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Radio 1 Stories: My Black History

Adele Roberts sits in for Sarah-Jane

19/10/2014

My Black History

BBC Radio 1 - Radio 1 Stories, My Black History

Adele Roberts connects 1Xtra listeners with their roots around the world.

Adele Roberts connects the dots as she hooks up 1Xtra listeners in the UK with radio DJs and music producers from the countries of their past.

Marvin's family hails from Saint Lucia, Alima's is from Jamaica and Tim came to the UK from Kenya. They're from different hometowns in the UK - London, Birmingham and Liverpool. And each has an identity as unique as the music they make.  But there is one question that unites them - where am I really from?

As part of Black History Month, 1Xtra calls up radio stations around the globe to take us along with Tim, Alima and Marvin on a journey that crosses airwaves and the world, from the UK back to Africa and the Caribbean. Adele Roberts connects them with radio DJs and music producers thousands of miles away, bringing a fresh perspective on the ground as well as a crash course in African hip hop, Jamaican bashment and St Lucian Soca music.

Tim's family sought asylum in the UK after they were driven from Kenya by tribal violence. But it's a distant past and Tim wants to know how his mum could leave the country she once called home and whether violence still affect the lives of young Kenyans today. Nairobi-based radio DJs Chito and Adelle give their first hand experiences. 

Marvin's relatives are spread across three continents and his mum came to the UK from Saint Lucia before he was born. He teams up with Saint Lucian-based music producer Shaquil Wilkinson to find out how the people who stayed felt. And when 1Xtra connects him with Carnival Queen and radio DJ Herma Demacque she tells it how it is for people his age today. 

Jamaican food lover Alima gets introduced to some genuine home cooking in a cook off across the world with celebrity chef and DJ Krystal Tomlinson - who just happens to be Jamaica's very own Miss Black History Month.

Bringing them closer to the countries they instinctively feel connected to but know little about, these young musicians get an authentic flavour of their black history as they try to understand the parts of their identity that lie across the world.

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