From a Saturday course to a Saturday broadcast. I met Isis Amlak on the Love Literature course. A 6-week journey into the literary voices of marginalised African, African Caribbean, and Black British women: Bernadine Evaristo, Joan Riley, Andrea Levy, Emma Dabiri, Kadija Sesay and Warsan Shire.
Isis was the course curator and facilitator, and it was well worth the additional commute day and giving up my Saturday of rest to explore the rich and diverse themes these writers tackled.
The photo is of my favourite read from the course book list*, The Emperor’s Babe by Bernadine Evaristo.
On the Air
Alongside being an educator, activist, community organiser, poet, and more, Isis is a presenter of two radio shows; it was an honour to be asked to be a guest on her Speak Your Truth show on Feferity Radio.
It was my first time being interviewed on live radio, although it was more of a –versation than an interview. It was also the first time I was called a ‘Literary Activist’ – I quite like the sound of it. I was nervous, super overprepared (if you saw my notes!) and I had to navigate the tentacles of imposter syndrome. Then, when we finished, I let out a big sigh of relief! While also bracing myself for when the recording came out – knowing I wouldn’t share it with anyone until I had listend to it! It was exactly the same when I was a guest on the WB-40 podcast (my first podcast appearance).
Isis and I enjoyed a beautiful –versation and it was food for the soul. We covered my journey into poetry and how creativity is my oxygen, my connection to Indonesia, racism, Gaza, writing Haiku, and more. I also got to share two songs that were played during the show; Black Pride by Kofi and Optimistic by Sounds of Blackness were my picks, and I also shared why I chose them.
And because I am who I am, I did some light background research into both songs, and some of what I found was interesting, particularly, the history of Sounds of Blackness. the origins and impact of Optimistic.
Radio Debut Takeaways
Not an exhaustive list, just some that come to mind:
- I say ‘stuff like that’ waaaayyyyy too much!
- Next time, I won’t use my earpods .- Yes, I’m thinking there will be a next time, whether on this show or another.
- ‘Feel the fear and do it anyway’ (borrowed from Susan Jeffers) continues to be a good rule of thumb for me.
- I can converse on a number of topics and have interesting things to say. People who listened also commented on me having a good radio voice.
- My journey of rediscovering my creativity and my current creative practice is an encouragment to others.
*The other books on the list were: Waiting for Twilight, Small Island, Don’t Touch My Hair, and selected poems from Irki and Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth.
**Towards the end of the conversation, I said Rodney King was killed; I should have said beaten. In March 1991, he was savagely beaten by four LAPD policemen. It was caught on camera, they were charged, and then a year later, in April 1992, they were acquitted, which was the match that lit the LA riots