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Who knew mermaids could be Black?

New blog post 🚨🚨 Who knew mermaids could be Black? From Ariel to Mami Wata and back to Arieln via Ulysees 31 (and yes that's why sirens are called sirens)

I’m really looking forward to seeing the Disney live action of The Little Mermaid starring Halle Bailey, this May. As someone who is sometimes voiceless I have always felt an affinity with Ariel, however, unlike her I didn’t become mute because I traded in my voice for the love of a Prince (or if you look at the original Hans Christian Andersen version no one cut my tongue off). Anyway, I…

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#african american #ashanti #black narratives matter #book review #book reviews #books #halle bailey #mami wata #mermaids #mythology #natasha bowen #netgalley #review #skin of the sea #the little mermaid #yoruba

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Hope & Glory

Going through my notepad re books I should have written reviews on

Hope & Glory is the debut  novel from Jendella Benson.  Being set in Peckham, with a cast primarily from Nigeria I found the book highly relatable. It covered a variety of themes including joint enterprise, religion and a family secret. One thing I really appreciated was how Benson delved into the different ways in which blackness (particularly West Africaness) is experienced in Britain. It…

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#black authors #black britain #black british authors #black narratives matter #book review #book reviews #books #jendella benson #let&039;s read #netgalley #review

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Is this what 50 looks like? Black Women's Hour at 50 (episodes)

It's our anniversary, and tomorrow we'll be dropping our 50th episode of @hour_womans tomorrow. Did you know you can catch us on all the platforms (not just Youtube) - subscribe and listen now!

Not this 50 😂 Followers of me on Twitter will know that I’ve been a regular on the Black Woman’s Hour podcast for the past two years. The anniversary of my debut on the pod has just passed. And you may recall, I joined as a guest on episode 3, and it’s nice to think we are still going and have hit the milestone of 50 episodes. We did take a longer than planned hiatus last summer (it wasn’t just…

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#Ava Vidal #black britain #black narratives matter #black womans hour #podcast #spotify

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Can I Mix You a Drink - Book Review

Can I Mix You a Drink - Book Review. For the budding mixologists amongst you. Thank you @netgalley

I was recently told that I seem to read a lot of serious drinks. This was by someone who has met me post the first three lockdowns, or was that two. If they had met me this time last year, they would have learnt that I developed some serious mixology skills as I attended many rum tasting sessions from the comfort of my home and learnt to make many a cocktail. It’s against this backdrop that I…

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#alcohol #book review #book reviews #books #can i mix you a drink #cocktails #mixology #netgalley #non fiction #t-pain

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A Bigger Picture - Book Review

"Although the African continents has just about 15% of the world’s population, it is responsible for only between 2 & 3% of global energy related carbon dioxide emissions." Check out my book review #ABiggerPicture by @vanessa_vash #NetGalley #COP26

Although the African continents has just about 15 percent of the world’s population, it is responsible for only between two and three percent of global energy related carbon dioxide emissions. I was introduced to Vanessa Nakate last year, as she entered the world stage as the activist who was cropped from the photo at the World Economic Forum at Davos, whilst her white peers were celebrated. She…

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#advanced reader copy #book review #book reviews #books #climate change #COP 26 #memoir #netgalley #non fiction #popsugar #review #vanessa nakate

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Against White Feminism - Book Review

NEW BLOG ALERT! Looking for your next thought provoking and challenging book. I just reviewed Against White Feminism by @rafiazakaria. Thank you @netgalley for this ARC #AgainstWhiteFeminism #NetGalley #readingcommunity #books

Against White Feminism by Rafia Zakaria is a collection of essays which explores how what the mainstream perceives as feminism is actually a whitewash of the theories put forward by Black and Brown women, and often detrimental to those women in the West feminist thought claims to be saving. Written through the lens of being of Pakistani origin and living in the United States of America, Zakaria…

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#against white feminism #book review #book reviews #feminism #intersectionality #netgalley #non fiction #popsugar #racism #rafia zakaria #review

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A True History of the United States - Book Review

Thank you @netgalley and @SteerforthPress for this ARC :A True History of the United States by Daniel A Sjursen. Check out my thoughts in my #bookreview. ''What we learn from history is that people don't learn from history." #nonfiction #bookcommunity

On first appearance of A True History of the United States my first impressions were that it might be a weighty tome that might be too academic, particularly as the author Daniel Sjursen is a professor at Westpoint. I have to say, however, that this was so not the case, as the book was written in short, digestible chapters the begun in the early days of European arrival, in the country we now…

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#a true history of the united states #advanced reader copy #arc #book review #book reviews #bookriot #books #five star books #history #netgalley #non fiction #politics #popsugar #reading challenge #review #united states of america

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Previously on EastCorrieDaleOaks: The Black to Front Edition

Previously on EastCorrieDaleOaks: The Black to Front Edition. Did everyone love #hollyoaks as much as I did? All that melanin and no scenes involving the dance school - win win 😊 #C4BlacktoFront #BlacktoFront #BlackNarrativesMatter #TVAddict #SoapAddict

****Contains spoilers**** For the regular visitors to my blog, you’ll know I love my soaps, and I put the spotlight on the Black characters that feature in the show. Consequently, you know I was excited that the soap with the prettiest Black woman on TV (Celeste Faroe played by Andrea Ali), i.e. Hollyoaks had an hour long episode that featured every Black and mixed race character in the soap…

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#black britain #black british #black history month #black narratives matter #Black to Front #Channel 4 #Hollyoaks #steve mcqueen

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Get ready for #Noirefitfest 2021, this #BlackPoundDay

ANNOUNCEMENT!! 📣📣📣.In line with #BlackPoundDay, #Noirefitfest2021 are offering x2 one off deals..Purchase any venue ticket for the one off fee of £69.99. 💫💫This allows you venue and ALL CLASS ACCESS!.Purchase access to the Zoom streaming, now 50% off!!.Any NoireFitFest ticket purchase allows you 30% of @bindlondon.Any NoireFitFest ticket purchase, allows you 25% off @njlingerie products…

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#black britain #black british #fitness #health #healthy living #mental health #newbeginnings #Noirefitfest

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Bonded by Blood - Blood Donation Drive

Bonded by Blood – Blood Donation Drive

Some of you may remember 19-year-old Richard Okorogheye first appeared in national news in April 2021 after disappearing from his home in London. He had sickle cell disorder and needed regular blood transfusions to stay well. Sadly, two weeks later, his body was found 20 miles away in Epping Forest. In Richard’s memory, Bonded By Blood, a coalition of mothers who have seen the lifesaving power…

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#black britain #black british #blood donation #Richard Okorogheye #sickle cell

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After Dark - Book Review

After Dark – Book Review

After Dark by Noel Hankin recounts Hankin’s time as one of the founders of The Best of Friends (TBOF) collective, who ran several famous clubs during the late 60s and 70s. Considering the origins of disco music (Black people) and the fact it took place during a lot of living people’s memories, it’s extremely sad to think that for many the default iconic club of this time is Studio 54, or films…

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#african american #after dark #biography #black narratives matter #book review #book reviews #books #disco #history #memoir #music #netgalley #noel hankin #non fiction

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Previously on (March 2021)…

So what did our favourite Black characters get up to in March 2021 on Previously on EastCorrieDaleOaks? #soapoperas #eastenders #corrie #emmerdale #hollyoaks

Eastenders, Coronation Street, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks Did you catch up on the happenstances on our favourite TV shows? Well, if not, here’s a summary of what happened to the Black characters over in EastCorrieDaleOaks in March. Due to the continuing Covid restrictions, filming continues to be done in blocks so the progression of stories is taking just that little longer to come to a conclusion…

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#BBC #BBC1 #casualty #Channel 4 #clubhouse #Coronation Street #Eastenders #Emmerdale #Holby City #Hollyoaks #ITV #jump the shark #review #soap operas #suspension of disbelief #TV review

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Life After Death - Book Review

It's taken me ages to write my thoughts about Sister Souljah's Life After Death. The book has received scathing reviews from her fans, and the criticism is most definitely warranted. #books #bookreview #urbanfiction

The Coldest Winter Ever by Sister Souljah is a cult classic, so the long anticipated sequel Life After Death was something many wanted for just over two decades. The Let’s Read management team decided to read both The Coldest Winter Ever and Life After Death, as The Coldest Winter had been a book referred to by many as one of their favourite books. In addition, as there was such affection for…

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#a coldest winter ever #african american #african american authors #audiobook #black female authors #black girls read too #black narratives matter #book of the month #book review #book reviews #books #fiction #let&039;s read #life after death #nia long #review #sister souljah #urban fiction #winter santiaga

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The Fortune Men - Book Review

Have you heard of Mahmoud Mattan? If not you should read my book review on The Fortune Men by @thesailorsgirl, and then check out the book. Thank you @netgalley for the ARC and congratulations on making the #BookerPrize longlist #bookreview #books

The Fortune Men is the third novel by Nadifa Mohamed. It’s the fictional account of a historic miscarriage of junction that took place in Tiger Bay, Cardiff, Wales in 1952. It was set against the backdrop of the passing of George VI and the coronation of Elizabeth II.  It tells the story of Mahmoud Mattan, a Somali sailor who was arrested and charged with the murder of a local shopkeeper, Violet…

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#black british #black lives matter #black narratives matter #book review #books #mahmoud mattan #nadifa mohamed #netgalley #non fiction #review

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Coconut by Florence Ọlájídé - Book Review

Check out my review on Coconut by @florenceolajide. I read the audio, or should I say listened to it and have to applaud my favourite Ghanaian/ British actress @andoh_adjoa for bringing the story to life. The book is out now #books #review #memoir

As a child Florence Ọlájídé  was privately fostered by a white British family, like many other Nigerian children during this time as her parents studied. Reunited with her biological parents in Nigeria, we see her having to adapt to a life she is completely removed from. Coconut: A Black Girl Fostered by a White Family in the 1960s and Her Search for Belonging and Identity is Florence Ọlájídé’s…

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#audiobook #black british #black female authors #black girls read too #book review #books #coconut #Florence Ọlájídé #memoir #netgalley #nigerian authors #non fiction

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I've got my reading mojo back

NEW BLOG ALERT I've got my reading mojo back, and I've read 28 books this year so far, so I should hopefully smash my target of 52 with ease. What books have you read so far and what are you looking forward to reading?

As of May 31st 2021, I can officially say I got my reading mojo back, and I didn’t need to leave the country to find a toy boy to get my groove back. I’ve officially passed the number of books I read for the whole of 2020. That number was 27, and at the time of writing I have read 28 books. I have set myself my annual goal of reading 52 books in a year, and I hope I can keep up this momentum but…

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#black narratives matter #book challenge #book club #book lists #book review #book reviews #book worm #books #bookstagram #clubhouse #last read #let&039;s read

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Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo - Book Review

One of my other May reads was the debut novel Stay With Me by @ayobamiadebayo. It's a good read and matches a @posugar prompt of a book that has the same title as a song. Check out my #bookreview. #nigerianauthors #fiction #bookrecommendation

I chose to read Stay with Me by Ayobami Adebayo, as I was looking for a lighter read following some heavier reads I had read recently. I particularly enjoyed the narration by Adjoa Andoh, who many of you will know her as Lady Danbury from Bridgerton. She brought her character acting that I’m familiar from her TV roles to the book, and I felt she really brought the story to life. Set in Nigeria…

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#African authors #audiobook #ayobami adebayo #black female authors #black narratives matter #book review #books #contemporary fiction #debut #fiction #Nigeria #nigerian authors #popsugar #stay with me