydon), better known by his stage name Rishi Rich, is a British-Indian music producer based in London. He began his career in the Asian Underground scene and later became internationally known for his bhangra tracks, his Hindi remixes, and as a pioneer of Asian-R&B fusion music.
Through the Rishi Rich Project, he was responsible for launching British Asian talents who would later gain mainstream success, such as Jay Sean, Juggy D, Veronica Mehta, and Mumzy Stranger.
He has also released his own solo albums, Simply Rich in 2002 with Ishq Records and The Project in 2006 with 2point9 Records and his produced songs have appeared in a number of Bollywood films. He now runs Rishi Rich Productions with contracts with a number of British Asian artists including H-Dhami, Mumzy Stranger, Veronica Mehta, Tasha Tah and Abbas Hasan.
Babul Supriyo (born 15 December 1970) is an Indian playback singer, live performer, television host, actor and politician. He is a Member of Parliament representing Asansol in the 16th and 17th Lok Sabha and currently serving as the Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, in the Union Council of Ministers.
He made a career as playback singer in Hindi cinema in the mid-nineties and has sung for many films since then. He primarily sings in Hindi, Bengali, and Odia languages. However, he has also done playback singing in 11 other languages during his musical career.
He moved to Mumbai in 1992 to make a career in Bollywood. Kalyanji gave him a break, and took him to perform abroad at their live shows. In 1993 he toured Canada and USA with Amitabh Bachchan. He also toured US with Asha Bhonsle in 1997 and 1999. Besides playback singing, he has also done several stage shows. Babul Supriyo performed at Powai Sarvajanin Durgotsav in 2011.
His breakthrough came with "Dil Ne Dil Ko Pukara" in Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai in 2000, the debut film of Hrithik Roshan. Some of his other popular Bollywood songs are "Pari Pari Hai Ek Pari" (Hungama), "Hum Tum" (Hum Tum) and "Chanda Chamke" (Fanaa). He is the anchor of the hit television show K for Kishore. He sang the opening themes of Balaji Telefilms serials
He entered politics in 2014 and joined Narendra Modi's government. He previously served as Union Minister of State for Ministry of Urban Development, Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises.
Unity 101 is always trying to identify new talent, and this is a conversation with Derhys (Dunkley) who is from Southampton. His style ranges across a number of genres from RnB, Rap, to Drill. He is conversation with Unity 101's Vibrant Vibes show, produced by Veronica Gordon.
https://www.instagram.com/derhys_isthename/
https://www.facebook.com/derhys.dunkley.98
Touqeer Butt of Unity 101 in conversation with Richa Sharma. Richa Sharma (born 29 August 1974) is an Indian film playback singer as well a devotional singer. In 2006, she sang Bollywood's longest track, the bidaai song, in film Baabul (2006). Under the tutelage of Pandit Aaskaran Sharma, Richa went on to get proper training in Indian classical and light music. Richa added ghazals; film songs, Punjabi and Rajasthani folk songs to her repertoire, thus making her voice reach out to more and more people in a variety of sounds.
While music was at its peak in Richa's life, academic education had to be sacrificed and without any backing with a dream to make it big in the music world, Richa landed in Mumbai in 1994. She sang cover versions and bhajans to ensure she had her bread and butter and simultaneously continued her struggle in Bollywood. She made her debut in Bollywood with Sawan Kumar's Salma Pe Dil Aa Gaya in 1996 and followed it up by a number of films until the big hit came by in the form of Taal where she sang for A.R. Rahman.
Thereafter a spate of hits followed, Zubeidaa, Saathiya (A.R. Rahman); Hera Pheri (Anu Malik); Khakee (Ram Sampath); Tarkeeb (the song "Duppatte Ka Palu"), Baghban (Title Song for Aadesh Shrivastava); Soch (the song "Nikal Chali Be" for Jatin-Lalit); Rudraksh, Kal Ho Naa Ho (Sad version of the title track for Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy); Gangajal (Sandesh Shandilya); Popcorn Khao Mast Ho Jao (Vishal-Shekhar), Saawariya (Monty Sharma), and Om Shanti Om (Vishal-Shekhar) and the most popular song for Kaante ("Mahi Ve" for Anand Raaj Anand).
The versatile playback singer has also done quite a few albums to showcase her talent. Albums like Ni Main Yaar Nu Sajda Kardi, Piya and Winds of Rajasthan (for Times Music released early 2004) have brought out the class and grace in Richa's voice and her versatility as a singer.
In March 2011, Richa Sharma and her family inaugurated the Saibaba Temple in Faridabad, Haryana and launched her first Saibaba devotional album Sai Ki Tasveer released by SaReGaMa India...
Touqeer Butt of Unity 101 in conversation with Kavita Seth. She was born 1970 and is an Indian singer, who is most known as a playback singer in Hindi cinema, as well as a performer of Ghazals and Sufi music, and leads a Sufi musical group, Karwaan Group.
She won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer in 2010 for her classical Sufi rendition "Gunja Sa Koi Iktara" for the film Wake Up Sid (2009). She also won the Star Screen Award for Best Female Playback for the same song, which was one of the biggest chartbusters in 2009.
Kavita specialises in Sufi-style singing although she also sings geet, ghazal and folk songs. Over the years she has performed at live shows at London, Birmingham, Scotland, Berlin, Oslo and Stockholm and places across India. It was at one of her performance at Muzaffar Ali's International Sufi Festival concert, in Delhi that director Satish Kaushik heard her and offered a song "Zindagi ko Maula", in his film, the Amisha Patel starrer, Vaada (2005), marking her debut as a playback singer. Subsequently, she moved to Mumbai, as this was followed by, "Mujhe Mat Roko" in Anurag Basu's Gangster (2006), for which she received praise.
Besides singing she also composes music. She has composed three songs in N. Chandra's film "Yeh Mera India" (2009). She has also released private albums, including, Woh Ek Lamha, Dil-e-Nadan both Sufi ghazal albums, followed by Sufi music albums, Sufiana (2008) and Hazrat. Her 2008 album Sufiana, composed of couplets of Sufi poet-mystic, Rumi was released at the 800-year-old Khaman Pir Ka Dargah in Lucknow
Eric "Shrizzadelic" Rohner, Saxophonist, Vocal and MC for the HornDogz in conversation with Jim Baker of Unity 101's This Is Soul show. A conversation that takes us through the late 1990s when Eric was developing, meeting his bandmates ,Gil "C-Freak" Garin (trumpet) and Rico "Adiko" Kerridge (guitar / composition). and discovering and meeting George Clinton, Eddie Harris and others.
The Swiss based musician, who has lived in London and now lives in Paris, tells us how the HornDogz met, who has influence him, the pleasure he takes from playing in London and how much fun Paris for a musician. Learning new musical styles and absorbing more music.
Samm Henshaw was born in London, England and was raised by Nigerian parents in South London. Henshaw grew up with music but not in the conventional sense. Nobody in his household played an instrument but there was always sound running through the house, which highly influenced his musical nature. Samm essentially found his love for music and learned to play instruments in his church pastored by his father, where he developed his abilities further. Henshaw spent his secondary years at Cleeve Park School, then went on to study a popular music performance degree at Southampton Solent.
Now an independent artist Samm has been around over about 5 years, has toured with big names, such as James Bay and Chance the Rapper.2020 started strong with an extensive US tour but then teh pandemic struck and Samm contracted Covid himself whilst in Memphis. Contained to a hotel room for two weeks he went through a series of emotions whilst at the same time desperate to get home after his dad fell ill simultaneously. Luckily they both made a full recovery.
His most recent track All good comes from a campaign by Samsung in which they sought for people to upload pictures and then artists, such as Samm, took up the challenge of conveying the message in the picture.
For fans to get involved in Samsung’s Inspired by a True Photo campaign, simply upload a real-life photo taken on your Galaxy device to Instagram, using #withGalaxy, to be in with the chance of having the photo selected to influence unusual and unexpected creations in arts and culture.
Unique Hastings in conversation with Jim Baker of Unity 101's This Is Soul show, a couple of years ago. Unique is a young, talented, RnB and soul lyricist and singer.
Touqeer Butt of Unity 101 in conversation with Hans Raj Hans who is an Indian singer who later became a politician. He is a member of Bharatiya Janata Party and a recipient of the civilian honour of Padma Shri.
He sings Punjabi folk and Sufi music as well as in movies and has also released his own 'Punjabi-pop' albums. He has worked alongside other artists, such as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan in the movie Kachche Dhaage.Hans Raj Hans was born in the village of Shafipur, near to Jalandhar, Punjab, India. Hans joined the Shiromani Akali Dal party in January 2009 and in May of that year, he contested the Jalandhar, Punjab, India constituency. He resigned on 18 December 2014 and joined the Indian National Congress in February 2016. He joined Bharatiya Janata Party on 10 December 2016. He replaced Udit Raj as the candidate for representing North West Delhi in the 2019 Indian general election.
In conversation with Dr Delroy Hall Senior Counsellor, and wellbeing practitioner
Dr Delroy Hall is a trained psychodynamic psychotherapist and is a lifelong learner. He is a senior counsellor and wellbeing practitioner at Sheffield Hallam University, UK, and is developing a private consultancy which offers on-line training, seminars, and webinars sessions dealing with loss and grief, depression, anxiety, and clergy stress. Primarily, Dr Hall is committed to dealing with human pain while developing trust, so people can recover and thrive.
He is an active leader in his community. He is committed to teaching, training and human development and has given lectures at Harvard University and Boston College Massachusetts, USA, and Durham University, UK. He teaches at Leeds Beckett University, UK and was appointed as the Club Chaplain for Sheffield United Football Club in September 2017.
Outside of his normal duties he keeps fit. As a former four hundred metre hurdler, ranked No 2 in Great Britain in 1979, he is presently training to compete in various triathlon events in the UK. He is married and has twin daughters.
Touqeer Butt of Unity 101 in conversation with Yasir Akhtar (born 23 November 1972) is a Pakistani-British filmmaker, singer, songwriter, actor, director and producer. Akhtar is also the owner of film production company called Pegasus Productions.Yasir Akhtar started his singing career as a vocalist in the band The Arid Zone in 1989. 'The Arid Zone' launched their first album in 1993 through EMI Pakistan. Later he also produced and performed in various songs as a musician and singer like Kabhi Tu Hoga Mera Milan, Chandni, Teray Naal Dil, Jogi, Zara Man Ko Dekhna, Aey Sanam, My love, Chan Mai, Laut Aao Na, Choom Loo Aasman, Sansani, Araam Naal Kar, Assalamualaika Ya Nabi(SAW) etc. Yasir also performed in various countries like UK, USA, Pakistan, Greece, Spain, UAE etc.
Yasir Akhtar launched the musical band ‘The Arid Zone’ with his friends Kamran Jelani (Keyboards) and Shareb Jaffer (Guitarist). The trio started touring nationwide after the release of the first album 'The Arid Zone-Vol1.
Besides performing in Pakistan and United Kingdom Yasir Akhtar has performed internationally in New York, Chicago, California, Washington DC, Greece, Spain and more. Yasir Akhtar's musical performances and interviews have been aired on B4U Music, Zee TV, MTV Pakistan, PTV Network, Sony Entertainment, BBC Asian Network and many other prominent television channels
Marta Ren in conversation with Jim Baker of Unity 101. A woman with real talent and a great sense of humour Marta Ren is not a newcomer as she has been around in the Portuguese scene since the mid 90s lending her deep and powerful voice, amongst others, to break-beat outfit The Bombazines, recording two albums and establishing her unique talent at clubs and festivals all around Portugal. But Marta's passion has always been for the deepest funk and rawest soul of the sixties, and now the time has come for her to show the world her immense talent. With a powerful voice that would make the founding soul sisters proud, Marta Ren is looking to rule the world and make herself a household name.
Taking on the burden of leading her own band was the only way for a single minded and talented artist who needed control and the freedom to express herself.
In conversation with Noel McKoy who is a British-based soul music singer. His music is a collection of soul, gospel, funk and Northern soul.[1] He also currently owns the Dutch Pot, a nightclub located in London. He has cited his influences as The Beatles, Dennis Brown, Chaka Khan, Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela. Born in South London, he fronted the James Taylor Quartet in the early 1990s and has duetted with Juliet Roberts, Mica Paris, Vanessa Simon, Beverley Knight and Ebony Alleyne.
He has also been a member of the British Collective with Leee John, Omar Le Foyke and Junior Giscombe and Don E.
Omar is one of the founding members of British Soul Music. Omar Lyefook MBE is without doubt, one of the greatest soul music talents the United Kingdom has produced in the last 40 years. If anyone has doubts about that, then they might want to consider the list of legendary artists who happily line up to collaborate with him musically, or simply sing his praises – from Stevie Wonder, the late Leon Ware, Erykah Badu, Common, through to Carleen Anderson, D’Angelo, and Soul II Soul’s Caron Wheeler, Angie Stone and U.K. artists Courtney Pine, Rodney P, Kele LeRoc, Natasha Watts and Estelle, all appreciate his truly original and unique voice, musicianship and songwriting talent.The musical history of British soul pioneer Omar is renowned – the Lyefook family has musical talent embedded deep in their DNA, Omars’ father Byron worked as a studio musician and drummer with Bob Marley, Horace Andy and even The Rolling Stones. Omars’ younger brother, the Grammy winning producer, remixer and DJ professionally known as Scratch Professer has been making jaws drop since the age of 13, stunning the crowd at the 1988 DMC UK Finals with his turntable skills. Samia Lye-Fook (Omar’s sister) is a renowned vocalist in her own right, and a BRIT School alumna, then there’s their big brother….Omar.
Born October 14, 1968, in London but raised in Canterbury, gifted, prolific and considered a musical prodigy; Omar learned his craft classically, playing the trumpet, piano, bass guitar and percussion. A former principal percussionist of the Kent Youth Orchestra and later a graduate of the Guildhall School Of Music, Omar has been making music for more than 32 years.
Back in 1985 he released his first single ‘Mr Postman’ on his father Bryons’ Kongo label, which was also the original home for his first album, which contained the track that changed everything… ‘There’s Nothing Like This’
Yash Narvekat in conversation with Haimanti Kumar of Unity 101. Yash Narvekar is an Indian playback singer, composer and lyricist who has written and sung "Mere Dil Mein" in the film Half Girlfriend, "Teri Yaadon Mein" in Behen Hogi Teri, and "Gulabi 2.0" in Noor among a number of popular songs such as Street Dancer 3D and Marjaavaan.
Unity 101 in conversation with Miss England, Model and Doctor, Bhasha Mukherjee (born 5 November 1995)who is an Indian doctor, model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss England 2019 and represented England at the Miss World 2019 pageant.
Bhasha Mukherjee took a career break as a junior doctor after competing in the Miss World pageant in December 2019. At the beginning of March, the 24-year-old had been in India for four weeks on behalf of Coventry Mercia Lions Club, a development and community charity for which she was ambassador. They visited schools with donations of stationery, and also gave money to a home for abandoned girls.
But as the coronavirus situation worsened back home in the UK, Mukherjee was getting messages from former colleagues at her old hospital, the Pilgrim Hospital in Boston, eastern England, telling her how hard the situation was for them.
Mukherjee contacted the hospital's management team to let them know that she wanted to return to work.
Haimanti Kumar of Unity 101 in conversation with Birmingham born musician, writer, producer and actor Apache Indian. Steven Kapur (born 11 May 1967), known by the stage name Apache Indian, is a British singer-songwriter and reggae DJ. He had a series of hits during the 1990s.
He is a philanthropist who spends a great deal of time working in his college to support local youth.
Faisal Javed in Conversation with Shafqat Amanat Ali Khan (born 26 February 1965) a Pakistani classical singer belonging to Patiala Gharana lineage. He was the lead vocalist of the Pakistani rock band Fuzön until 2006. He was awarded the President's Pride of Performance civil award on 23 March 2008.
"Aankhon Ke Saagar," "Khamaj," "Ankhiyan" and "Mitwa" are some of his most popular works. He also sang the songs "Phir Wohi Raastey" and "Allah Megh De" for a Pakistani film named Ramchand Pakistani.
Nikki Sweet chats to Manoj Raithatha about his 2nd book Filthy Rich, an autobiography about how he became rich as a property developer, and the consequences of the economic collapse - published by Lions Hudson.
Unity was lucky to get the first British interview with Tanika Charles when she released her first album. The Canadian soul artist was relaxed and fully open to discuss her past, how a relationship was the basis for a hit single. Luckily we have had permission from the Record Kicks label to include tracks from her album Soul Run in the interview.
In this conversation William Bell talks about Stax, its collapse and the effect upon the artists, his relationship and sense of loss with regard to Otis Redding and the rest of his career. William Bell( born July 16, 1939) is one of the great soul singers, but is even more prolific as a songwriter. His hit songs include his first hit You Don't Miss Your Water"; 1968's top 10 hit in the UK "Private Number", a duet with Judy Clay. A s a close friend of Otis Redding he also wrote the amazing "A Tribute to a King", which as he sates during the conversation was written for Otis's family and only released as a single because they insisted upon it.
As a songwriter he has written many great tracks including the soul/blues cross over Born Under a Bad Sign, a hit for everyone from Cream, B B King, Jimi Hendrix, Etta James to Homer Simpson.
In 2017, Bell was awarded a Grammy for Best Americana Album for his record This Is Where I Live. He performed his hit “Born Under a Bad Sign” alongside Gary Clark Jr. at the 2017 Grammy Awards. Bell was also featured on Rolling Stone's “Best of the Grammys” for that year.
Unity 101's Faizal in conversation with Aima Baig, Born 10 March 1995 she is a Pakistani singer and scriptwriter. She is known for her brief appearance in Dunya News' program Mazaaq Raat from 2015 to 2017. She rose to fame after her work on Lahore Se Aagey (2016), after which she gained popularity through many other soundtracks and her appearance in Coke Studio. She was awarded Tamgha-e-Fakhre-Imtiaz in August 2019.
This is a conversation with a great funk master, Bill Curtis (Mr Fatback)
BILL CURTIS FOUNDER, CO-PRODUCER & LEADER OF FATBACK. TRAIL BLAZER, LOVER OF MUSIC AND WORSHIPPER OF THE FUNK!.
Bill Curtis has performed with influential artists Jackie Wilson, Marvin Gaye, The Moonglows, King Curtis, Ruth Brown, Jesse Belvin, The Ohio Players, Earth, Wind & Fire, Aretha Franklin and countless others and has received several invitations to the White House. Anyone who listens to the opening bars of Wicky Wacky, Bus Stop or Spanish Hustle knows how much he has influenced funk and soul music for a lifetime or two.
The story continues and he discusses the past and the present. Hip hop, before Sugarhill there was Fatback and Bill Curtis and Friends are still touring and delivering new music that deserves to be heard.
Shujat Ali Khan, is the grandson of legendary classical singer Ustad Salamat Ali Khan and son of leading contemporary classical maestro the late Sharafat Ali Khan and nephew of Ustad Sahfqat Ali Khan. London based music producer NaamLess spent years learning his craft from none other than Rishi Rich. He has in a short span of time became one of the 'must use' producers and has worked with a huge array of artists in his studio The Heights. Recent clients include Abbas Hasan, Kiran Dhanoa, Navin Kundra and the superstar Yo Yo Honey Singh. He also recently topped the charts with his own album The Heights EP.
British born NaamLess grew up with many diverse musical influences surrounding him which led to meddling around with music production at the age of 9, as the years progressed so has his craft.
NaamLess could easily have been marketed as the youngest music producer/DJ when he was in his early teens as his dad San-j Sanj (Xzecutive) pioneered the British Asian music scene in the 80's/90's thus his musical journey would have easily been paved. Nonetheless, it was fated that NaamLess studied whilst nurturing his artistry.
Having achieved an A Level in music, NaamLess aspired to compose a career in music but only after graduating in Economics at UEL. Making a name for himself initially as a DJ (The DJ With No Name) whilst he was in school, a few years of regular DJ'ing and he soon realised that music production was absolutely much closer to his heart. During his uni years, NaamLess worked under the guidance of super music producer Rishi Rich, assisting in productions and also working on his solo projects. During his learning years NaamLess remixed and produced for the likes of Abbas Hasan, Kiran Dhanoa, Navin Kundra and Amar Singh. A multigenre music producer who has dabbled with DubStep, House, Hip Hop, Ballads and more, he is comfortable in all zones and at this stage in his career refuses to be pigeon holed.
NaamLess acquired Rishi Rich's iconic studio The Heights in 2014
Jr Dread is a DJ and a Producer of music. He grew up around his who had a sound system. His Djing sets consist of a variety of music from across the globe, reflecting his upbringing, from reggae to funk, Punjabi folk to rock and back again. Everything was thrown onto the decks without prejudice, resulting in Jr Dread being exposed to diverse crowds and open minded music lovers. Here he is in conversation with Kelly from Unity 101.
Joshi & Javid in conversation, in Hindi, with the multi talented Ajay Singh Deol (born 19 October 1956),better known as Sunny Deol, is an Indian film actor, director, producer, politician and the current member of parliament from Gurdaspur (Lok Sabha constituency) of Punjab State. He is known for his work in Hindi cinema, and has won two National Film Awards and two Filmfare Awards.
Deol made his debut opposite fellow debutante Amrita Singh in Betaab (1982), for which he received a Filmfare Best Actor Award nomination. Subsequently, he went on to star in numerous successful films in the 1980s and 1990s and considered one of the most successful stars of that time. With his portrayal of an amateur boxer wrongly accused of his brother's murder in Rajkumar Santoshi's Ghayal in 1990, Deol gained wide recognition and praise and won the Filmfare Award for Best Actor and the National Film Award – Special Jury Award / Special Mention (Feature Film). His portrayal of a lawyer in the film Damini – Lightning (1993) won him the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor and the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor. Anil Sharma's Gadar: Ek Prem Katha (2001), in which Deol portrayed a lorry driver who falls in love with a Muslim girl, was the highest grossing Bollywood film ever at the time of its release, and garnered him a Filmfare Best Actor Award nomination
Soweto Kinch is an Alto Saxophonist, MC and Hip Hop Artist. He is a jazz musician with a direct cultural and emotional link to the communities that he came from, and this influences his art. He is Black British , of Jamaican and Barbadian descent. He has a history degree from Oxford University, and that informs him, what is clear from the conversation is that it does not shape who he is.
We suspect he would be more likely to agree with Maya Angelou "The more you know your history, the more liberated you are."
In 2019 he released an Album called Black Peril, which told the story of the 1919 Race Riots in the United Kingdom. He followed this with Arts Council funded project that took him to the Docks areas within the cities and Black and minority communities that were targets of white mobs, racism and attack in 1919, but also helped him understand the nature of the way those communities that resisted and fought back.
This third and final part of the three interviews talks about Jazz and music, communities, Afro-centrism, composing Magnus opus, George the Poet, collaboration, power & the dynamics of race, can we learn from previous generations.
Soweto Kinch is an Alto Saxophonist, MC and Hip Hop Artist. He is a jazz musician with a direct cultural and emotional link to the communities that he came from, and this influences his art. He is Black British , of Jamaican and Barbadian descent. He has a history degree from Oxford University, and that informs him, what is clear from the conversation is that it does not shape who he is.
We suspect he would be more likely to agree with Maya Angelou "The more you know your history, the more liberated you are."
In 2019 he released an Album called Black Peril, which told the story of the 1919 Race Riots in the United Kingdom. He followed this with Arts Council funded project that took him to the Docks areas within the cities and Black and minority communities that were targets of white mobs, racism and attack in 1919, but also helped him understand the nature of the way those communities that resisted and fought back.
This second part of the three interviews talks about music, communities, history and the Black Peril project.
Soweto Kinch is an Alto Saxophonist, MC and Hip Hop Artist. He is a jazz musician with a direct cultural and emotional link to the communities that he came from, and this influences his art. He is Black British , of Jamaican and Barbadian descent. He has a history degree from Oxford University, and that informs his, what is clear from the conversation is that it does not shape who he is.
We suspect he would be more likely to agree with Maya Angelou "The more you know your history, the more liberated you are."
In 2019 he released an Album called Black Peril, which told the story of the 1919 Race Riots in the United Kingdom. He followed this with Arts Council funded project that took him to the Docks areas within the cities and Black and minority communities that were targets of white mobs, racism and attack in 1919, but also helped him understand the nature of the way those communities that resisted and fought back.
This first part of the three interviews talks about music, communities, history and the Black Peril project.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY YESTERDAY TO WYCLEF. Upon the release of his album Jouvert Wyclef Jean and Jim Baker of Unity 101 had a conversation about his music, his beliefs and his plans for the future.
Nel Ust Wyclef Jean (born October 17, 1969) is a Haitian rapper, musician and actor. At the age of nine, Jean immigrated to the United States with his family. He first achieved fame as a member of the New Jersey hip hop group the Fugees. Jean has won three Grammy Awards for his musical work.
Jean's highly publicized efforts to raise relief funds after the 2010 Haitian earthquake were channeled through his charitable organization, Yéle Haiti. The charity, which conducted education and welfare activities in Haiti between 2005 and 2010, effectively closed in 2012. Yéle was investigated for failure to file tax returns and mismanagement of funds; a high proportion of its money went to travel and administrative expense. The New York Times reported that much of the money raised by the organization in the Hope for Haiti Now telethon was retained by Jean for his own benefit.
On August 5, 2010, Jean filed for candidacy in the 2010 Haitian presidential election.[9] However, Haiti's Provisional Electoral Council ruled him ineligible to stand for office, as he had not met the constitutional requirement to have been a resident in Haiti for five years prior to the election.
In 2012, Jean published his memoir Purpose: An Immigrant's Story. Along with Carlos Santana, Avicii and Alexandre Pires, he was chosen to perform the closing ceremony at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Their single, "Dar um Jeito (We Will Find a Way)", the official World Cup anthem, was released on April 29, 2014.
Since the conversation Wyclef has released
- 2017: Carnival III: The Fall and Rise of a Refugee[94]
- 2019: Wyclef Goes Back To School Volume 1
Cobersation in Urdu with Ashir Azeem Pakistani-Canadian film and television director, actor, writer and former civil services officer who rose to fame through television series Dhuwan in 1994 and now hosts a political reform based web-series on his YouTube channel.
He is married to Bushra Ashir Azeem, has two children and is a dual Pakistani-Canadian citizen.
Ashir Azeem was born in Quetta in 1962 where he attended early schooling. he received degree of BBA from Institute of Business Administration, Karachi in 1984–1986. In 1988, Ashir joined Central Superior Services of Pakistan. While working in there, he wrote a story about the Pakistan Armed Forces. Later one of his colleagues advised him to create a television serial on his story. The serial titled Dhuwan based on his story was aired on Pakistan Television Corporation (now PTV Home) in 1994. He appeared in the serial as the lead actor and gained public recognition. Dhuwan became popular all over the country and received positive response. Ashir then moved to Canada. In 2015, he announced his debut film Maalik which he wrote in 1993. The film was directed written and co-produced by Ashir and was released on 8 April 2016. Ashir also acted in Hassan Rana's film YalghaarOn 7 July 2017, through his Twitter account, Azeem revealed that he currently drives a 22-wheeler truck in Canada as his main source of income. He also has a YouTube channel in which he discusses his views about governance, political, and societal issues of Pakistan
Keesha (Vibrants Vibes) visits elders from Southampton's BAME community at their Luncheon Club in Priory Road, Southampton. Sampling the food and atmosphere as people from local communities come together to partake and to share conversation and friendship.
London based talented singer SAI (say it just like that) in conversation with Jim Baker (Unity 101 This Is Soul) . Sai has released a brand new song entitled, ‘Million Bucks’. Debuting her career by writing a song on Ariana Grande’s 1st album, SAI is a soulful singer-songwriter and classically trained piano player with Algerian, Persian, French and Manchester roots. Her latest track, ‘Million Bucks’, is clever, intricate and totally danceable RnB, British soul at its best.
London based talented singer SAI (say it just like that) in conversation with Jim Baker (Unity 101 This Is Soul) . Sai has released a brand new song entitled, ‘Million Bucks’. Debuting her career by writing a song on Ariana Grande’s 1st album, SAI is a soulful singer-songwriter and classically trained piano player with Algerian, Persian, French and Manchester roots. Her latest track, ‘Million Bucks’, is clever, intricate and totally danceable RnB, British soul at its best.
Diljit Dosanjh in conversation on Unity 101 with Nikki Kaur. Diljit Dosanjh (born 6 January 1984) is an Indian singer-songwriter, actor and television presenter who works in Punjabi and Hindi cinema. He is recognised as one of the leading artists in the Indian music industry. He also acts in Punjabi movies, with many of them being commercially successful, including Jatt & Juliet, Jatt & Juliet 2, Punjab 1984, Sardaar Ji, Ambarsariya, Sardaar Ji 2, Super Singh, Sajjan Singh Rangroot and Shadaa – which are among the most successful Punjabi movies in history.
He made his Bollywood debut in 2016 with the crime thriller Udta Punjab for which he earned the Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut. However, this was followed by films that failed to propel his career forward in the Hindi film industry. This changed with his supporting role in the comedy Good Newwz (2019), for which he received nomination for Best Supporting Actor at Filmfare. As of 2020, he has won the most five PTC Award for Best Actor. He has also appeared as a judge in three seasons of the reality show Rising Star. In 2020, Dosanjh entered Social 50 chart by Billboard, following the release of his 11th album G.O.A.T.. Also, the album entered top 20 in Canadian Albums Chart
Ankit Tiwari in conversation on Unity 101 with Touqueer Butt, Ankit is an Indian playback singer, music director, composer. His career began upon meeting Pradeep Sarkar where he got a chance to work on jingles and started composing background music for television programmes. Subsequently, he was offered to compose music for Do Dooni Chaar (2010) and Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster (2011), where he started his singing career with the song he composed for the later.
In 2014, he collaborated with Mohit Suri for Ek Villain, where he give fabulous music & also he sung "Galliyan". For the track he received another two nominations in Filmfare Awards winning the Best Male Playback Singer Award He also recorded the song "O Yara" for the Pakistani film, Bin Roye.
This is Gurdas Mann in conversation n Unity 101 with Joshi & Javed.
Gurdas Maan (born 4 January 1957) is an Indian singer, songwriter, choreographer and actor mainly associated with Punjabi language music and films. He gained national attention in 1980 with the song "Dil Da Mamla Hai". Since then, he has gone on to record over 34 albums and has written over 305 songs. In 2013 he announced the launch of his YouTube channel to stay connected with his fans via video blogs and old as well as new music videos. In 2015 he performed on the song "Ki Banu Dunia Da" with Diljit Dosanjh in MTV Coke studio India that was aired in season 4 episode 5 (16 August 2015) on MTV India
Maan was born to Gurdev Singh and Tej Kaur in Giddarbaha, Punjab and is a native of the town.
side from singing in Punjabi, he is fluent in Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Haryanvi and Rajasthani. As an actor, he has performed in Punjabi, Hindi and Tamil movies, but he is best known for his starring role in Waris Shah: Ishq Daa Waaris, a depiction of the Punjabi poet Waris Shah during the creation of his epic poem Heer Ranjha, again co-starring Juhi Chawla and Divya Dutta. He made a special appearance in Veer-Zaara with Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta.
This is another in a series of conversations with musical and arts icons. This conversation is Leee John chatting to Jim Baker, after the release of the British Collective album. Celebrating over 30 years in the entertainment industry, Leee John has been an all round artist, singer, writer, record producer, actor and recently a film producer.
Leee came to the world’s attention with his group Imagination which he founded in the early 80s. Imagination was signed by Morgan Khan of Street Sound fame after hearing the track "Got To Be Good". Produced by Trevor Horn (producer of Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Seal, Grace Jones to name but a few), the master tape was sent to the States to get reproduced but unfortunately got lost and the outcome looked bleak.
Leee was introduced to producer Tony Swain and given a piece of music to write some lyrics and a melody. He went home and came up with what became Imagination’s first GOLD RECORD. The hit single "Body Talk". With hits such as "In And Out Of Love", "Flashback", "Music And Lights", "In The Heat Of The Night" and "Just An Illusion", millions of singles were sold internationally.
Imagination also went platinum worldwide with sales in excess of 30 million albums
This is a conversation between Soul/RnB singer Junior Giscombe and Jim Baker (Unity101), drawn from our archive and linked to the release of the British soul superstars collaboration album released under the heading The British Collective.
Norman Washington "Junior" Giscombe (born 6 June 1957) was born in London and is one the finest soul singer-songwriters Britain has produced. He has been successful in the United States and was the first Black British artist to appear on the legendary Soul Train show in the USA, with the release of his song Mama Used To Say which was only kept off the No1 spot in America by Stevie Wonder, a story Junior recounts in the conversation.
The album Vol 1 The Renaissance Begins was released in 2016 by the The British Collective (featuring Don E, Noel McKoy, Omar, Leee John and Junior Giscombe).
Although still a great singer and live performer Junior works with other artists, including new talent, and continues to make his mark on UK and worldwide soul.
This is another Unity 101 Conversation from our archive of great material. Bups Saggu chats with Nikki Kaur abour his career and how he sees his future. Bups is a world renowned, award-winning Asian music producer and DJ who had countless chart topping hits and performed on numerous platforms across the globe.
He has had a number of hit tracks and as well as being a very successful producer his roadshow is a full fledged event with light shows and great AV.
Our colleague Mandeep Singh is in conversation with Yuvraj Hans who is a Punjabi actor and singer. He is the son of Hans Raj Hans, a Punjabi singer (who is the subject of another conversation to be aired soon as a Podcast).
This conversation is in Punjabi and is a few years old, since when he has married Mansi Sharma in February 2019 and they now have a baby boy Hredaan Yuvraj Hans in May 2020.
Yuvraj was educated at the Laxman Public School Hauz Khas New Delhi and from Apeejay College of Fine Arts Jalandhar, Yuvraj decided to follow his father's footsteps in the Punjabi music industry and is a rising star in the emerging Punjabi film industry. He was born in Jalandhar, but now splits his time between Jalandhar and Mumbai. His elder brother is Navraj Hans, who is also a singer and actor.
Yuvraj has appeared in two Punjabi feature films. His acting debut was in Yaar Annmulle and was a success. Yaar Annmulle also starred Arya Babbar and Harish Verma. Yuvraj's portrayal of a shy and intelligent college student earned him the debut award at the 5th Punjabi Film Festival. This was followed by Buurraahh, in 2012
This conversation is in Urdu and is between Faisal (Unity101) and Zamad Baig, the first Pakistan Idol. Is is from Mandi Bahauddin. Encouraged by colleagues, he began participating in music competitions at school and later in college. Over time, having gained confidence, he formed a multitude of bands and performed Sufi songs at prestigious venues.
His career then change in April 2014 when he became first winner of Pakistan Idol. He auditioned in Lahore and performed "Ye Jo halka Halka Suroor" Fakhir version.
He had a motor car accident in 2018 but has recovered and is now a successful singer/performer.
This is a conversation between Missri (Unity101) and Apache Indian a few years ago. Born into a family of Indian origins, Steven Kapur (real name) was raised in Handsworth, Birmingham, UK, a racially mixed area with large Black and Asian communities, home of reggae bands such as Steel Pulse, and by the early 1980s he was working with local sound systems and grew dreadlocks.
Lyrically, Apache Indian usually sings in Jamaican Patois. He has written songs about serious topics, such as "Arranged Marriage", "Aids Warning", and "Election Crisis". as well as lighter songs such as "Boom Shack-A-Lak", "Jump Up", "Girls Dem Fiyah", and "Celebrate".
His most well know track Boomshakalak" is featured in several Hollywood movies, including Dumb and Dumber and Dumb and Dumber To. It is also featured on the soundtrack for Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, along with artists such as Fatboy Slim, The B-52's, 2 Unlimited and New Radicals and the movie "Threesome". It is also featured in many TV adverst.
Tony O'Malley (born 15 July 1948 in Bushey, Hertfordshire) is a British composer, singer, arranger, and keyboard player. He was the keyboardist for Arrival who had a No. 8 UK hit with "Friends" (written by Terry Reid) in 1970, and the hit "I Will Survive", written and arranged by fellow Arrival member Frank Collins. Following this he became one of the founder members of the british soul band Kokomo. He joined 10cc in 1977, after the departures of Kevin Godley and Lol Creme, and played on their live album, Live and Let Live.
He now leads the 'Tony O'Malley Band' which is completed by Richie Aikman on guitar, Sonny Winslow on bass and Ally McDougal on drums.
This conversation is from the Unity 101 Radio Station Archives and was first aired on Jim Baker's This Is Soul show.
Unfortunately because of copyright permissions we cannot play all the songs that Tony mentions in the conversation but there is a new track at the end of the conversation that is unreleased.
There are similarities between 1919 and 2020.
An economy in collapse, major unemployment, a pandemic (Spanish flu in WW1 and Covid now) and civil unrest.
The president, the attorney general, theFBI, j edgar hoover (in 1919) a network of presidential appointments all locating blame for riots, lynchings and racist attacks on black people.
100 years later so little has changed and old tactics seem to continually resurface.
Ivor Gabriel Landsman was sent to prison for fighting to defend Butetown in Cardiff against the white mob. He was unusual, he was a Black man born in Butetown in 1899, a forerunner of the many who were to follow. He fought in World War 1. being invalided out in December 1917 at the age of 19.
He came home to Wales and after losing his mother in 1918, in 1919 at the age of 20 he stood his ground and defended his Butetown against the white mob who attacked it, shooting at three white members of the mob. For that he received three years in prison.
He represents much that is unusual and too be respected in the new Welsh, the Black people that came from all over the British Empire to settle in the Docks towns, to marry, create families with white women.
His father was from the tiny Dutch West Indies of Sint Eustatius, and it is unlikely he knew his Caribbean family. He was unusual, born into Wales and like those that followed he fought to be a citizen, to make a life, to be Welsh.
He represents much that is distinct about Black Welsh people, seeing themselves so clearly as Welsh first.
It was argued in the 1970s that Racism had been instutionalised because of the introduction of the Immigration Act in 1971. The argument presented here is that in reality this had already happened in 1919. The way that the 1919 race riots was dealt with by government, the trade unions and the media provideing a blueprint for generations to follow.
The events of 1971 were actually in response to the Windrush generation, which of course includes Ugandan Asians.
In a way that is the problem, so much of history about black and minority people has been written about the post 1950 generation of arrivals, but the experience of those in Wales who were third generation by then is a forgotten history.
In every sense wales (like Liverpool) has a different history and that history is an invisible one that needs telling more than ever. Our road to citizenship is a lesson to be learnt from, not ignored. The 1919 events are also to be learnt from because so much pracised then by the state and the media is now normal behaviour.
The British Government looked around in 1919 and saw a growing menace in the Soviet Union, a land led by Lenin, a land of Bolsheviks intent on spreading the fire of revolution across the world. More importantly they believed that the most powerful unions in Britain had been infected by this new disease.
Prime Minister David Lloyd George called the bluff of the `Triple Alliance' of Coal, Transport and Rail. Making it clear to them that if there was a general strike the Government would collapse and the unions would have to run the country. Clearly he knew that although the rank and file union members might be militant their leaders were not.
The problem for Black people is that this meant that they could be used as a smokescreen to deflect bad times onto, and they were.
India suffered a significant cost during world war one. Over one million Indian troops served overseas, of whom 62,000 died and another 67,000 were wounded.
In total at least 74,187 Indian soldiers died during the war. In World War I the Indian Army fought against the German Empire in German East Africa and on the Western Front.
Indian men were also a significant part of Mercantile marine (later to be called the merchant navy). Unfortunately we cannot say how many died because the British government destroyed those records after the war.
The situation in India changed because of Mohandas “Mahatma” Gandhi’s social efforts, beginning in India from 1915-1920 and onward, creating a popular vision for India that began to spread among ordinary Indians.
Into this climate of demands of peaceful change came Merchant seaman forcefully repatriated from the British Merchant Navy, soldiers disillusioned by fighting for but receiving freedom, and people in India experiencing repressive laws and the brutality displayed in the Amritsar Massacre.
India began a bonfire of change that was to finally consume and destroy the British Empire after World War Two.
For African Americans, World War I highlighted the widening gap between U.S. rhetoric regarding "the war to make the world safe for democracy" and the reality of disenfranchised and exploited black farmers in the South or the poor and alienated residents of the Northern slums.
Despite the bravery and sacrifice of soldiers like the Harlem Hellfighters the belief of intellectuals like W E B DuBois that participating in the war would lead to equality at home was soon shown to be flawed. As African Americans realized that President Wilson’s notion of “democracy” did not extend to them, they evolved a collective will to fight back against mob violence rather than turn the other cheek.
The racism and violence experienced by black people led veterans in northern cities to create defence groups and even to place snipers on rooftops. After this there was no turning back to the days of sullen acceptance and violence that was never likely to lead to court action, let alone sentence for racists. 1919 saw a resurgence of the KKK and those like it but it also led to an undercurrent that may have led to the Black panther movement.
Chapter 20: The Red Summer of 1919. Race Riots, Brutality and the deaths of Black People under attack by white mobs. Across the United States in 1919 there was a brutal swathe of racial violence leading to hundreds of Black people being shot, lynched and burnt to death.
The story is told by the The History Guy a superb American Youtube site that you should subscribe to.
The credit for this work is with Waymark Productions. The Omaha race riot occurred in Omaha, Nebraska, September 28–29, 1919. The Race Riot resulted in the brutal lynching of Will Brown, a black worker; the death of two white rioters; the attempted hanging of Mayor Edward Parson Smith; the injuries of many Omaha Police Department officers as well as white and black civilians; and a public rampage by thousands of white rioters who set fire to the Douglas County Courthouse in downtown Omaha
Although our work relates directly to the Race Riots in Wales, these events had a world context. The Race related murder and brutality occurred across the United States and there the level of brutality was staggering to those of us in Britain. Nowhere suffered like Elaine County, the level of brutality was sanctioned, accepted even expected, hunting season was literally declared by white people and the prey was any black person they saw.
This story is told by the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, narrated by the great actor Ossie Davis. This is Part Two.
Although our work relates directly to the Race Riots in Wales, these events had a world context. The Race related murder and brutality occurred across the United States and there the level of brutality was staggering to those of us in Britain. Nowhere suffered like Elaine County, the level of brutality was sanctioned, accepted even expected, hunting season was literally declared by white people and the prey was any black person they saw.
This story is told by the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, narrated by the great actor Ossie Davis. This Part One.
This short story tells us who the perpetrators were that instigated and encouraged the riots in Cardiff. It identifies the 10 men arrested by the Police and found guilty in Swansea Court. It shows us that these men were career criminals, not men who had lost their jobs because of Black men. A mob is an explosion but to continue that over a number of days requires the flames to be constantly fanned and these men were the constant spark.
This short story outlines, and names, what happened to the 15 Black men arrested by the Police during the race riots in Cardiff. It explains how they were treated by the Court, the fact that some of them actually received compensation, even one of the men sent to prison, and shows that despite the lies and deceits in the Press the men received reasonable fair treatment in the Court.
This short story addresses the nature of the Race Riots in Liverpool in 1919. Created by Hatch TV in collaboration with Writing on the Wall and the Geography Department of Liverpool University the Narration is by Janiya Pickett. The accompanying video can be seen on our You Tube site 1919 The Year of Revolt and Race Riot or on WOW's own site.
It uses the streets and the identities of the actual victims of the riot to walk us along the path of tragedy and destruction in June 1919 Liverpool.
We are grateful to WOW for allowing us to use their production.
The Black British Empire contributed significantly to World War 1, financially giving millions of pounds and also sending millions of soldiers. Soldiers from the West Indies and Africa being used as servant and menial labour. The British Army treated these soldiers in a directly racist manner, denying most of them the opportunity to fight because they did not want the Germans to despise them for needing savages to help them win the war; making the black soldiers dig toilets for white soldiers and prisoners and carry munitions to the front. The Black soldiers went on strike after finding that they were denied a pay rise because of their race, this resulting in firing squad and prison.
This is a timeline of the events in the UK in 1919 that were precursors to a potential revolution. Striking soldiers, strikes, the creation of an independent Ireland, mutinies and white mobs attacking black and minority people across the UK.
The British Government were afraid of a Bolshevik uprising in 1919 in the UK and it very nearly happened.
The Race Riots in Wales in June 1919 started in Newport on the 6th June and despite crowds involving over a thousand white men and women, no-one was killed. Mary Ellen Sheedy (a white woman charged with riotous assembly) tried to set fire to a Boarding house and became the only woman in the mob to be charged during the riots in Wales.
The events in Newport have received little publicity in the last Century but the mob wreaked havoc in a very small part of Newport.
8 white men and 1 white woman were charged in Court, alongside 32 Black seaman.
The Black seaman had all served in World War One aboard the merchant ships, and some of them were to die in World War 2.
The Race Riots in Wales in June 1919 started in Newport on the 6th June but on the 11th June they started in Barry, Wales. This Docks town was the scene of the first death in the Riots when a seaman from the Caribbean stabbed a white local man during a fight. The fact that the white man (Frederick Longman) did nothing to stop the crowd violence that was to follow but there were no further deaths.
Charles Emmanuel went to prison for the killing of Longman.
This chapter of `secret' history is not taught in local schools.
The riots may have been a turning point for Black seaman and soldiers because despite the State trying to persuade them to accept repatriation (they were British Subjects and could not be officially be deported against their will) , they did not take the offer of a one way ticket home, the men and their white wives decided to stay and because of that their ancestors are Welsh citizens.
The British Soldiers were angry at not being demobilised but they were not the only ones. Canadian soldiers were also very angry at not being sent home and this anger led to at least 2 major riots. The first in Kinmel Bay in Wales and then in Epsom, Surrey where a police officer was killed.
Finally the soldiers were demobbed but they had little money, minimum job prospects, very bad housing conditions and wives who had changed because of war work. In the 1918 election these soldiers were promised new job, new housing and a bright new future. None of these things were available when they returned home and that made them angry as events proved.
When workers went on strike Belfast in 1919 it was within days of the declaration of an Irish Republic and 2 police constables being shot in an ambush. The workers brought Belfast to a complete halt cutting off electricity (although the kept hospitals supplied). The Government reacted by bringing in the army, placing machine guns at the electricity station and other vital infrastructure locations, breaking the strike.
In 1919 Glasgow workers called a General Strike, brought transport and commerce to a halt. The police attacked them but were repulsed in George Square and the Government reacted by bringing in the army. The streets being filled by soldiers and tanks, strikers leaders being arrested until the strike was broken.
In 1919 Prime Minister David Lloyd George had a wealth of bad news crossing his desk about the state of Britain. The public knew very little about this, especially in relation to the British Empire, with the newspapers feeding them watered down and `spin' stories to cover events. One major concern for Government in London was the state of the British Empire post World War One.
An issue that caused significant worries for the British Government in 1918 and 1919. After they realised that the promise made by Prime Minister David Lloyd George that they would be demobilised extremely quickly after the war. This was one of the critical promises made in the 1918 General Election. In 1919 there were over 50 soldiers mutinies and 100,000 soldiers refused to obey orders.
Across America in 1919 there was a bloodbath of events that terrorised and victimised Black communities across the U.S.A. We list a timeline of 37 brutal riots and attacks from Louisiana to Chicago.
President Woodrow Wilson and the FBI blamed Black people for the actions of the white mobs, accusing NAACP and others of agitating and even of being Bolsheviks, but it would be very wrong to see all of those Black people as passive, in fact those in some of the major Northern cities fought back and resisted the brutality that they faced.
The legacy of these events has not gone away, the actions of the police, the FBI and Government set a tone that was not new but it is clear that Black people, especially returning soldiers were no longer willing to put their rage against injustice back in the box it was simply one step too far.
There was more happening in America than race riots but we will come to that in a later episode, In this episode we provide a context and set out the attitude of Government.
- The war years were a time of harsh laws against sedition and freedom of speech and action across the British Empire. Resources needed by Britiain and their allies were taken from those countries that lived under the Britian's flag and rule. By 1919 those future nations had become further politicised and wanted independence or a better relationship with the British Government.
However, the reaction of the British Government and their representatives in those countries was either to ignore that chngine environment or to be brutal about suppressing demands.
These reactions led to unrest (for example in Ceylon), revolt (Egypt), independence movements (such as the Sinn Fein and the declaration of Irish independence) and death (The Amritsar Massacre in the Punjab).
Those events have set a political and strategic climate that has dominated the world ever since.
This video is a precurssor to individual consideration of each of those flashpoint nations.