ROY FRANCIS 

Recently the world heard of the death of Richard Smallwood and it prompted me to think when I first came across his music. I can't remember the moment but do remember that when I heard his composition, ‘Jesus you’re the centre of my joy’, it gripped my attention. It wasn’t just for the beauty, and tunefulness of the music, but also for that simple, profound, and memorable phrase, ‘centre of my joy.’ From that moment on, Smallwood’s music demanded my attention, and when he rel

CHRISTMAS TODAY, deeply shapes our culture and is full of commercial influences, and while the Christian story of Jesus’ birth remains central to the day itself, for many, it’s also a time of festivity, Christmas Cards, giving gifts, family gatherings, week-long services and celebrations. In the Caribbean community, unlike in the host society, there have traditionally been very few Christmas church services. The reasons for this are deep-rooted and historical. When Caribbean

On Sunday, the nation will gather at the Cenotaph in London and at memorials across the country to remember the soldiers who gave their lives fighting for Britain. The ceremony, broadcast live on television, is a solemn display of remembrance, with military bands marching in step to Elgar’s haunting Nimrod. Everyone will be wearing a Poppy, something until recently Black and Caribbean people have been reluctant to do. It’s understandable, for historically, they’ve felt, littl

I It took many years of persistent and dedicated campaigning to get ‘Black History Month’ recognised as a time in the year, when the...