General Impressions on the March The Smiley Culture March for Justice took place the weekend before last and was a resounding success. About 1,500-2,000 people marched from Wandsworth Road to New Scotland Yard in militant but peaceful formation. My marching partner History Is Made At Night has already written his account of the day, so …
A slightly odd article by Dr Perry Stanislas has appeared in The Voice entitled “Why We Must Not Rush To Judgement Over Smiley Culture’s Knife Death”. It’s odd because it wastes no time in arguing for the case that David Emmanuel may have killed himself and pouring scorn on others who say he may have …
Tero Kaski and & Pekka Vuorinen – Volcano Revisted: Kingston Dancehall Scene 1983 “208 pages, paperback, full of colours! paypal accepted” More info here This is a new edition of a legendary book that was originally published in the eighties. I’ve never seen a copy despite being on the hunt for ages. So I’ve ordered …
“I’m not surprised people are suspicious” London Mayor Boris Johnson on David Emmanuel’s death. “Cops must be filmed to prevent deaths in custody” Patrick Augustus (Patrick is best known for writing the novel “Baby Father” (X-Press, 1994) which was then turned into a TV series. But he also served time in the British reggae scene.) …
The campaign for Justice for Smiley Culture (aka David Emmanuel) continues apace. It has been heartening to see the family make links with other deaths related to police activity such as that of Ian Tomlinson (who was killed by police two years ago whilst walking home during the G20 protests), and the more recent case …
Justice for Smiley Culture Campaign at City Hall – and Wembley Arena! Furious scenes at the Metropolitan Police Authority meeting at City Hall today as David Emmanuel’s death was discussed. The disruption to the meeting was covered by both the Guardian and the Evening Standard. The Standard’s coverage was criticised by campaigners, not least because its …
You’ll probably know Beth from Dancehall: The Story of Jamaican Dancehall Culture, the lavish book of her photographs published by Soul Jazz, or her book on King Jammy – or even from Reggae Quarterly back in the day. Shimmy Shimmy have just published a fascinating interview with Beth which covers the creation of all those …
The Emmanuel family has announced that the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Policing Authority will be speaking about David Emmanuel’s death tomorrow: The MPA Commissioner will be speaking about the death of Smiley Culture tomorrow, the 31st March at 10am at City Hall, The Queen’s Walk, London, SE1 2AA. We need to be there in numbers. Please promote. …
(Original LP released by Santic in 1974) “London was more forward as well because music that was recorded back home… some of them were reaching here long before they were released in Kingston. I put together the ‘Harder Shade Of Black’ album in London from the singles and put it out with Bert… I never …