As well as our thread of refugee programming at Greenbelt this August (see the blog here), we will be looking at what Black Lives Matter means on both sides of the Atlantic, too.
With our Sunday night headliners The Hot 8 Brass Band and our speaker in residence Broderick Greer from the States and with Akala and Jude Wanga from this side of the pond, we’ll explore the vital importance of this global conscientisation and what it says and means for a world still so divided along lines of race as well as wealth and power.
As part of this, on festival Monday, we’re gathering together a group of Beyonce fans for a panel conversation entitled The Lemonade Effect: Beyonce, Black Feminism and White Discomfort which will explore what Beyonce’s turn to a more overt Black feminist voice on Lemonade might mean. To get into the zone, you might like to watch this Saturday Night Live sketch entitled The Day Beyoncé Turned Black.
Chaired by Chine McDonald, the conversation will feature writer and podcaster Sekai Makoni, actor and singer Amaka Okafor, Episcopalian priest Broderick Greer, and performance poet Vanessa Kisuule.
We’ll blog about all this year’s panels here soon. Watch this space.
Pictured: Chine McDonald
Chine is director of communications at the Evangelical Alliance, which includes overseeing threadsUK.com – an online collective of people in their 20s and 30s exploring faith and life. She read theology at Cambridge University, where she was also news editor of the university newspaper Varsity. Since then, she has written for several regional and national newspapers and magazines. Chine is the author of Am I Beautiful? – a book exploring body image among Christian women. She is a former trustee of the Bible Society and currently sits on the boards of the Church & Media Network, the Christian Enquiry Agency and the Sophia Network, which equips women in leadership across the Church.
Sekai Makoni
is a Black feminist who has made appearances on Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour and The Listening Project. She writes opinion pieces on racism and sexism in relation to popular culture. She also hosts Between Ourselves, a podcast that focuses on Black women’s issues.
Amaka Okafor
is currently in The Archers. Theatre: I See You (Royal Court/Market Theatre Johannesburg), Hamlet (Barbican), Mermaid (Shared Experience) Bird (National Studio tour), Glasgow Girls & The Bacchae (National Theatre Scotland/Theatre Royal Stratford East), The Snow Queen (Unicorn/Trestle plus Indian tour), Television: Grandpa in my Pocket (CBBC), Doctors and The Bill.