Just days after Windrush Day celebrations were held across the country, Brixton is preparing to host the fourth annual Big Caribbean Lunch, which founder Ros Griffiths says remains as important as ever.

Created to celebrate Caribbean culture, strengthen community ties and honour the Windrush Generation, the gathering has become a fixture in Brixton’s cultural calendar, bringing together elders, families, community organisations and younger generations for a day of food, conversation and celebration.

“The Big Caribbean Lunch was created to celebrate Caribbean culture, strengthen community connections and honour the legacy of the Windrush Generation,” Ros told Black Current News.

“While the event has grown significantly over the past four years, the most important part of the day remains the same, bringing our Windrush elders together for a complimentary Caribbean meal as a gesture of gratitude, recognition and respect.

“They are the foundation upon which so much of our community has been built and it is a privilege to celebrate them.

“This year, we also pause to remember those who joined us in previous years and are no longer with us. Their lives and their legacy remain part of who we are.”

This year’s event will take place across Windrush Square and St Matthew’s Church Gardens, with a programme of live music, cultural performances, guest speakers, arts activities, community stalls, plus more.

Among those expected to attend are the Mayor of Lambeth, Councillor Paul Valentine, Helen Hayes MP, Minister for Migration and Citizenship Mike Tapp and Windrush Commissioner Reverend Clive Foster, alongside a range of performers, community organisations and cultural contributors.

At the heart of the day remains the complimentary Caribbean lunch provided to Windrush elders aged 75 and over, recognising a generation whose resilience, sacrifice and determination helped shape modern Britain.

A special remembrance segment will also honour Windrush elders and community members who attended previous Big Caribbean Lunch celebrations but have since passed away, giving attendees an opportunity to reflect on their lives and lasting contribution to the community.

Born in Lambeth and raised in Brixton, Ros has spent much of her life championing the community that helped shape her.

“Brixton is where my values were shaped and where my commitment to community began,” she said.

Growing up, Brixton Market sat at the centre of everyday life. Caribbean food shops, record shops, churches, youth clubs and Saturday schools helped create a strong sense of identity and belonging for generations of Black Britons.

Those experiences continue to influence her work today.

Now chair of Friends of Windrush Square, Ros has become one of Brixton’s most prominent advocates for preserving Windrush history and ensuring Caribbean stories remain visible within public life.

For her, the Big Caribbean Lunch is not simply about celebrating the past. It is about creating opportunities for different generations to connect in the present.

A key aim of the event is to encourage younger people to engage with the stories, experiences and legacy of the Windrush Generation.

At a time when many communities are grappling with social isolation and fragmentation, Ros believes those connections matter more than ever.

Many of the elders attending this year’s event carry extraordinary lived experience, from migration and community-building to the struggles and triumphs that helped shape modern Britain.

By bringing younger and older generations together around the same table, Ros hopes those experiences can be shared, understood and carried forward.

Safeguarding the legacy of the Windrush Generation is both a responsibility and a necessity, Ros explained.

She believes their experiences are not simply part of Caribbean history, but fundamental to understanding modern Britain.

“These stories must be passed on,” she said. “Without them, we lose identity, context and understanding of how this community was built.”

The message feels particularly resonant as Brixton continues to evolve. While much has changed since Ros’s childhood, she believes the area’s character, creativity and sense of belonging remain worth protecting.

Her comments come amid ongoing debate about the future of Brixton Village and Market Row, where traders have voiced concerns over potential private equity ownership, rising rents and the future of independent businesses that have long helped define the area.

For Ros, the challenge is ensuring that Brixton’s cultural identity is sustained rather than displaced.

Despite those concerns, she remains optimistic about the future, describing Brixton as a place that continues to nurture artists, activists and community leaders, drawing strength from its diversity, resilience and rich heritage.

And that, ultimately, is what the Big Caribbean Lunch seeks to celebrate: not simply the past, but the connections that carry communities forward.

“We want to ensure that the stories, sacrifices and achievements of those who came before continue to inspire the generations that follow,” Ros added.

The Big Caribbean Lunch takes place in Brixton on 28 June 2026 from 12 pm to 7 pm.

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Bestselling author Nova Reid is stepping onto the Bloomsbury Theatre stage with Worthy, a new one-woman show exploring self-worth, Black womanhood, leadership and healing.

Blending storytelling, reflection and audience participation, the show sees Nova draw on her own experiences to explore themes of self-worth, leadership, love and Black womanhood.

The production is described as a "raw, soulful journey" through life lessons learned and wisdom gathered along the way.

Known to many readers for her acclaimed book The Good Ally, Nova has become a prominent voice on racial justice and collective healing, using storytelling to spark conversations around identity, belonging and social change.

Her work spans writing, public speaking, theatre and advocacy, and she has appeared on stages ranging from the National Theatre to the House of Commons.

Speaking to Black Current News about the inspiration behind Worthy, Nova said: “I was inspired to produce Worthy to play more and get back to my creative roots in theatre.

“It was also in direct response to receiving so many of the same questions from different Black women over and over again in my WhatsApp, asking how I stay well in a mad world, how I cope as a Black woman in leadership, how I use my voice when I was raised to keep my head down and 'not to tell nobody my business'," she said.

“So, I wanted to take some of those WhatsApp conversations offline and create a living room in the theatre.”

Nova added: “There are so many messages in the press, in society and even in our homes that attempt to undermine our worth and I believe we have to practice worthiness.”

According to the author, the show is an opportunity to share some of her own untold stories while encouraging audiences to think about how they reclaim their inherent worth in a world that often measures people by what they achieve rather than who they are.

With moments for pause, celebration and interaction, Worthy aims to create a shared space for reflection, connection and conversation.

The show will be British Sign Language interpreted and is recommended for audiences aged 16 and over.

Worthy takes place at the Bloomsbury Theatre, London, on Tuesday 23 June at 7.30 pm.

Tickets are available here.

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For three decades, Mýa has occupied a unique space in music.

The Grammy-winning singer, songwriter and actress emerged at the tail end of the 1990s R&B boom, delivering era-defining hits while building a reputation for artistry, versatility and longevity.

For many millennials, her catalogue formed part of the soundtrack to adolescence: from Ghetto Supastar and Case of the Ex to Best of Me, Take Me There with Blackstreet and Girls Dem Suga with Beenie Man (the Caribbean link-up particularly resonated with many of us from Jamaican and wider Caribbean backgrounds growing up in Britain) - plus her unforgettable contribution to Lady Marmalade, and more.

I still remember hearing Ridin’ for the first time as a teenager during legendary broadcaster Jenny Francis’ late-night Slow Down Zone show on Choice FM, Britain’s first and only Black mainstream radio station. I was about 15 years old and, like my peers, became instantly hooked on the tune.

We weren’t “ridin’” anywhere, of course, unless it was the bus to school. Most of us barely understood heartbreak or betrayal on that level yet, but often mistook infatuation for love and bought into romantic ideals. Life was simpler then, though we probably didn’t appreciate it at the time.

Still, the longing in Mýa’s unusually raspy vocals, paired with that yearning melody, was undeniable.

Released through Universal Motown in 2007, the track was reportedly selected as a single by fans on Mýa’s MySpace page, an early glimpse into the kind of direct artist-audience relationship that has now become central to today’s creative industries.

Now, with the release of her tenth studio album Retrospect, the 46-year-old singer, whose full name is Mýa Marie Harrison, says she has entered another chapter entirely - one rooted in reflection, joy and creative independence.

Released via her own independent label Planet 9 in partnership with Virgin Music Group, Retrospect marks Mýa’s first full-length album in eight years and leans heavily into funk, soul and the Minneapolis sound that shaped much of her musical upbringing.

Born in Washington D.C. and raised in Maryland, the biracial singer grew up in a creative household with her musician father Sherman “Hajji” Harrison and mother Theresa.

Prince’s influence runs through the album, too. Mýa described the late musician as “a master of his craft”, crediting his advice and mentorship with helping shape her approach to performance, storytelling and creating immersive musical experiences.

Beyond the music itself, Mýa spoke candidly about remaining independent in an era dominated by algorithms, content saturation and relentless digital demand.

“As an independent artist, I live in my own bubble and world and create freely,” she said.

“Sometimes journaling turns into poems, and poems turn into songs,” she continued, describing long hours spent experimenting in the studio without corporate oversight or commercial pressure hanging over her head.

That freedom, she says, is invaluable.

“There’s a lot of sanity that comes with knowing what you’re spending, you making choices, and no one else making those choices for any other reason other than it resonating with your spirit,” she said.

Mýa’s reflections resonate far beyond music, particularly as more creatives build direct relationships with audiences outside traditional gatekeepers.

During our interview, parallels were drawn between independent artistry and the growing wave of independent journalism, particularly among Black journalists in both the UK and US - from Don Lemon and Joy Reid to Karen Attiah and Touré - who have left mainstream newsrooms to build their own platforms and brands.

Mýa immediately recognised the connection.

“It takes you investing in you first for people to see and understand,” she said, reflecting on how independent and corporate spaces can coexist.

Still, Mýa is clear-eyed about the pressures that come with independence, particularly for creatives financing their own work.

“The challenge is just getting it out to the world globally, which takes lots and lots and lots of financing and a relentless grind,” she said. “It consumes all of your life and all of your time.”

She also pointed to the exhausting pace of technological change and the pressure to constantly remain visible, or “chronically online”, as some put it.

“There are new platforms that are birthed and there are different means of social media that you have to sign up for, because if not, you may get left in the dust,” Mýa said.

Yet despite those challenges, the artist believes today’s landscape also offers unprecedented opportunities for artists to retain ownership and authenticity.

“It was more dependent upon a label that dictated whether or not you had a shot in this thing,” she reflected of the music industry she entered as a teenager. “Now everything is available to everyone, which is beautiful.”

Mýa also spoke thoughtfully about the emotional consequences of modern digital culture more broadly, arguing that society has lost something important in an age where everything is instantly available.

“I think we all experience, as humans, the loss of anticipation,” she said. “There’s so much of everything that nothing stands out as much as it did.”

The artist warned that endless scrolling and constant consumption are taking a toll on well-being.

“That’s not how our brains in the natural world were designed,” she said.

Much of Retrospect appears to push back against that culture entirely.

Born partly out of the upheaval of the Covid-19 pandemic, Mýa said the album was designed to evoke joy and a more connected era in music culture.

“The pandemic solidified that I definitely wanted to use joy and go in that direction,” she said.

Despite nearly 30 years in the industry, she insists longevity itself was never the goal.

“Longevity was never a goal,” she reflected. “I’m just kind of going through the flow and letting life take me where it takes me, but it’s led with love.”

Perhaps that is precisely why Mýa has endured.

At a moment when audiences increasingly crave authenticity, her insistence on protecting both her creativity and peace feels quietly radical.

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As Croydon heads to the polls in today’s local elections, mayoral candidate Michael Pusey, also known as DJ CK Flash, has set out his vision for the borough, positioning himself as a grassroots alternative to mainstream party politics.

“I know what’s happening on the ground because I’ve lived it for decades,” he told Black Current News.

“I’m here for the people, not for politics.”

Standing under the Taking The Initiative Party (TTIP), founded by entrepreneur Charles Gordon, Mr Pusey is running on a platform centred on financial accountability, youth safety and rebuilding trust in local government.

The 52-year-old is one of eight candidates vying for mayor and the only Black man in the race.

He argues that residents have lost confidence in how Croydon is run, particularly after years of well-documented financial instability.

Among his key pledges is greater transparency over council spending, including publicly accessible reporting on where money is going, alongside a review of internal processes to cut inefficiency and bureaucracy.

Mr Pusey has also placed strong emphasis on tackling youth violence, combining what he describes as “zero tolerance” enforcement with long-term prevention through mentoring, skills development and community-led interventions.

Knife crime and serious youth violence remain a central concern in Croydon.

The borough recorded the highest number of “violence with injury” offences in London in the year to June 2025, according to the Office for National Statistics, although Metropolitan Police figures suggest knife crime has fallen by around 24% since 2023.

Mr Pusey said the issue is consistently raised by residents on the campaign trail, adding that his approach would combine enforcement with prevention.

His approach draws heavily on his background outside traditional politics.

Known to many from his work in broadcasting and music, Mr Pusey, a former presenter on Choice FM, has supported the careers of artists including Dizzee Rascal and Ms Dynamite.

He is also the brother of pioneering broadcaster and producer Commander B. He says his leadership style has been shaped by years of engaging directly with communities and delivering projects on the ground.

This includes helping to develop a £1.2 million BMX facility in Peckham, which went on to produce Olympic-level athletes, as well as wider work supporting young people through sport and community programmes.

Mr Pusey is widely known for founding the Peckham BMX Club in Burgess Park in 2004, a grassroots initiative that has since grown into one of the UK’s leading BMX programmes.

Community work

Alongside community work, he has built businesses across the property, creative and youth sectors.

His work with young people has also been recognised through a number of community and industry awards.

“I didn’t come from privilege,” Mr Pusey said.

“I worked on market stalls as a young man and, through hard work and discipline, built one of the most successful sports clubs in the UK. It wasn’t handed to me.”

The mayoral candidate is also critical of what he sees as a disconnect between mainstream politics and everyday life in the borough, arguing that too many decisions are made without meaningful input from residents.

“Only by reconnecting politics with the grassroots can we build the safer, stronger and more prosperous Croydon that residents deserve,” he said.

When asked about scepticism from those who question his lack of a so-called “traditional” political background, Mr Pusey said: “I’m not a career politician and I’ve never pretended to be.

"But let me be very clear, leading Croydon isn’t about playing political games; it’s about delivering real results for the people who live here.

“Judge me on my track record, not on how long I’ve been in politics.”

His campaign places particular emphasis on supporting young people, Black communities and local businesses, with proposals ranging from expanded youth hubs and mentoring schemes to improving access to contracts and opportunities for underrepresented groups.

What’s happening with ‘Westfield Croydon’?!

He also wants to revitalise Croydon’s town centre, pointing to empty buildings and stalled development as signs of missed opportunity.

For years, residents have been promised large-scale regeneration, including a £1 billion Westfield development of a new shopping centre and housing, originally due to be delivered by 2017, but little has materialised.

“For too long, residents have been promised a vibrant, modern Croydon on the scale of the new Westfield developments, yet it still hasn’t happened,” Mr Pusey said.

“I want to make Croydon a destination that people from across London choose to visit, shop and spend time in, rather than somewhere they pass through.”

Mr Pusey launched his campaign in April at Stormzy’s Merky Football Club in South Norwood, and has attracted backing from several high-profile figures, including former Chelsea striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, entrepreneur Levi Roots, Bishop John Francis of Ruach City Church and Nation of Islam European regional leader Abdul-Hakeem Muhammad.

The race for Croydon Council has become increasingly competitive, with Labour, the Conservatives, the Green Party and Reform all contesting the election.

Mr Pusey’s candidacy reflects a broader trend of independent and community-led campaigns seeking to challenge established parties at local level, particularly at a time where trust in traditional politics has been eroded.

He is also standing as a councillor in South Norwood ward alongside his mayoral campaign.

Voters across Croydon will decide the outcome as polls close later today (7 May).

Planning to vote today? You can find your local polling station here.

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Dr Eiman Hussein and four former colleagues have accused one of the UK’s leading psychotherapy training providers of institutional racism, as they prepare to take the organisation to an Employment Tribunal.

The Metanoia Institute in West London, which trains around 1,500 students across undergraduate, postgraduate and research programmes, is facing claims of victimisation, whistleblowing and constructive dismissal.

The case, E Hussein and Others v The Metanoia Institute, will be heard virtually at London Central Employment Tribunal from 24 February to 19 March 2026.

Speaking exclusively to Black Current News, Dr Eiman said what she experienced amounted to institutional racism, not isolated incidents.

“It’s insidious,” she said. “It’s surviving daily microaggressions, the subtle comments, the almost constant need to justify why you’re here, why you deserve to be here.

“Sometimes it’s so subtle you end up questioning yourself. Did that really happen? Am I overreacting?”

The claimants - Dr Eiman, Dr Maya Mukamel, Dr Malgorzata Milewicz, Dr Jane Hunt and Cathy Lasher - are psychological therapists, researchers and trainers.

A separate racial discrimination claim was ruled out of time at a preliminary hearing after the claimants initially lacked expert representation.

Dr Eiman, who’s a Black woman of Sudanese heritage, also pointed to what she described as a culture of dismissal when concerns were raised internally about practices they “believed and experienced as harmful to students and staff of colour”.

This ultimately led the group to pursue legal action, she explained.

“We went through all the processes, grievances and formal routes. In the end, we were not listened to,” she said.

“There was denial and silencing.”

The institute states on its website that it delivers “relational, high quality” training in counselling, psychotherapy and counselling psychology.

Many of its graduates go on to work in NHS services.

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The case has drawn attention within the psychotherapy profession, particularly because of its potential implications for the pipeline of Black and Asian therapists entering the field.

Zita Holbourne, chair and co-founder of BARAC UK, which is supporting the claimants alongside the Psychotherapy and Counselling Union and the Black, African and Asian Therapy Network (BAATN), described the case as part of a wider issue.

“This case is about more,” Zita said.

“It is about putting psychotherapy training organisations on notice that we will not allow them to create discriminatory and hostile environments for students and workers and they must be accountable and take urgent action to root out and prevent harmful discriminatory practices.”

Dr Malgorzata Milewicz, who identifies as white, stressed the role of allyship within the group, which is mostly comprised of white or white-presenting people.

“Standing alongside our Black, Brown and colleagues of colour is an ethical obligation grounded in anti-oppressive practice,” she said, adding that white professionals must examine power, confront their “own complicity” and “listen when harm is named without defensiveness or retreating into neutrality”.

Dr Eiman echoed that view when asked about this by Black Current News.

“It’s not only up to Black or Brown individuals to speak about racism,” she said.

“It’s everyone’s responsibility. Allyship means taking that responsibility seriously and doing the work.”

She placed the case within a broader UK context, pointing to official reports into racism within public institutions, including policing and the fire service.

“The classroom is a microcosm of the wider society,” she said. “What’s outside comes inside. Structural racism doesn’t stop at the door of a psychotherapy institute.”

The claimants argue that if training institutions fail to address racism, the consequences extend beyond staff.

“If racism is not named or challenged in training,” Dr Eiman said, “students learn implicitly what is acceptable. That harm doesn’t stay in the classroom. It follows them into their work with vulnerable clients.”

A crowdfunding campaign to support the legal challenge has raised over £30,000 towards a £60,000 target.

Dr Eiman described the response as “phenomenal”.

“It’s the beauty within the ugly,” she said.

“Yes, this is painful. But the solidarity, the collective action, the sense that people are showing up in whatever way they can, that feels like we’ve already won something.”

The hearing will be held virtually and is open to the public.

For the claimants, the case is about more than personal redress.

“What does justice look like?” Dr Eiman said.

“It looks like refusing erasure. It looks like institutions being held accountable. It looks like making it harder for this kind of harm to happen again. Being anti-racist is not optional. It’s an ethical responsibility.”

The case follows an independent investigation commissioned by Protect Black Women (PBW), a Black feminist movement established in 2024, which appointed barrister Elaine Banton to examine allegations of racism at the institute through interviews and survey evidence from current and former students and staff.

The report, seen by this news platform, was finalised in February 2025 and concluded there was “clear, compelling and consistent evidence of race discrimination and harassment” and circumstances “wholly consistent with institutional racism”.

It detailed accounts of race discussions being shut down when white students expressed discomfort, Black students feeling pressured to recount trauma and one participant being asked to remain in a room “as we need a Black person in the picture”.

The report also noted at least one separate ongoing race discrimination claim against the institute, outside the scope of its investigation.

Read our breakdown of the probe’s findings and importance here.

A Metanoia Institute spokesperson told Black Current News: “We are aware of the forthcoming employment tribunal hearing involving a small number of former staff.

“As the matter is before the tribunal, it would not be appropriate to comment on the detail at this stage.

“We take our responsibilities as an employer seriously, we dispute all the claims, and we are engaging fully with the legal process.”

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