I have not been looking forward to Christmas. Not because I am bah humbug but because it is and has been painful thus far. This will be the first Christmas without my dad, the third without great uncle and the fifth without Brian, my godfather. No matter which way I look at it, it is … Continue reading Grief: the unwelcome but necessary Christmas ‘guest’
Recently I had the privilege of interviewing the passionate, driven and highly talented Angela Knowles, a British based fashion designer with roots in Ghana. Her beautiful blend of African print and Scandinavian design, has seen her work featured in Look magazine and on the Stylist magazine’s Emerald Street. More recently Ms Knowles’ Baruch boutique ( … Continue reading Thrifty Afropolitan meets… Angela ‘Baruch’ Knowles
“Kem, do you want to take a break?” My best friend said, gently urging me to back away from my dinner plate. We were dining at a friend’s house and I was clearly struggling to finish my second helping. She approached slightly tentatively as if she were negotiating in a hostage situation, expecting to receive … Continue reading Eat like a lady, NOT like a man!
42 is the name of an exhibition featuring photographs of women from Sierra Leone by British photographer Lee Karen Stow currently being exhibited at the Horniman Museum, South London. The exhibition features women in a range of everyday settings but behind each image is a powerful and extraordinary story. 42 was originally exhibited in 2007, … Continue reading Review: ’42’ photography exhibition
I’ll never forget the rather infamous last words I uttered during a conversation at a festival a few years ago whilst in the company of mainly young white women (some of which I knew). Despite the festival attracting in excess of ten thousand people over the course of the weekend, there were very few people … Continue reading #BlackGirlsGoCamping?
“Dad…I’m going to take a gap year.” “You want to take a what?” He replied, his perpetually smiling face instantly morphed into a frown. “A gap year.” I said rather boldly (have I lost my mind?!) “OK…OK…OK” he said repeatedly as I became increasingly unnerved with each utterance, then it stopped. Silence. What seemed like an eternity … Continue reading Mind the Gap: “You want to take a what?”
A few weeks ago I caught up with the lovely, multi-talented James Cameron ( no not the director of Titanic or relative of the Prime Minister, David Cameron!). A few years ago, James and his brother, Dan started a festival in their ‘backyard’ (he lives in the countryside), combining their love of people, partying, philanthropy … Continue reading Thrifty Afropolitan meets…. Fieldview Festival Founder, James Cameron
Are you crazy? This was the question whizzing through my mind as I handed in my resignation. I was in a relatively well paid job, worked with lovely people but I wasn’t ‘happy’ (using this term loosely). The decision to leave wasn’t sudden, I prayed and agonised over it for months but as soon as … Continue reading Life is short… Don’t waste it!
I was at a colleague’s leaving lunch a few weeks ago when the subject of weddings arose. There were roughly ten of us present, almost all women, from different parts of the world. It was so wonderful to hear about the various wedding traditions from other countries and cultures. As an ‘Afropolitan’ this is one … Continue reading Wedding series: weddings from around the world
‘I love my books and I cannot lie- my mother got it oh so right’… Yes I remixed the song and I am not ashamed. I can’t help it. I love books. As a child, there was no greater pleasure than losing myself in stories or filling my mind with facts. Recently my mum was clearing … Continue reading SIR MIX A PLOT (Sorry I just LOVE books!)
THE THRIFTY AFROPOLITAN 