Some things that made me smile… in July
Including Brixton brilliance, candle creativity and 1980’s nostalgia
If you’re a regular here, welcome back! If you’re new, this is my round up of some of the things that have made me smile over the past month. Please feel free to share in the comments anything that’s brought you joy too, whether big or small! Are you currently a free subscriber but would like to upgrade? You can do that here.
Black Power Women of Brixton – the walking tour so good I did it twice
Brixton is an area I’ve been familiar with since childhood when I’d accompany my parents on grocery shopping trips so I thought I knew a lot about the place, but this tour led by Kelly Foster was wonderfully eye-opening.
I originally attended this walking tour when I saw it listed as one of the events taking place during the Brixton X Harlem festival two years ago.
After the walking tour I did with friends in Bermondsey back in May (which I wrote abut here) I wanted to find another one we could enjoy in a different part of London. Kelly is a public historian and London Blue Badge Guide. Her personal connection to the area added a level of depth when I attended before, so when I recently saw that Kelly was doing this tour again I knew this was the one!
The focus of this walk was on the lives, times and actions of Black women who played pivotal roles in the fight for civil rights in Britain from the early 20th century onwards, with Brixton as a central character in their stories.
I booked this walking tour via Black History Walks. Find out about upcoming events via their website.
If you’re in London or New York this summer, the Brixton X Harlem festival is taking place again from 16- 20 August. This year the festival will explore the Common Threads between Brixton and Harlem. Find out more here.
Getting creative with candles
After last month’s pottery making experience with friends (you can read about that here), this month we took on another creative endeavour. This time it was a candle making masterclass hosted by The London Refinery at their West London studio.
Over the course of two hours, Laura from The London Refinery expertly guided us through the process of creating our candles step by step from thinking about the kinds of feelings we wanted to evoke and blending our own scents to each of us going home with our own finished candle.
Laura was an excellent teacher and this was a wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon. I loved hearing everyone else’s scent stories too. They were as individual as each person. I called my candle Late Autumn Afternoon (pictured above) and I look forward to lighting it when the evenings draw in.
Find out more about The London Refinery here.
How To Cope With Being A ‘Friendaholic’ - Mo Gawdat and Elizabeth Day in conversation
I’m a fan of Elizabeth Day’s podcast, How to Fail (introduced to me a few years back by my pal, Ranji – thanks!). In turn, I was introduced to Mo Gawdat via How to Fail when he was a guest in 2019. So I was keen for this recent conversation between them on Mo Gawdat’s Slo Mo podcast.
This conversation was full of brilliant insights on friendship, connection, AI, being intentional about where you want to spend your energy and time and much more.
Suffice to say, I’ve downloaded the audio version of Elizabeth Day’s book, Friendaholic so that will be my next listen.
Wham! An ode to true friendship
Continuing on the theme of friendship…
Whether you thought Wham! were cheesy or you loved them, their success was undeniable.
I was in primary school when Wham! burst onto the scene so I very much associate them with a particular time, and their music brings back happy youthful memories (special shout-out to Pepsi whose look I tried to copy for a school disco once! 😂).
What I hadn’t appreciated as a kid was how huge they became in a such a short space of time (their first TOTP performance was in Nov 1982 and their final concert was in June 1986) or that their success (including the decision to bring Wham! to a close) was rooted in true friendship.
Hearing the story of two childhood best friends on this whirlwind journey together in their own words (with Andrew Ridgeley’s mother’s scrap books providing some of the fun 1980s visuals) was joyful and uplifting, though there was some poignancy there too.
Their story was also a testament to trusting in your own ideas and intuition (rather than looking at what others are doing and trying to emulate them) and staying true to your vision even when it might not make sense to others.
Wham! The documentary is on Netflix.
Books, books, books! The opening of Melanin Magic in South London
All children deserve to see themselves reflected.
When I was little my Mum taught me to read before I went to school and my favourite books, as a 4-year old, were about two little children who looked like me having adventures. My books were from overseas, as finding children’s books with Black protagonists in the UK was near impossible then. With this in mind, it was heart-warming to see the opening of Melanin Magic by Woke Babies this month in West Norwood.
Woke Babies is a successful monthly subscription service featuring great books centring Black and mixed heritage children, activities, and featuring the work of Black content creators. The Melanin Magic store – their new physical bookshop – is a children’s hub with books, learning resources and Black-owned children’s brands.
Find Melanin Magic at 126 Norwood High Street, SE27 9NH
Last but not least this month’s kitchen dance track - it could only be this – is Wham’s first number one, Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go. Ah, the school disco nostalgia:
Fun fact - this video was filmed at the Brixton Academy in front of an audience of teens. Finishing where we started. All roads lead back to Brixton.
And don’t forget - if you’re in the Brixton area you can join me there on Wednesday mornings for Hatha Yoga 9.30-10.30 at Yoga Point Brixton. Can’t make it to the studio? Join the class via livestream on Zoom.
What’s been making you smile this month? Share in the comments below.