Darcus Howe
Darcus Howe | |
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| Born | 1943 (age 81–82) |
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Darcus Howe (born 1943) is a broadcaster and columnist, who lives in Brixton, South London, England.
Biography
Howe was born in Trinidad and Tobago, the son of an Anglican priest. He left Trinidad for London aged 18[1] to enter the legal profession at Middle Temple, but he swapped the law for journalism. He returned to Trinidad, where his uncle and mentor, radical intellectual CLR James, inspired Howe to combine writing with political activism. A brief spell as assistant editor on the Trinidad trade union paper The Vanguard was followed by return to Britain as editor of British magazine Race Today.
He became a member of the British Black Panther Movement, and in August 1970, following a protest, Howe was arrested and tried for riot, affray and assault.[2] He and his "Mangrove Nine" co-defendents, were acquitted of charges after a trial at the Old Bailey.[3] Later, he was the editor of the magazine Race Today and was imprisoned for three months for assaulting a police officer. The celebration following his release was recalled in the song Man Free by poet Linton Kwesi Johnson. The central lines of the song describe Howe's legal fight: "I stand up in the court like a mighty lion, I stand up in the court like man of iron, Darcus out of jail, Shabba!".
Howe organised the 20,000 strong Black People's March 1981 claiming official neglect and inefficient policing of the investigation of New Cross Fire in which 13 black teenagers died.
Broadcasting career
In 1982, Howe began his broadcasting career on Channel 4's television series Black on Black, later co-editor with Tariq Ali of Bandung File and more recently White Tribe, a look at modern day Britain and its loss of 'Englishness'. Howe has continued to write in the New Statesman and fronted the Channel 4 current affairs programme Devil's Advocate. He was a keynote speaker at the 2005 Belfast Film Festival's "Film and Racism" seminar and presented his documentary Who You Callin' a Nigger? at the festival.
In October 2005, Howe presented a Channel 4 documentary Son of Mine, about his troubled relationship with his 20-year-old son Amiri, who had been caught handling stolen passports, shoplifting, and accused of attempted rape.[4][5]
Howe appeared on the discussion programme, Midweek (on BBC Radio 4), to promote the documentary on 19 October 2005 and, live on air, became involved in an angry debate with American comedienne Joan Rivers. The dispute began when Howe suggested that Rivers was offended by the use of the term "black" and Rivers objected strongly to the suggestion that she was racist and forced Howe into an apology.[6]
Howe was one of several who fell foul of perennial satirist and prankster Chris Morris on Morris' show Brass Eye, in the final episode, 'Decline'.
Controversial BBC Interview
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Howe was interviewed live on BBC television on 9 August, 2011 during the 2011 London riots. Howe was interviewed by the BBC presenter, Fiona Armstrong.[7] Her tone was described as "sanctimonious" by Anjali Kamat, correspondent for Democracy Now!.[8].
Shortly after Howe said "young blacks and young whites... have been telling us, and we wouldn't listen..." the presenter interrupted him to ask him if he "condoned the violence".[9]
Howe spoke of the events as a political uprising:
- "I don't call it rioting, I call it an insurrection of the masses of the people. It is happening in Syria, it is happening in Clapham, it's happening in Liverpool, it's happening in Port-au-Spain, Trinidad, and that is the nature of the historical moment..."
Armstrong interrupted Howe, asking "You are not a stranger to riots yourself, I understand, are you? You have taken part in them yourself."
Howe responded:
- "I have never taken part in a single riot. I've been on demonstrations that ended up in a conflict. And have some respect for an old West Indian negro, and stop accusing me of being a rioter. Because I... You won't tickle me to get abusive, you just sound idiotic. Have some respect..."
Personal life
Howe has been married three times and has seven children. The 2005 Channel 4 documentary Son of Mine examines Howe's relationship with his 20 years old son Amiri, who faced jail for charges related to stolen passports.[10] His daughter Tamara was a director of production for London Weekend Television (LWT). He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in April 2007 and has since campaigned for more black men to get tested.[11]
See also
References
- ^ Howe, Darcus, The heroic struggle of black parenthood, New Statesman, 12 March 2007.
- ^ "Racists in Setback". Internationaltimes.it. 1971-01-28. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
- ^ Mangrove Nine: the court challenge against police racism in Notting Hill - The Guardian, 29 November 2010
- ^ Son of Mine, Channel4.com.
- ^ Darcus vs Joan, Midweek Interview Audio November 28, 2009
- ^ Race row disrupts Radio 4 debate, BBC website, 19 October 2005.
- ^ Huffington Post, August 10, 2011, London Riots: BBC Interview Gets Testy
- ^ Flock, Elizabeth "BBC interview with West Indian writer gives insight into causes of London riots", The Washington Post, August 09, 2011, accessed August 09, 2011.
- ^ Death and Taxes Magazine, August 09, 2011, Writer Darcus Howe Rips BBC on Coverage of London Riots
- ^ Decca Aitkenhead. "Interview: Darcus and Amiri Howe | Media". The Guardian. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
- ^ Darcus Howe. "My battle with prostate cancer | Society". The Guardian. Retrieved 2011-08-10.