Black History Month on National Prison Radio
Booker Prize Chair Esi Edugyan“If I could have one wish,
I’d change slavery.
But we can’t change the past,
we can only change the future.
So, let’s change the future that we create
For those yet to come.”
Dwayne, HMP Brixton
Last October the NPR team asked for your lyrics to celebrate Black History Month. Dwayne in HMP Brixton (above) summed up why we need change. This year, we want you to get involved again.
The struggle for racial justice has brought many Black activists to the fore. But too often, history forgets the people whose work has led to real progress. This is particularly so for women, and so this year the theme of Black History Month is ‘saluting our sisters’.
Throughout October, NPR will be bringing you programmes that celebrate the achievements of Black women both in the UK and around the world. Our big interview will be with Canadian novelist and Chair of the Booker Prize 2023, Esi Edugyan. The Booker Prize is the most prestigious award in the literary world and Esi’s book Washington Black was on the shortlist in 2018.
You can hear Esi’s interview in NPR Talk, and we’ll also be broadcasting her Booker-nominated Washington Black in Books Unlocked with the National Literacy Trust every night at 11pm throughout the month. And of course no NPR Black History Month would be complete without a BHM Freestyle special. Every year, Lady Unchained hosts a collaborative Black History Month freestyle session on Free Flow. Each week we’ll play a Black History Month instrumental for you to write to. When your bars are ready, call us on 0808 123 1234 and rap over the beat!
Our amazing production team will combine your freestyles into a special track and play it on the final Free Flow of October. Remember: the theme for this year’s freestyles is ‘saluting our sisters’.
Elsewhere on NPR we’ll have music, interviews and features celebrating Black people who have changed our world.
NPR Talk is on National Prison Radio every Wednesday at midday, repeated at 6pm.
Free Flow is every Saturday at 5pm and repeated on Wednesdays at 8pm. Books Unlocked is every night at 11pm and there’s a chance to catch up with the week’s readings on Sunday at 3pm.
National Prison Radio is the world’s first national radio station for people in prison.
It’s available on in-cell TV in prisons across England and Wales. If it’s not available in your prison, or you would like to get involved by asking a question, sharing a story or requesting a track you can call us on 0808 123 1234.
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