"We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided" J.K. Rowling So, I am sure you have seen the headlines about the knife crime epidemic that has hit the UK.   It has been a talking point on and off for the last 18 months – 2 years.   Unfortunately, the media is focusing on the negative impact that it is having within the black community; in particular on our young boys and men which we have lost far too many of, to the gangs and the street. Rightly so some may say, something has to be done about it. But discussions have gone round and round and round like a hamster in a wheel and nothing much has come of the discussions.   The right people are not being involved in talks and their input has been ignored and many of the public are influenced by the biased and some what negative narrative that the media spouts out daily. Whilst in London most MP’s are slow to act with the Mayor of London pointing fingers at the Conservative Party and the Conservativ

"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, whilst loving someone deeply gives you courage"  Lao Tzu  As February is often referred to as the month of love (as in the middle of it falls Valentine’s Day) I thought I would explore ‘black love’. When deciding to write about this topic it had me thinking; what exactly does black love mean?   I googled it and not much came to surface however, it is a very large topic with many aspects and layers associated to it. Since there was not much to go on, I had no definite idea or clear concept about this particular subject.   I initially wrote a blog about black love; however, when I finished it I wasn’t sure whether I was doing this topic any justice.   This first draft (which ended up in the dustbin) tried to cover so much. It touched on slavery, interracial relationships, the degradation of black women and so forth. All these areas are extremely relevant but after writing my blog and reading it several times I came

"Death leaves a heartache no one can heal.  Love leaves a memory no one can steal" Unknown It’s an old age tradition that before we embark on a new year we set out goals and aspirations that we wish to strive for during the year ahead.  Unfortunately, statistics show that a high percentage of us abandon our resolutions by the end of February.  As the year commences I wanted to bring to your attention (in particularly the black community) the importance of buying and ensuring that you and those close to you have life insurance and make sure that your affairs are in order as part of your resolution going forwards.   In recent years, it seems that we the black community have had a high rate of deaths and over the past 10 years I personally have attended more funerals than I have birthday parties, weddings or christenings. It appears that funerals and nine nights (Caribbean wake) have become a ‘social event’ where the community now comes together (and very frequentl