Actor Paterson Joseph’s National Book Tour of Ignatius Sancho Comes To Brixton Following The Worldwide Tour of His Play. Brixton Library, The Secret Diaries of Ignatius Sancho, And A Special Reading By Actor Paterson Joseph. As Well As This Being A Tale About A Black 18th Century Gentleman, This Is A Tale of Another Black English Actor Having To Leave London And Seek Success In America. Centuries Later! He Lives To Tell His Tale And That of Sancho’s In Our Follow Up Interview.
Founder of HistFest.Org Rebecca Rideal In Association With The British Library Presented A Special Reading By Actor & Author Paterson Joseph At A HistFest.Org Event Friday 14 October 2022. Jamaican-Welsh-English Writer Catherine Johnson Was In Conversation With Him On Stage. He Recently Did Another Actor’s Reading At The Tate Central Brixton Library On Wednesday November 8 2023. TO.P & A Few Fans Spoke With Him Afterwards.
Education! Education! Education! Through Storytelling
Independence, Education, And Properly Telling Black British History Is More Essential Than Ever As In America Trailing Re-Trumplican Presidential Candidate And Governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis (Labelled Ron DeSanctimonious or Ron DeSatan By Some of His Political Enemies) Is Banning Black Literature In Florida Schools. And Here Apparent Identity Crisis Victim, Twice De-Seated Former Home Sectretary, Suella Braverman Makes Cruella Deville Style Claims That Multi-Culturalism In Britain Has Failed (In The Year of The 75th Windrush Anniversary).
Game-Changers Like Shakespearan & Dickensian Actor, Writer, And University Chancellor (At Oxford Brookes University, Selected 2023), Patrick Joseph ~ And ~ Shakespearan Actor, Writer, And University Chancellor (Birmingham University, Selected 2016) Sir Lenworth Henry, Are Helping To Make Education Move In The Opposite Direction By Telling More Powerful Black British History Stories And Supporting Black British History Being Part of The British Curriculum.
Both Are Telling Compelling, And Important Stories, About The Black Experience Within A Biased White System, Changing The Narrative For The Next Generation, Which Can Only Ultimately Mean Greater Social Peace, Harmony, And Progressive Development For The Next Generation. In Multi-Cultural Britain And In Turn Potentially Other Parts of The World!
In June This Year Paterson Won The Christopher Bland Royal Society of Literature Award For The Secret Diaries of Ignatius Sancho.
‘The Secret Diaries of Ignatius Sanchco’ Is An Historical Novel Which Features The Eloquent & Articulate Letters of A Freed Slave Who Went On To Live A Life of Refinement And Help Co-Found The Abolition Group Sons of Africa After Being ‘Taken In’ By An Aristocractic Gentleman ( John Duke of Montagu, Who, As A Friend of King George II, Was Associated With The Trappings of Wealth & Priviledge From The Slave Trade, But Who Also Had Some Modicum of Benevolence And Compassion, Such That He Helped Sancho Become A Gentleman, Whilst Working As His Valet. A Black Gentleman In The 1800s. And A Classical Music Composer (His Works Are Now Performed By Chineke Orchestra). And He Was A Lover of The Theatre. As Well As A Proflic Letter Writer). In This Regal Company He Was To Have His Portrait Taken By Gainsborough The Famous Artist of Day. He Was Supported In The Purchase of A Shop Near Downing Street (Charles Street) And He Subsequently Became The First Black Man To Vote In England. His Vicarious Royal Associations Led To Them Being Documented Within The Archives of Windsor Castle.
Joseph Was So Taken With Sancho’s Story That He Wrote A Play About It Which He Performed Around The World. During Lockdown This Evolved Into His First Novel. He Now Presents Personal Readings From It All Around The Country (When His Acting Schedule Allows).
On Wednesday Night November 8th 2023 The Tate Library Brixton Was Virtually Full To Capacity, With Some People Standing, And The Majority of The Mixed, Yet Predominantly Afro-Caribbean Audience, Came Prepared With A Copy of The Book Ready To Receive PJ’s Signature During The Scheduled Book Signing Session Afterwards. A Pre-Event Online Promotion of The Book Meant This Audience Was Well Prepared And Ready To Learn Some Black British History From One of Britain’s Best Actors, of St. Lucian Heritage, And His Own Lived Experience of The British Education System (Which Ultimately Let Him Down).
In This Landmark Year of 2023 Which Sees The 75th Windrush Anniversary, The 50th Anniversary of Hip Hop, The Announcement Last Month (UK Black History Month) By The Royal Victoria & Albert Museum That It Will Be Staging A Special Exhibition Next Year To Officially Honour & Celebrate The 40 Year Career of Black British Model Naomi Campbell @Naomi This Year’s African Fashion Week London, Being Hosted By The I.O.D. (Institute of Directors) Piccadilly For The First Time, And King Charles III & Queen Consort Camilla Commencing Their First Commonwealth State Visit To Africa, Kenya (Since His Coronation May 6th Earlier This Year) In Conjunction With The Princes Trust International Enterprise Initiative @princestrustinternational (of Which Fellow Actor And Director @Idris Elba Is An Ambassador), It Seems The Perfect Time To Keep It Real And Start Having Some ‘Real Talk’ About Britain’s Colonial Past And The Legalised Slave Trade & The Racist Integral Infrastructure Systems That Supported It.
In A Time Where Good Mental Health Is Finally Acknowledged As Being Fundamental To Individual & Social Well-Being (And As Being Particularly Adversely Affected By The Aforementioned Racist Integral Infrastructure Systems Racism Imposed On Black People) Many Maintain That We Need To Start Having Different Conversations, Different Publications, Different Celluloid Productions, Different Theatre Productions, And of Course, Diffferent Curriculums In Order To Address This Issue Much More Substantially, Honestly And Effectively, For The Betterment of Society. And That Includes Everybody! .
The Lifestory of Charles Ignaitus Sancho Is The Book Tour Dedication of British Actor Paterson Joseph Who Was Overlooked And Underestimated By The British Education System When He Was Growing Up As A Kid. So He Knows A Thing or Two About It.
Above Ignatius In The Famous Portrait of Him As Painted By Acclaimed Artist of The Day ‘Gainsborough’ & Which Features On Joseph’s Book’s Front Cover.
From The British Library (Last Month) To Brixton Library (Earlier This Month) And All Around The World, The Charismatic Chancellor Has Been Touring ‘The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho’ For Twenty Years. On Wednesday November 8 2023 TO.P Had The Honour of Having A Word’ At Brixton Library.
Real People.
CLASSICAL ACTOR, WRITER, AND OXFORD BROOKE UNIVERSITY CHANCELLOR, PATERSON JOSEPH, ON HOW & WHY nOT DOING “SLAVE PORN” “TORTURE PORN” NOR “SLAVE OBJECTIFICATION” WAS IMPORTANT TO HIM
Real People From The Inside.
Not ‘Poor Person, Look What’s Happening To Them’.
No!
What Do You Feel About What’s Happening To You?
Tell Me.
Have A Voice Now.
I Want It In Schools.
shakespearean & dickensian actor, researcher & scholar, paterson joseph, on wanting black british history, including before the windrush generation, taught within the black british education system
I Want People To Read It
And Maybe Go
“Oh This Is Like A David Cooperfield...”
Interesting Audiences
Ever Driven By Initiative , Enterprise & Education TheOrator.Press Managed To Secure A Post Event Interview With The Author of ‘The Secret Diaries of Ignatius Sancho’ Paterson Joseph After His Personal Reading And Book Signing At Brixton Library Earlier This Month. And It Was Quite The Chat. Having Formed A Small But Dynamic Group of Audience Members, Who All Connected In Person On The Night, It Was Literary Delight Exchanging Powerful Insights.
Photo: Author, Shakespearan & Dickensian Actor And University Chancellor (Oxford Brookes University) @Paterson Joseph, With Magazine Editor TheOrator.Press Online Magazine @theorator.press.on.insta, Art Gallery Director @okello_orege_art, TV Production Company Accountant And Jewellery Maker @kayelle Jewellery Afrocentric And Actress And Writer @Roli.Ok
At The Tate Brixton Library The Majority Black Audience Is Keen, Receptive And Attentive And Roughly An 80/20 Split In Terms of The Racial Demographic. The Author Notes This With Interest As He Explains That Elsewhere Two Thirds of His Audience So Far Have Been White. “Weather It’s Birmingham, Manchester or Nottingham, They’re Just Not Considering It Part of Our Culture Somehow” He Says Referring To His Notably Smaller Black Audiences At Other Events.
We Put It To Him That Things Might Well Be Very Different If A Book Festival Were Organized By Him, Sir Lenny Henry & Or Some Other Awesome Black Authors, Including More Black Writers, And of Course Also Including White Writers. The Style, The Dynamics, The Promotions, And The Publicity, Would Probably Be Different And More Black People Would Be Galvanized To Attend. Roli, Agrees And Explains That She “Queued On Crutches” To See ‘For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When The Hue Gets Too Heavy’ The Play About How Life, Including Racism Can Affect The Mental Health of Black Men. Featuring An All Black Cast (And Written By #Ryan Calais Cameron Who Has Experienced His Own Struggles). “The Royal Court Theatre Extended It’s Run And Had To Shorten The Next Production” She Says Excitedly Conveying How Popular It Was With Black Audiences.
The Black Community Were Clearly Prepared To Pay For And Put Bums On Seats To See Such Discussions Within This Production. Similarly, The @Merky Books Debut Book Festival Back In April This Year (@TheRoundTableLDN & Sponsored By Netflix) Was A Well Attended Rip-Roaring Success. Which Also Supports Our Point. He Takes The Point And Shares A Number of Other Interesting Facts.
Interesting Publishers
PJ: “It’s A Rennaissance. We’re In A Rennaisance. If I Look At The Young Black Writers I’m Meeting, There’s A Lot of Black Writers, Especially Women, Their Work Is Innovative And of Course It’s Original Because We Haven’t Seen A ‘Body’ of Black British Female Writers Until These Later Years. Now There’s A Big Influx of Them. And That’s Gonna Change Publishing.”
TO.P: “Well Look At Merky Books.”
PJ: “There’s Merky Books & There’s Dialogue Who Published Mine.”
He Reveals The Shocking Fact That Not One White Publishing House Accepted His Book. In The End It Was Only Dialogue Books That Accepted It. Sharmaine Lovegrove Founded Dialogue Books. One of Just A Few Black Publishers In Britain. French Publishing Company Hachette Brought Her Company And She Is Now A Partner Within The Global Group But Still Runs Dialogue Books As An Imprint.
That Is The Publishing Company of Sharmaine Lovegrove. One of Just A Few Black Publishers In Britain. French Company Hachette Have Since Brought Her Company But She Is Now A Partner Within The Company & Still Runs Dialogue As An Imprint. This Collaborative Alleyship Brings To Mind Stormzy’s @Merky Books Collaboration Working With Penguin As An Imprint Too. It Fantastically Inclusive.
But It Has Not Always Been Straightforward. Inspired To Watch The Whole of Paterson’s Previous Fane Online Presentation We Discover That No London Theatre Houses Would Stage Paterson’s Play. It Was Only After He Was Able To Stage It Abroad (Particularly In America, At Venues Such As The Kennedy Centre In Washington DC, The Chicago Shakespeare Theatre And The McCulloch Theatre At The University of Austin Texas, Performing Arts Centre And It Proved A Success, Was He Able To Perform It Here. That Is Shocking In And Of Itself, But Especially For An Actor of His Calibre. He Wrote It Circa 2015. Ironcially Because He Wanted To Prove There Were Black People In Britain Before Windrush And He Wanted To Play A Refined Gentlemen, But Such Parts Were Often Denied Him Due To The Colour of His Skin. This Is Yet Another First Hand Story of Black Creatives Having To Go To America To Make It.
Great Stories of Humanity, Perseverance And Survival Need To Be Told Instead of Those Just Focused On Slavery Torture Porn
TO.P & A Few Fans Spoke With Him Afterwards Where We All Shared Different Insights Which Was An Interesting Exercise
After His Actor’s Reading At The Tate Central Brixton Library On Wednesday November 8 2023 TO.P & A Few Fans Spoke With Him Afterwards And He Was Delightfully Charming And Shared Details of Future Projects Including Looking At 18th Century Paintings Featuring Black People
The Actor Explains The Problem Is A Question of Different Perspectives. His Perspective In Telling Sancho’s Story Is That of How This Amazing Human Being Survived Being Subjected To The Inhumanity of Slavery As An Enslaved Person Who Is Able To Give An Eloquent Account of The Death of Both His Enslaved Parents. And Whilst The Black Community Is Interested In Black Stories of Survival, Certain Publishers Believe That The White Community Isn’t, And Thus They Have No Interest In Such Narratives. Instead They Are Interested In Narratives From The Slave Owner’s White Perspective Which Indulges In The Exercise of Their Abuses of Power To The Highest Degree With Brutal Whippings, Punishments, And Colonial Savagery. This Is Something Winsome Pinnock Addressed In Her Play Rockets & Blue Lights As She Also Endeavoured To Tell The Slavery Story From A Different Perspective Too. Especially That of The Descendants.
The Line That White People Have No Interest In The Creative Works of Black People Has Largely Been Debunked A Number of Times, Including By The Success of Black Panther: Wakander Forever (The Most Successful Marvel Film of The Franchise – 2018) And By The Success of ‘Noughts & Crosses’ Written By Malorie Blackman @Malorie_Blackman & Broadcast By BBC1 (2020) And Indeed Starring Paterson Joseph As Home Secretary (In This Groundbreaking Epic Distopian Drama About Reverse Racism. The Famous Brown Plaster Scene Is So Unexpected And So Simple It’s Very Real And Powerful!).
PJ: “They Don’t Want The Romance, They Don’t Want The Joy, They Don’t Want The Humanity.” So I Want It In Schools. I Want People To Read It & Go ‘Oh This Is Like A David Cooperfield’. I Want People To Take It Into Schools And Even If They’re Just Surface Learning It, Like This Is 18th Century Language, And This Is Where They Used To Dance, And This The Food They Used To Buy, People Are Looking At It And It’s Seeping Into Them, That There Are Black People Here. That It Just Seeps In Naturally &That Everyone Is Seen Is Really Important To Him.
He Also Notes There Is No Slavery Memorial In Britain And Feels That There Should Be One In Every British Port City That Traded In Slavery. We Mention The Slavery Museum In Liverpool, To Which He Replies People Should Not Have To Travel Only There When Slavery Ports Were Active Throughout The Country. Plus He Feels There Should Be A Physical Slavery Memorial To Which People Can Travel For Learning, Reflection, And Paying Their Respects.
He Points Out That Instead The Monuments To The Abused Enslaved People, Memorials & Statues Are In The Name of The White Abolitionists Such As of Wilberforce or Even White Slave Owners Such As Coulson. (The Dismantaling of His Statue In 2020 Following International Protests Demanding Social Justice Reform After The Police Brutality Murder of George Floyd In America During The Pandemic Was To Become Notorious). There Were In Fact Black Abolitionists Such As Fredrick Douglas, Sancho And Olaudah Equiano Who Co-Founded The Abolition Advocacy Group Sons of Africa As Detailed In Joseph’s Book. Frankly If There Was Such A Monument To Them No Doubt Millions Would Think It Fantastic, Flock To See It And Honour It.
Meantime Joseph Takes An Holistic Approach To Sancho’s Story, Saying That It’s Also About The Education, Politics, Music, Theatre, Art, Emotions And Society of The Day. And He Indicates There May Even Be A Sancho Screen Adaptation of The Novel (Which Evolved From The Play And May Now See Further Evolution Into Some Iteration of A Film). Meantime He Has Started A New Eighteenth Century Art Project Especially Looking At The Images of Black Pages In Eighteenth Century Artwork Which Sounds Fascinating. We Tell Him of Our Article On ‘The Black Italian Rennaissance’ Following A Wonderful Sky Arts Documentry On The Subject Last November. However Joseph’s New Art Project Is In It’s Infancy, And For Now He Remains Focused On His Book Tour & Personal Readings (As “A Jobbing Actor” Now The Actor’s SAG-AFTRA Strike Is Over).
Hearing The Clarity, Effortless Yet Deliberate Ennunication, And The Knowing Inntonation of Paterson’s Voice, Is A Soothing Reassuring Oratory Pleasure. One Worth Travelling For. And Worth Investing In. All In! Because It Can, To Use The Financial Theatrical Term ‘Put Bums On Seats’ For A Reason. He Is One Of Britain’s Greatest Living Wordsmith’s. No Doubt Ignaitus Would Approve! Novel (Including Audiobook) Available From All Good Bookstores & Online From Dialogue Books
Next Stop ‘Wonka’ With Young Willy Wonka & Mr Slugworth
We’re Looking Forward To Watching & Reviewing It And Reporting Back On This Whole Other Side of Paterson, An Outstanding Scholar And Actor. Sancho Would Be Proud
And What A Wonka Character He Is!
Mr Slugworth The Leader of A Chocolate Business Cartel, Resents The Competition From Willy Wonka And His New Chocolate Inventions, In This Adventure Comedy Fantasy (Adapted From Rohal Dhals Original (1961) Book ‘Charlie & The Chocolate Factory).
It Premiered At The Royal Festival November 28th 2023 And Is Released In British Cinemas On December 8th 2023 And In America December 15th 2023.
As Well As Fellow Veterans Such As;
Hugh Grant (Love Actually) @WonkaMovie,
Jim Carter (of Downton Fame) @WonkaMovie,
#Rowan Atkinson (Mr Bean),
Olivia Coleman (Empire of Light) @WonkaMovie,
@JosephdPaterson Stars With Some New Faces Including
Rising Stars Timothee Chalamet @tchalamet (Willy Wonka, New Chocolate Maker),
@CalahLane (Wonka’s Friend, Noodles),
@TracyIfeachor_(Dorothy Smith) And
@kobnaholdbrooksmith (Affable Officer).
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