2024 Black-Facts Almanac Gallery
12 BLACK-BRITISH ICONS
Raising Black Achievement Founding Director, Neil Mayers wrote letters to each of the featured artists in the 2024 Black-Facts Almanac. Hear some of the reasons he chose each individual.
Letitia Wright
Actress, Producer, Writer
I am sure that your industry promises much to those who bend to the wills of studios, directors, producers etc. I wanted our readers to start the year with an image of a woman who projects a love of self, a love of their craft and a love of their culture whilst standing on their integrity.
We also heard that you’re a Tekken fan, so we thought we would try to create a character that embodied some of your strengths along with the inclusion of medieval swords as a subtle (but visual) mention of your faith.
Troy Deeney
Football Player-Coach, Activist
Troy Deeney, former captain of Birmingham City Football Club, and host of the 2023 Channel 4 documentary, “Where’s My History?” launched an online petition to make the teaching of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) histories mandatory across the school curriculum in England. Keep in mind that it is already mandatory in schools across Wales!
Troy has made it clear that his motivation for being an agent for change is motivated by his desire to give his daughter a better educational experience than his own. One where her cultural identity is celebrated rather than ignored.
Beverly Naya
Actress
"The Raising Black Achievement Team deliver a presentation that asks people (especially Black men) to question why they choose to look as English as possible on the most important days of their life - Baptisms, graduations, weddings etc.
Your decision to pursue a career in Nigeria rather than in the UK or Hollywood is so powerful not only for going against the widely perceived trend of doing absolutely anything to reach Hollywood - the so-called ‘promised land’, but it shows a different value system. Arguably, a much healthier value system for people of African descent."
Rio Ferdinand
Pundit, Mogul, Educator
"After speaking at length with the CEO of the Rio Ferdinand Foundation, there was an overwhelming feeling of guilt for having not recognised your massive contribution to the health and wellbeing of so many children on a local level, but also nationally and internationally. And That’s just your contribution to the field of education!
Creating your image was a real challenge, as we were trying to encapsulate the expected (walking out of a business district in a business suit) with the unexpected (holding a fishing rod - and fish i.e. proven success), the Jack of many trades, but who’s mastered them all.
We wanted to create an image that inspired people to think beyond the ‘matrix’ that they believed defined their limitations."
Thandiwe Newton
Actress, Producer
Your character in Westworld is in some way a reminder of the purpose of history. I had heard the phrase “Africa is the cradle of civilisation” many times. However, it wasn’t until I studied African History and saw every race in the faces of Africans that I understood the full import of that statement.
To see Chinese features in the faces of the Khoisan people of South Africa is one thing, but to see images of ancient Chinese people who look very African is another.
For a child who is raised in a society that often makes them feel like a nobody, history has an amazing power to dismantle this fiction and allow that child to realise that they can be anybody because they they are in fact, everybody!
Idris Elba
Actor, Producer, Writer, DJ
We used to chat very briefly when you would attend “Nubian Tales” nights at the Prince Charles Cinema off Leicester Square in Soho because I was the only redundant staff member on those evenings as the coordinator of those evenings preferred to manage the ticket sales.
The thing I remember most about you walking into the foyer on Nubian Tales screenings were your headphones and your love of music. As we’re born a few weeks apart, I wanted to create an image that showcased some of the albums that we probably both consider to be ‘classical music’.
Clara Amfo
Television & Radio Presenter
The title of the image (“Blowin’ Up!”) is an apt description of your career to date. However, it was your heartfelt comments following George Floyd’s murder that connected you to us and let us know that a microphone was ‘safe’ in your hands when representing us.
Whilst your generation would probably refer to ‘drop the mic’ moments, we of the Eric B & Rakim generation speak of blowing up mics!
Thank you.
Lewis Hamilton
Formula 1 Driver, Activist
The image is titled “Symbiosis”
The idea originated from an interview of Mercedes' Toto Wolff a few years ago where he said that naturally, there is a team of engineers who work on the car, but Lewis will tell us adjustments that need to be made because he can feel them as he's driving.
Alongside a Joe Rogan video describing the technological connection between an Apache helicopter and the pilot, we thought the future of Formula 1 may look similar to your image where the line between the man and the machine had become ‘blurred’.
Dina Asher-Smith
Athlete, Model, Spokesperson
The image is titled “Home Is Where The Heart Is”.
Clearly you love and enjoy your chosen field in athletics. However, after finding out that you wrote a dissertation on the History of Jazz, the vision of you as a jazz singer, who similar to Nina Simone often spoke on the racial injustices she saw around her, was a relatively easy image to create.
It was important that, like many of the legendary icons in Jazz and Soul who spoke a lot before each song to provide the context of the lyrics, the image that we created could have been of you speaking as well as singing.
Stormzy
Artist, Activist
Your image is titled “Inspiration”
It is based on the story of how the name “Stormzy” just came to you whilst you were lying on your sofa - Divine inspiration.
We tried to capture that, whilst reflecting your cultural heritage using the Gye Nyame symbol close to the location of where your pineal gland (3rd eye) would be situated.
Naomie Harris
Actress
At a time when many people only pay lip service to trends or PC issues, it was inspiring to hear how you prioritise your health and wellbeing by waking up with the sun, carving out time for yourself during the day and recognising the healing power of mediation.
If you are wondering, the pages are blank because we felt that might be an aspirational goal - to have nothing that needed ‘working out’.
John Boyega
Actor, Producer, Activist
This image is titled “Self-Love”
Apparently, it’s ‘controversial’ for somebody of African descent to say that his dating preference is for women of African descent!
You will always have the love of the sisters in our community because you have no shame in professing that love of self and, you will always have the love of the brothers in our community who respect our sisters in our words and our actions.
Since the 1st ever edition of our Black History calendar in 2006, we have always placed the most powerful image on the last page, to make the biggest statement to end the year (as well as making sure that our customers start ‘itching’ for next year’s almanac).
Thanks for the inspiration!
