Letitia Wright | Backstory By Caroline Taylor | Issue 157 (May/June 2019) Growing up in Guyana, Letitia Wright never imagined a Hollywood career. But after a string of stage and TV roles and early recognition of her talent, her casting in the blockbuster movie Black Panther was the break every actor hopes for, says Caroline Taylor
Remembering Windrush By Caribbean Beat | Issue 153 (September/October 2018) When the Empire Windrush docked at Tilbury in 1948, its West Indian passengers didn’t know their arrival would become a historical watershed. A new exhibition at the British Library explains how the Windrush generation changed Britain for good
Walter Tull — over the line | On this day By James Ferguson | Issue 150 (March/April 2018) A century ago, as the First World War drew to a close, a Barbadian-British man named Walter Tull was killed on the battlefield. He was one of many thousands dead in the “Flanders clay,” but also unique: as James Ferguson writes, Lieutenant Tull was the first officer of colour ever appointed in the British Army, in defiance of race prejudice
Dominique Le Gendre — Shakespeare and me By Bruce Paddington | Issue 46 (November/December 2000) Dominique Le Gendre trained for eight years as a classical guitarist, fully intending to perform, but her nerves would not let her face an audience. As a result, she turned her many skills towards composing, which is where Bruce Paddington finds her...composing the music for all of Shakespeare's 38 plays
Oxford Blues By Nazma Muller | Issue 42 (March/April 2000) Nazma Muller looks for Caribbean warmth in the English university town of Oxford
Carnival Messiah: Geraldine’s possession By Shelly-Ann Inniss | Issue 41 (January/February 2000) People on the move
Word of mouth (July/August 2016) By Emily Zobel Marshall and Nailah Folami Imoja | Issue 140 (July/August 2016) Barbados Crop Over and the Leeds West Indian Carnival are two stars of the August festival season
Patricia Scotland: “I wanted to do” By Joshua Surtees | Issue 140 (July/August 2016) The first woman to be elected Commonwealth secretary-general, Dominica-born Patricia Scotland has made history in more ways than one over her stellar career. Joshua Surtees interviews the new Commonwealth head and finds out where her passion for speaking up comes from
Johnson’s Gentleman — Francis Barber By Frances Parkes | Issue 41 (January/February 2000) Dr. Samuel Johnson: poet, critic, wit, essayist, playwright, author of the first comprehensive dictionary of the English language — here was one of the towering figures of 18th-century English life and literature, immortalised by his biographer Boswell. But but behind Dr. Johnson, serving and supporting the great man in his endless projects, was a little-remembered figure from the Caribbean: Francis Barber, of Jamaica. Barber's extraordinary role in Johnson's life is recalled by Frances Parkes
The Worlds of Lawrence Scott By James Ferguson | Issue 43 (May/June 2000) Trinidadian Lawrence Scott's journey of self-discovery has taken him back and forth across the Atlantic and inspired him to write searching novels of love and belonging including his prizewinning Aelred's Sin with its story of gay love. James Ferguson explains
When London was the place By James Ferguson | Issue 137 (January/February 2016) Sixty years ago, in the aftermath of the Second World War, London Transport faced a labour shortage. The solution? Recruit employees in the Caribbean to run the city’s buses and trains. James Ferguson explains how these migrants survived difficult times, and changed the old imperial capital for ever
The Queen’s kaiso By Joshua Surtees | Issue 134 (July/August 2015) Calypso came to Britain in 1948, on board the Windrush — and found a home in multicultural London. Joshua Surtees discovers what makes the UK version of the artform distinctive, and meets some of the kaisonians who keep it alive
Word of mouth (July/August 2015) By Philip Sander and David Katz | Issue 134 (July/August 2015) Haiti hosts the Caribbean’s biggest arts festival, and a London exhibition celebrates the legacy of John La Rose
Flower Power: the Caribbean at the Royal Chelsea Flower Show By Geraldine Flower | Issue 54 (March/April 2002) The Caribbean has done well at the annual Chelsea Flower Show in London — and is reaping the rewards. Geraldine Flower reports
Beyond the beyond: the Shetland Islands By Nicholas Laughlin | Issue 130 (November/December 2014) The Shetland Islands, northernmost part of the United Kingdom, seem utterly remote on the map. But Nicholas Laughlin finds they have a busy history as a crossroads of the North Atlantic
The triumph of calypso cricket By Garry Steckles | Issue 100 (November/December 2009) Garry Steckles recreates a Test match at Lord's that made sporting and cultural history
Notting Hill Carnival: Mas and the mother country By Ray Funk | Issue 100 (November/December 2009) It's Europe's biggest street festival, but it got off to an unlikely start – indoors, in winter, with a crowd of a thousand people
The Rhodes more travelled: Gary Rhodes By Franka Philip | Issue 98 (July/August 2009) British chef Gary Rhodes owns a restaurant in the region, yet he’s only now discovering its food
Sarah Beckett: mixed media By Sharon Millar | Issue 97 (May/June 2009) Sarah Beckett has been a painter since coming to Trinidad in the 1960s, but her work also incorporates music, poetry and film
A rum do: London’s Rumfest By Franka Philip | Issue 97 (May/June 2009) It’s not just for pirates any more – the spirit of the Caribbean is sweeping the world. Franka Philip takes a taste of London’s Rumfest
Dan is the man By Franka Philip | Issue 96 (March/April 2009) Caribbean Beat cookery writer Franka Philip gets to meet one of her culinary heroes, Dan Lepard of the London Guardian
Morris Aberdeen: keeping London locked down By Franka Philip | Issue 96 (March/April 2009) Morris Aberdeen is a locktician. That is, he’s a master of the art of making dreadlocks look elegant. Celebrity locks-wearers beat a path to him.
