Royal reparations demands, jockey makes history, honour for renowned Black British actress
Plus: Sky News cites Black Current News on air!
Hi everyone!
It is Black History Month across the United States, the Caribbean, Canada and elsewhere.
This year marks 100 years since historian Carter G. Woodson launched the first Negro History Week on 7 February 1926 in the US, a moment that laid the foundations for Black History Month in the States and later inspired its introduction in the UK in 1987.
A century on, the need to document, interrogate and preserve Black history and Black life is as urgent as ever. That is precisely why platforms like Black Current News exist: to tell our stories clearly, consistently and on our own terms.
Below is our round-up of key headlines from the past week.
Good news
Aamilah Aswat made history by becoming the first Black female jump jockey to win a race in Britain
Renowned actress Jo Martin to receive honorary award from British Urban Film Festival
Broadcaster Marverine Cole launches new podcast ‘Midlife Messy & Marvellous With Marverine’ - and Brenda Edwards is her first guest
Andrez Harriott to run London Marathon in tribute to Stephen Lawrence
Jacqueline Shepherd becomes patron of youth media charity MAMA Youth Project
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) launches initiative to strengthen support for Black and diaspora nursing professionals
Black men put at risk by limits on prostate cancer testing, patient warns
Limiting prostate cancer tests to men with specific genetic markers puts Black men at greater risk, a patient has warned.
Guy Griffiths, 76, from Coventry, said Black men are being overlooked despite facing double the risk and urged them to push for PSA tests regardless of current guidelines. Read more here.
African and Caribbean nations move to label chattel slavery humanity’s greatest crime
CARICOM and the African Union are pushing for the transatlantic slave trade to be formally recognised as the greatest crime against humanity.
Ghana’s foreign minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, said during a visit to Jamaica that the joint effort is moving towards a resolution at the United Nations. Sinai Fleary reports.
Exclusive | Black British public figures rally behind Don Lemon and Georgia Fort after arrests while reporting in US
Dozens of prominent Black British public figures, including journalists and activists, have issued an open letter condemning the arrests of Don Lemon and Georgia Fort while carrying out reporting duties in the United States.
Marcus Ryder, Lenny Henry, Shola Mos-Shogbamimu, Gary Younge, Afua Hirsch, Adrian Lester and Misan Harriman are among the figures who have signed the letter. Read the document, first reported on by Black Current News, here.
Calls for King Charles to formally apologise for slavery after yet more research shows crown’s role
MPs, experts and campaigners are urging King Charles to issue a formal apology for transatlantic slavery, following research into the British crown’s role in sustaining the trade for centuries.
The findings are detailed in The Crown’s Silence by Dr Brooke Newman, which shows how monarchs used enslaved labour to boost royal revenues, despite the monarchy never issuing a formal apology.
The author also penned this new article which breaks down a lot of her findings: ‘unjust and inhuman’: how royal family ignored a Black abolitionist’s plea to end the slave trade.
Stormzy backs bid to get adults into books: ‘Reading really is a superpower’
Stormzy is encouraging adults to rediscover reading after backing Quick Reads, a scheme designed to make books more accessible.
The initiative comes as nearly half of UK adults say they do not read, with 2026 named the National Year of Reading and new titles including Hunger Pains by Derek Owusu.
What else we’re reading
What is ICE and what powers do its agents have to use force?
Black Current reviews ‘Wasteman’ film: David Jonsson shines in a tightly wound prison drama
‘There is an attempt to get rid of me’: leader of UK’s Black police association alleges campaign to silence him
Foundation honours Beverley Knight long-term collaborator Paul Reid
Event targets Home Office scandal victims to offer support
Editor of a groundbreaking Channel 4 show claims BFI has frozen him out of multicultural TV season
Jamaica’s former MP for Western St. Mary, Jolyan Silvera, is standing trial over the killing his wife, Melissa
Sherri Shepherd’s daytime talk show cancelled, citing “evolving daytime television landscape”
Cool Runnings 2.0: Jamaica’s bobsleigh crew want their own Hollywood ending
Out and about!
Last week, we visited Windrush Food Culture, a free exhibition at the National Maritime Museum exploring how Caribbean food travelled from the margins to the mainstream in post-war Britain.
Through photographs, objects and stories, it traces food as comfort, survival, resistance and celebration for Windrush generations and their descendants.
Curated by the National Windrush Museum, a research initiative, the exhibition is open from Tuesday to Saturday, 11 am - 4 pm, and runs until 30 July 2026.
Sky News cites Black Current News on air after exclusive reporting
Last night, Sky News cited Black Current News on air as the outlet that broke the story about an open letter condemning the arrests of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort.
The mention came on The Wrap, Sky’s new nightly programme presented by Gillian Joseph, with Afua Hirsch discussing why she signed the letter and the wider implications for press freedom.
The moment underscores the growing impact of independent Black-led journalism and how stories first reported outside the mainstream can help shape national debate. For more original reporting, analysis and investigations, subscribe below.
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