Barbara Blake Hannah

Barbara Blake-Hannah is a Jamaican journalist, festival organiser and cultural consultant. She was the first black news presenter on British television, in 1968 as an on-camera reporter and interviewer on Thames Television's evening news program Today.[1]

Television and journalism career

In Jamaica, Blake had read news bulletins and written for a monthly news magazine managed by her father, Evon Blake. She arrived in Britain in 1964 to work as an extra on the film A High Wind in Jamaica (1965). In the next few years she wrote for The Sunday Times, Queen and Cosmopolitan.[2] Hannah was appointed in 1968 as a reporter on Thames Television's Today, then presented by Eamonn Andrews. In the role, she interviewed prime minister Harold Wilson and actor Michael Caine.[1] After nine months she was dismissed without formal explanation, although her producer said the company was under pressure from a negative response from viewers for them having a black woman on television.[2] Blake Hannah then worked for the local news programme broadcast by ATV in Birmingham. She was unable to find a hotel which would allow her to stay, and had to commute from London each day until she found a room at the YWCA. She was deliberately kept away from the studio on a day when Enoch Powell was being interviewed. Following this, she worked as researcher on the BBC's documentary series Man Alive.[1]

Later life

Chris Blackwell and Perry Henzell offered her a job in 1972 as public relations officer The Harder They Come, the first Jamaican feature film. She returned home to Jamaica permanently.[1]

She has written five books, including one in 1982 about the Rastafarian religion, which she is an adherent of. Blake-Hannah's memoir Growing Out: Black Hair and Black Pride in the Swinging Sixties charts her life and career in Britain.

In April 2020, Blake Hannah gave an interview to Bryan Knight's Tell A Friend podcast, where she candidly spoke about her experience working in Britain. She spoke of the racism prevalent at the time and her journey to black consciousness.[3]

The British media periodical Press Gazette launched the Barbara Blake-Hannah prize in 2020 to recognise emerging talented journalists from minority backgrounds.[4]

gollark: Besides, *I* did not make it up.
gollark: In the absence of a spec or implementation this is entirely valid.
gollark: https://discord.com/channels/346530916832903169/348702212110680064/749447848520843315
gollark: …
gollark: !quote 749447848520843315

References
  1. Blake Hannah, Barbara. "It wasn't Trevor or Moira - I was the first black British TV presenter". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  2. Johnson-Obeng, Bree (31 October 2019). "Barbara Blake Hannah - the first black female journalist on UK TV". Sky News. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  3. Knight, Bryan. "Living Legend (feat. Barbara Blake Hannah)". YouTube.
  4. "Barbara Blake-Hannah prize launched as Press Gazette bids to improve British Journalism Awards diversity". Press Gazette. 13 August 2020. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.