After loving American Fiction, I spoke to some of my favourite Black British authors about the state of UK publishing industry and being forced to write about race.
Thanks to
@yomiadegoke
,
@renireni
,
@DerekVsOwusu
@CandiceC_W
, and Candice Brathwaite❤️🔥
"Biscuit-flavoured cereals for babies aged six months and older contained 6g of added sugar for every serving in Senegal and South Africa, researchers found. The same product sold in Switzerland has none."
Euston on the hottest day of the year. All trains delayed. Feels like I’m being cooked alive, dripping with sweat. Thought I was at rock bottom and then a group of people started singing along to Hamilton on that godforsaken piano
Just walked into my local Crisis and Chris Martin was behind the till serving coffee lol. He said he volunteers at the warehouse every year but they didn’t have space this year, so they asked him if he wanted to do a shift in the shop instead
We chatted to him for a good 10 minutes, he asked so many questions and seemed genuinely interested in us. Genuinely one of the loveliest people I’ve ever met. He said I have a “special light” and wrote us this note🥺
“Queerbaiting critiques only serve to further reify stifling categories of identification, forcing people to confine their sexuality into forms that are satisfying to us”.
It was only a matter of time before I wrote a column about
@Harry_Styles
👇🏽🌟
Haven’t felt this profoundly bleak about UK politics in a while. The abject cruelty, cynicism and lies of this government — nasty, ugly and desperate. What a shameful, hostile place we are becoming just so that this group of charlatans can stay in power.
“Protesting is not always about being liked. Sometimes it’s about causing chaos so people are forced to pay attention.”
Why I love
@JustStop_Oil
and you should too👇🏽
i’m looking to interview people for an article i’m writing for
@galdemzine
about racism within mixed race families. if you would like to get involved or know anyone who would, please DM me!
I started working at the Standard exactly four years ago today. I’d just turned 21, first job out of university — needless to say, they really took a chance on me. A very sad day for the paper and my wonderful colleagues.
obsessed/fascinated that the angela bassett pronunciation wasn’t an onstage out-of-breath mistake, but…intentional? rehearsed? the layers to this — truly one of the greatest entries to the camp canon
I know I’m late to the party but went to see Prima Facie last night and…wow. Jodie Comer is truly one in a million isn’t she. What a gift she is to TV and film, what a powerhouse. Kicking myself that I didn’t watch it live - easily the best thing I’ve seen all year.
GB News Exclusive: Chancellor
@KwasiKwarteng
tells
@LiamHalligan
his Medium-Term Fiscal Plan will be published on November 23rd as planned and not bought forward.
It’s here, my magnum opus, my Odyssey. Last month, I accidentally went on a sex retreat and had the most surreal week of my life. Vajazzling! Nipple-licking! Group masturbation! A man in a fedora self-proclaiming as a female orgasm expert! It’s a wild ride
This sneak peak of
@Queer_Britain
first LGBTQ+ museum in the UK by
@OwenJones84
has got me even more excited about the opening! A much-needed glimmer of light and positivity🌟
🚨A very minor work update — my ad hoc columns in
@EveningStandard
have now turned into a regular fortnightly slot. Grab a copy of the paper to see my face every other Monday!
Here’s the first instalment on Noname, Gaza and why art is always political
The Supreme Court has voted to strike down Roe v. Wade, according to an initial draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito and obtained by POLITICO.
“We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,” Alito writes.
I’ve spent the last two months working on a series of special covers for
@ESMagOfficial
, speaking to four people impacted by knife violence in London. I’m so grateful to have been trusted to tell their stories. Pick up a copy on London newsstands today❣️
I interviewed Dylan Thomas Prize-winning author
@CalebANelson
about music, Mark Duggan and how gentrification in Peckham informed his novel Small Worlds📚⚡️
Saw this, had a spiral, so wrote a column about the dread of turning 25 this year (yes, I know, boo hoo)
TLDR, I read The Bell Jar once and made it my entire personality) x
(longer version online here👇🏽)
“I'm scared to go out. Now I feel like cutting my hair or changing my looks when I'm going out.”
If you read anything today, let it be this, and imagine for a second that this is your reality.
Wellness, fitness, lifestyle PRs - I'll be focused on wellness
@EveningStandard
for the next few weeks, please send pitches and ideas my way!❤️🩹🏋️♀️🧘♀️
Only went and ran my first marathon! London baby!!🥳 Had the best support crew a gal could ask for, and we’ve raised over £2,000 for
@LivHospitals
- and managed a 3 hours 37🤩🤩
i cannot believe we’re at the stage where the president of the united states retweets a video of his supporters chanting “white power” and it barely makes the news
🧵: On Monday walking in north London w/ my boyfriend I was racially abused by a man who called me the n word, a monkey, railed against mixed race people & said we should “bring back the blackshirts.” This is the 2nd time in a month a stranger on the street has called me a monkey
🧵Last month I spent a week in refugee camps in Iraqi Kurdistan reporting for
@EveningStandard
’s new project
#LetGirlsLearn
. I spoke to Yazidi girls using boxing, music and art to help rebuild their lives after the atrocities of the 2014 ISIS genocide
The amount of blatant racism and misogyny I’ve seen on this app after ONE day of Kamala Harris being the nominee…looks like a combination of this stuff being insanely amplified by X and a total mainstreaming of this kind of discourse. Utterly depressing and infuriating
I was SO moved writing this story — from being heckled at the Royal Opera House to this. Malakai is just the absolute best🥺 And repping my old school too!!
“Makeup has always been ahead in terms of diversity. Black women haven’t been part of the skincare space.”
Was so lovely to chat to
@Dija_Ayodele
about her new book about black skincare, make sure to give it a read! 👇🏽
Updating some wellness bits for
@EveningStandard
- best yoga/fitness retreats worldwide, London fitness classes, wellness weekends, London super salons are just a few examples! PRs please send pitches/ideas my way🧘♀️🤸
#journorequest
Every time I see cynical nonsense like this it makes me want to scream.
The common denominator for violence against women is not asylum status, race or class. The common denominator is always, ALWAYS men.
'I hope you're proud of yourself... a woman and her children have been harmed because of you.'
@NickFerrariLBC
condemns lawyers and politicians 'seeking to obstruct' our asylum laws, following reports the Clapham chemical attack suspect was a failed asylum seeker.
this is so condescending and pretentious, sorry. men treating younger women like this makes my blood boil. if he didn't want to be there then just don't go?
Chatted to some Barbz queueing for an impromptu Nicki Minaj meet and greet for
@standardnews
in Camden today! Some of them had been queueing all night after her Wireless set on Sunday. Obsessed
I wrote about the scars of growing up as part of the guinea pig generation of smartphone kids, and why the growing smartphone-free childhood movement has my vote📱👇🏽
Hello! Are you in £50k+ student debt and would be willing to have a quick chat with me about it this afternoon for a feature in the Evening Standard? (I am too, we can cry about it together)
#journorequest
Anyway TLDR, right-wing hate is on the rise, and we NEED a better system for reporting it. I’m lucky that I have a great support system but many people don’t and the one provided by the state is not fit for purpose.
Was the resident Gen Z on the
@londonpressclub
panel last night for a fascinating discussion about ‘cancel culture’ in journalism and whether it actually meaningfully exists. Great insights from everyone!✍🏽
With the news that all types of hormonal contraceptives carry an increased risk of breast cancer, I wrote a piece about the minefield that is contraception: why are there STILL no good options?
I wrote about the scars of growing up as part of the guinea pig generation of smartphone kids, and why the growing smartphone-free childhood movement has my vote📱👇🏽
"I don't see how young people are supposed to thrive...What can we afford at this point?"
I wrote about one of the biggest problems already facing the new Labour government – that almost two million UK graduates owe £50k or more in student debt 💸
"Everyone's a murderer. It just takes a good reason and a bad day".
Had the most fun reviewing Inside Man, Steven Moffat's latest addictive BBC drama. A dark, ethical labyrinth, at times a bit silly but consistently gripping.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This is devastating, wow. Had my first ever published piece in gal-dem, it is such an important and enriching platform. We’ll all be worse off without it💔
We are incredibly sad to announce that gal-dem is closing.
Several factors that have contributed to this difficult decision, including numerous challenges with running a small, mission-driven, independent media company. We’ve shared more here
So happy to see this from my former college, but worth mentioning that as many pat themselves on the back about this “noble” and “moral” decision, let’s not forget that it was a group of students who campaigned for YEARS to make this happen. This should be the focus.
This week I’m in Iraqi Kurdistan working with
@thelotusf
on a feature about education in refugee camps for women and girls displaced by conflict for
@EveningStandard
. The women and girls I have met so far are extraordinary, make sure to look out for the piece in a few weeks!🪷
A bit of a personal one from me this week for
@standardnews
— I wrote about having to leave my friends and move home (hopefully temporarily!) because ✨everything is so expensive✨
looking to speak to young people who have left or are thinking of leaving london and moving abroad for a piece in
@EveningStandard
- particularly keen to speak to people looking for better pay/better ✨general quality of life✨
#journorequest