We all need a little (or a lot of) joy right about now. I don't want to dwell on the pandemic, but I'd be ignorant if I didn't acknowledge the impact and effect of the pandemic on so many of our lives over the past 10 months.

In this episode of the Turning Point, I'm privileged to have spoken to an incredible woman called Alisha Lucien. Alisha is an entertainer whose career was drastically halted by COVID-19. After a decade of living her dream,  she was left to find a new way to cultivate joy on a day-to-day basis.

Even as a naturally positive person, she was tested; and let's be honest, so were we all. Alisha took control and after receiving a personalised package from a close friend, she was inspired to bring joy to the front doors of you and me. Present your Joy was born and what a beautiful creation it is!    

Alisha tells her story as well as giving us all the positive vibrations that will leave you with a smile, higher energy and intentions to create your own joy.

You will LOVE this!

The accumulation of wealth within the black community is a contentious issue. Systematic inequality has created the black-white wealth gap. Wealth is the measure of an individual’s or family’s financial net worth and provides all sorts of opportunities for families.

Wealth provides security that creates a safety net regardless of the economic situation. It allows parents to pay for or help pay for their children’s education and enables workers to build economic sustainability in retirement. Importantly, it is the most complete measure of a family’s future economic well-being.

Unfortunately, wealth is not equally distributed by race and black people continue to lag behind. There are so many reasons for this; employment discrimination, poor access to capital, prejudice, amongst the many.  In this podcast, I speak to Chantel Nyame Bankole, author of the book Generational Wealth: A guide for parents to build wealth for their children. Chantel is passionate about helping parents to not only build wealth but to instil financial literacy in their children. 

She incorporates her own experience and journey to building wealth to give her readers a relatable perspective. As well as her book, Chantel has also produced easy to understand flashcards and workbooks. She has received rave reviews and I had the pleasure of talking to her about why she wrote this book, the importance of financial education in the black community and what else she has in store.

Such a needed topic and I hope you enjoy!

It's not often that I get a chance to have a meaningful conversation with a legend. In this episode of The Turning Point, I caught up with Bushkin, one third of Heartless Crew. Boy was I uplifted after half an hour of humble conversation.

Bushkin is giving back to the youth of today. With a true understanding of the barriers faced by the underdog, Bushkin is embarking on several initiatives to elevate their status, showcase their talent, and help them to mitigate the challenges that will inevitably face, especially black artists.

We spent a portion of the conversation talking about the importance of men connecting with their feelings, which is important for anyone's mental wellbeing. Bushkin has recently released a new album with new sounds. 'Man enough' is a collection of tracks that embraces emotional openness. Gifted by the man himself, listen to the whole album here.  

With words of wisdom, words of power, and words of substance, this episode will most certainly encourage those needing a boost, to push forward with their purpose.
 

Yinka is one of the pioneering black female radio presenters in the UK. But what did her journey look like?

From African and Irish descent, Yinka talks openly about the role colourism may have had in her success. It is a fact that privilege does extend whiteness, to ignore this is to be complicit in racism.

With age comes wisdom. Yinka has been and is calling this out with honesty and bravery. Her full awareness of the specific challenges faced by darker skinned black women makes her a trusted ally in the drive to push her industry to operate fairly and equally.

Championing authenticity in all its glory, Yinka encourages everyone to be who they are.

Don't miss this honest and honourable episode.

Yinka is also the curator of the true crime series 'The Anniversary', founder of Sistem Magazine and one half of Capital Xtra's popular Breakfast Show.

In this episode of The Turning Point: In conversation with I speak with the brilliant Rachel De-Lahay who is the co-curator of the powerful performance My White Best Friend (MWBF).

In 2016, after being commissioned by the British Theatre following the callous death of Anton Sterling, Rachel and Milli Bhatia (the second creative half of MWBF) recognised the missing piece in the Black Lives Matter movement puzzle, white accountability. Leaving black people to solve a problem that has been created by white people was never going to result in change.

To tackle this head on, Rachel created a platform to put her (and others) white best friends on stage to remind them that they’ve played a part in this problem. To remind them of the scenarios where they've displayed racist behaviours whether consciously or unconsciously.

Driven by love and the desire to make our white loved ones understand (even if for just one letter reading) how it felt to be on the side of the oppressed was the objective. If you've had the pleasure of experiencing 'My White Best Friend' then you've witnessed this objective being met.

I talk to Rachel about the performances, the changes she has seen in the media and TV industry and her own experiences that made this project so personal to her. We also talk about the exciting release of her MWBF book, which will be available from 1 September 2020! Click here to pre-order on Amazon.

Enjoy this week's re-framing episode.

It was announced on the 30th July that a major £2.1m research study has been launched to investigate why UK health workers from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) groups have been disproportionately affected by Covid-19. In this episode of The Turning Point: In conversation with..., I talk to my sister Olympia Amoo who is a NHS worker about what she thinks racism looks like within the NHS.

To both of us, the NHS is the best healthcare system in the world. As someone with a life-threatening health condition, Olympia receives the gold standard of treatment but we understand that this isn't the case for everyone. The BAME community continues to be plagued by COVID-19 and black women are five times more likely to die in childbirth compared to white mothers. 

We share some of our own personal experiences, and highlight the "small things" that could have resulted in negligence. Is this due to racism? We're not sure but there is no denying that the issues faced by black people within the NHS truly exist. The black community have different outcomes, receive less empathy, genetic dispositions are overlooked, amongst many other things.

Olympia provides some real nuggets and key resources for listeners to take away. Some are listed below:

• How to complain about a NHS service or incident
• Familiarise yourself with the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) 
• If you don't believe your GP has listened to you, ensure you tell them to add the details of your conversation to your notes to ensure that they are held to account if you fall more unwell from a preventable illness
• Educate yourself on the NHS' Clinical Governance framework
• Keep up to date with Malone Mukwende the black Healthcare Assistant who is leading on the production of the new health book 'Mind the Gap: a handbook of clinical signs on black and brown skin'
• NHS workforce ethnicity stats

Don't miss this important episode!

In this episode of The Turning Point: In conversation with..., I'm talking to the awesome Mark-Ashley Dupe. Mark has been DJing and promoting for over 10 years and has made a name for himself playing at major events such as London's Lovebox Festival.

What is it like coming out as a gay black man? In our conversation, Mark takes us through his journey to finding his true self and how he tackled the difficulties opening up to his Jamaican mother and Nigerian father. Mark's infectious positive attitude played a major part in this journey and helping him to stand tall in all he is and represents!

We also talked about the importance of supporting our LGBT+ brothers and sisters in the formidable Black Lives Matter movement so that every voice is heard and championed. 

With some real takeaways for not only gay black men, but for us all, don't miss this insightful and jovial episode.