So here I am in Ghana, in the middle of the night, with no one to meet me because the Balkan Bulgarian Airways flight is twelve hours late.
“Irie, Rastaman!” says the tallest of the taxi drivers trying to handle my luggage outside the gates of Katoka International Airport.
“We Ghanaians love Jamaicans second only to Reggae,” says another.
“Not surprising,” says his smiling friend, squeezing my hand and snapping fingers. “Our ancestors were taken there many years ago. You are welcome!”
Hours later, and still reeling from culture shock, I’ve given up searching for the road to the house of my old friend Kwesi with whom I had come to stay. If I had been riding in a taxi in the dead of night in America, England…
You were in charge as long as you were on your own. Once someone white came along, you became his or her assistant.
In the first two buildings that Ralph Swimer Limited occupied, no white person would work. Not even those without qualifications. The Swimer family lived above the shop at 22 Whitechurch Lane and their living quarters were as disgusting as the business premises below.
Ralph Swimer had advertised in the Hackney Gazette for a Bookkeeper to Trial Balance. Each applicant who turned up for interview bluntly refused the job when offered. He was glad, finally, to sneer a well-qualified and pretty, young thing in her early thirties. …
My silence that day haunts me still.
Random acts of kindness have been the hallmark of my life for as long as I can recall.
When I was six years old, Miss Ivy plucked me from the streets of Kingston, fed me, clothed me, and sent me to school for nearly two years — all because I looked like her only son, who had died in a road accident.
At a carnival in Salvador, Brazil, a White English man in the crowd lent me £500 after my back pocket was slashed and all my cash and travellers’ checks stolen. He scribbled an address in Brixton, where I…
The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) recently reported that kids as young as ten in England have taken to whitening their faces in an attempt to fit in after repeatedly being the target of hate crimes and being told to “go back to your own country” in Brexit Britain. It seems the more things change is the more they stay the same.
At twelve, my best friend was a white boy named David, who lived across the road from us. David and I walked to school together, went berry picking with his dad in summer, slept in each other’s house or pitched a tent in the back yard just for fun in stormy weather.
One day, David became ‘an accidental Skinhead’ when the barber gave him a lopsided haircut. I didn’t laugh when his white mate, Steve, said he looked just like a plucked chicken. David went back the next day and had his head shaved. He never spoke to me again…
My Royalist-Jamaican mother would have been smiling down at me, from her seat on the right-hand side of God, as the taxi arrived to pick me up to meet the Queen at Buckingham Palace.
The idiot Eastern European driver parks his car at a bus stop two hundred metres from my flat, so I am forced to stride up to him suited and booted with dreadlocks flowing in the cold evening wind. He looks almost straight through me just as I reach the stationary Mercedes and starts the engine to pull out into the street. I quickly knock on his window and manage to open the passenger door as he steps on the brakes.
“Are you the car for Buckingham Palace?”
“Hurry up and get in, man,” he shouts back at me, “I’m parked in…
The young American couple and their blonde children next door are leaving Ghana. “Too poor,” they say. They’ve had enough.
The young American couple and their blonde children next door are leaving Ghana. “Too poor,” they say. “One minute, water no lights. Next minute, lights no water.” They’ve had enough.
After five years of working to improve education in the country where their children were born, they’re packing their bags and hauling their doll-like off-springs back to the good ole U-S-of-A. Colorado, I believe.
I’m relaying this story to you, second-hand from one of their hired help. I’ve never actually seen the parents in the two years I’ve lived here, but their children have fascinated me. Lovely, well-mannered kids, but…
There are so many untrue myths surrounding social media best practice. Here are just a few that may actually be hurting your business, content, and keywords.
1. Delete Or Bury All Negative Comments On Social Media
“Quick, bury those negative comments and reviews on social media.” That is the knee-jerk reaction for many. However, quite the contrary should be true; you should see this is a great opportunity to show that your brand is grown up.
Thank the negative poster for taking the time to point the issue out and tell them how you will ensure that this problem does not happen again (if your fault), or demonstrate where they are going wrong and supply an alternative.
If your service is an app, let them know that the issue will be cleared up in Version 1.1…
These practical article writing tips will help you pimp your blog posts FAST. Boost the readability, engagement and conversion rates of your blog posts today.
Boss your blog like a superstar with these effective tips that will improve your blog posts now. Or you could always hire me to pimp your blog posts for you!
What we all want
Great content is at least a Prince we know that much. We also wish to have our blogs filled with great posts, perfect conversion rates, easy to read and of course some praise would be nice. In fact, ANY reaction at all would be a great start for most of us. …
You’ve been hosting your blog on wordpress.com for a while. Now you want to step things up a gear by joining the professionals with a self-hosted setup via wordpress.org with all the benefits that can bring. Here’s you guide.
The first question we should answer is what is shared and managed WordPress hosting? What are the differences, advantages and costs involved?
What are some of the benefits of managed WordPress hosting? Does it cost more? Should I switch from shared to managed?
What are the benefits of shared hosting? Should I stay where I am and update things myself? Who are the top shared and managed hosts? If you’re new to WordPress, you may become a little confused about which hosting plan is for you. We are here to help.
What is Shared WordPress Hosting?
Shared Hosting is a term used for the type…
“Black Lives Matter affirms the lives of Black queer and trans folks, disabled folks, Black- undocumented folks, folks with records, women and all Black lives along the gender spectrum. It centers those that have been marginalised within Black liberation movements. It is a tactic to (re)build the Black Liberation Movement.” — Alicia Garza, co-founder, Black Lives Matter.
We are living in historic times. The slow, very public killing of George Floyd has stirred worldwide protests. A perfect storm of indescribably cruel and dehumanising police arrogance, Covid-19 lockdown, and social media amplified debate has made antiblack racism dominate news headlines for…
Paul Boakye
Writer/editor and marketing pro. World Traveller. Shower Crooner. Free Spirit.
