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Find a book club
Find a Book Club, a club that does what it says on the tin, asked me to recommend 10 books for book clubs (including two of my own).
Author Archives: Angela
Tom Titanic: a Welsh hero remembered
On 15 April I went to Cemaes, the northernmost town on the Ynys Môn coast, with my cousin Alex Leslie, and my sister Lucinda Mackworth-Young. We were there because Cemaes is the town where Thomas William Jones was born, on … Continue reading
Posted in BLue Plaques, History, Kindness, Places, Talks, Titanic, Travel
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Older women: Elder, not elderly
It’s getting close to mother’s day here in the UK (here’s a list of mother’s day dates worldwide) and that set me thinking about women and the different stages of our lives … and, naturally enough, Sheila Hancock. In a … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Creativity, Kindness, Listening, Love, Mental Health, Mythology, Psychology, Women
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Let Love Grow Food this Valentine’s Day
Concern Worldwide is a charity that ‘goes to the ends of earth to deliver aid where it’s needed most’. They’re working in Turkey and Syria right now. And they’ve got a Valentine’s Day campaign that suggests buying a cow for … Continue reading
Kindness
In Matt Haig’s The Comfort Book – reflections on hope, survival and the messy business of being alive – he writes: Life is short. Be kind. A beautiful thing to be. (The Comfort Book is also beautiful, full of ‘consolatons … Continue reading
Posted in Good Things, Kindness, Mental Health, Psychology
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A Ukrainian Christmas
Business Ukraine Magazine reports that Kharkiv’s main Christmas tree has, this year, been put up in an underground station – to protect it from Russian air strikes. The magazine also retweeted the Washington Post’s report about Volodymyr Zelensky becoming Time’s … Continue reading
Posted in Allyship, Christmas, Democracy, Flowers/Blossom, Human Rights, Refugees, Ukraine
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Environmental Racism & COP27 Loss-and-Damage Discussions
Environmental Racism is the disproportionate impact of environmental hazards on people of colour. That’s Joycelyn Longdon’s succinct definition. Joycelyn Longdon is the founder of Climate in Colour, an online education platform that combines climate science with social justice. In her 2020 … Continue reading
Blue Plaques for Black People: Nubian Jak Community Trust
For this Black History month, here’s an organisation which celebrates Black history throughout the year and throughout the land. The Nubian Jak Community Trust (NCTJ) installs Blue Plaques to acknowledge and remember notable Black people. It was founded in 2006. … Continue reading
Posted in Allyship, Antiracism, Black History, Black Plaques, Equality, History, Human Rights, Music
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Redemption Song
A couple of weeks ago I saw the Bob Marley musical, Get Up Stand Up! in London. It’s glorious, it’s uplifting, I felt sound waves, like a breeze, against my body; it’s brilliantly sung and acted, it’s very moving and … Continue reading
Posted in Allyship, Antiracism, Art, Artists, Creativity, Human Rights, Listening, Music, Politics, Racism, Reviews
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1926-2022 and 1952-2022
CHRIS JACKSON//GETTY IMAGES Queen Elizabeth II has died
Posted in Elizabeth II, The Queen
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Ask not what trees can do for us, but what we can do for trees
Last weekend I walked through a wood. Sunlight filtered through the leaves and made me think how medieval stonemasons must have been inspired by the branches of trees gathered in arching vaults above them when they imagined their cathedrals. In … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Climate Change, Creativity, Fiction, Places, Poetry, Recycling, Trees, Walking
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The Good Ally by Nova Reid
When Claudia Rankine, a Black poet and playwright, was asked by a white man, after a reading from Citizen: An American Lyric (Rankine’s 2014 anthology about the collective effects of racism in our society) ‘What can I do for you? … Continue reading
Queenhood by Simon Armitage
I’m not a monarchist nor a royalist but I am – as Helen Mirren said, recently – a Queenist. This country’s Queen, Queen Elizabeth II, is an extraordinary woman whose seventy years as head of state was celebrated in the UK … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Creativity, Democracy, Elizabeth II, Equality, Fiction, History, Women
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Reading Black Writers
Until George Floyd was murdered on 25 May 2020, I had not begun to acknowledge, let alone unearth, my inherent racism. That racism includes not reading or even thinking about the work of Black writers. But since that May I’ve … Continue reading
Stephen Lawrence Day 22 April 2022 #sldayfdn
This is from Stephen’s Story on the Stephen Lawrence Day website: Stephen Lawrence was born and grew up in south-east London, where he lived with his parents Neville and Doreen, his brother Stuart and sister Georgina. Like most young people, … Continue reading
Posted in Allyship, Antiracism, History, Human Rights, Mental Health, White Allies
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Ukraine: & how we can help #StandWithUkraine
Ukraine flag. Credit: Ayhan Altun/Getty Images click on the images below for links about where and how to donate money or supplies and how to support people directly. from the Guardian: from the BBC: from the UK government page: and … Continue reading
Posted in Allyship, Democracy, Gifts, History, Human Rights, Love, Refugees, Ukraine
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Valentine’s Day Traditions
There are at least three different saints who answer to the name Valentine or Valentinus. One legend of St Valentine tells how, when in prison, he sent a letter to a young girl—possibly his jailor’s daughter. He signed it: ‘From … Continue reading
Posted in Flowers/Blossom, Food, Gifts, Jewellery, Love, Presents, Traditions, Valentine's Day
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Worldwide Ways of Welcoming New Year
Different peoples in different countries do different things to welcome a new year. In SIBERIA, in Lake Baikal, the largest freshwater lake in the world, and in the River Lena nearby, a Christmas Tree is taken to the bottom on … Continue reading
Posted in Allyship, Antiracism, Creativity, Flowers/Blossom, Food, Gifts, Human Rights, New Year Celebrations, Places, Racism
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Buy Black for Christmas (and beyond)
If you’re white, like me, perhaps you haven’t consciously thought about seeking out Black-owned businesses and shops to buy from. My own seeking-out was prompted by the marvellous Nova Reid (whose antiracism course has taught me so much about my … Continue reading
Posted in Allyship, Antiracism, Books, Christmas, Creativity, Gifts, Presents
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The Eleven, no, Twelve Days of COP26
When the Queen addressed world leaders at the beginning of COP26 she said: Act for our children and our children’s children. COP26, the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties, follows The Paris Agreement, a 2015 international agreement on … Continue reading
Posted in Climate Change, Equality
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Betty Campbell taught Black British history every month
On September 29, 2021, in Cardiff, a statue was unveiled to Betty Campbell, the first Black British headteacher in Wales, and the first to teach Black British History all the time (not just in Black History Month – which began … Continue reading
Posted in Antiracism, Education, History, Human Rights, Racism
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