BOOKS


Black Focus Author Interview: Jason Okundaye


Journalist Jason Okundaye’s début book explores the history of south London’s queer, Black community, one human story at a time


Lakeisha Goedluck @lakeisharaquel F


or many Black Britons, the south London area of Brixton is a diasporic homeland. It’s where the Black Cultural Archives can be found, documenting


the history of the Caribbean and African people who moved to the cit to help rebuild post-war. It’s the site of the Brixton uprising of 1981, where Black youths took to the streets to rally against the racial discrimination enforced by the police. It’s also one of the few places in London where plantain and yams can still be bought in bulk, for a reasonable price, on the backstreets of Brixton Market. What’s seldom known, however, is that it was once a place of significance for an underground Black gay communit in the 80s and 90s. Through his début book Revolutionary Acts: Love & Brotherhoodin Black Gay Britain, writer Jason Okundaye tells the largely unheard stories of the men who truly made Brixton their home: despite the discrimination imposed against them. A south London native (he grew up in Batersea), Okundaye began his career working within policy for Westminster, where writing was more of a hobby that he indulged in on the side before shiſting into becoming a full-time writer. “Originally, I started out doing political commentary writing, then I found I much preferred writing about culture,” he says with an earned confidence. His X account serves as testament to his cultural shrewd- ness, commenting on everything from the realit TV series “Love Island” to his misgivings towards the Tory part.


14 31st May 2024


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