Barbara Blake Hannah

Barbara Blake-Hannah is a Jamaican journalist, politician, author, film maker, festival organiser and cultural consultant. She was the first black person to be an on-camera reporter and interviewer on British television when, in 1968, she was employed by Thames Television's evening news programme Today,[1] and sacked because of viewers complaints about having a black woman on screen.[2][3] She later returned to Jamaica and was an independent senator in the Parliament of Jamaica from 1984 to 1987.[1]

Television and journalism career

In Jamaica, Blake-Hannah had read news bulletins and written for a monthly news magazine managed by her father, Evon Blake,[4] who founded the Press Association of Jamaica.[2] She arrived in Britain in 1964 to work as an extra on the film A High Wind in Jamaica (1965).[4] In the next few years she wrote for The Caribbean Times, West Indian World, The Sunday Times, Queen and Cosmopolitan.[4][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,[4] and said that the station had had calls from viewers, telling them to "get the Nigger off the screen".[2] Blake-Hannah then worked for the local news programme broadcast by ATV in Birmingham.[2] She was unable to find a hotel that would allow her to stay, and had to commute from London each day until she found a room at the YWCA.[2] She was deliberately kept away from the studio on a day when Enoch Powell was being interviewed.[2] Following this, she worked as researcher on the BBC's documentary series Man Alive.[1]

Return to Jamaica

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] Here Blake-Hannah had a successful career as a film-maker and has also been an independent senator in the Parliament of Jamaica from 1984 to 1987.[2] Blake-Hannah was the first Rastafarian representative in the parliament.[3] She has written several books, including a 1982 account of the Rastafarian religion, and produced several more films, including a documentary for Britain's Channel 4, Race, Rhetoric, Rastafari (1982).[3] Blake-Hannah's 1982 memoir Growing Out: Black Hair and Black Pride in the Swinging Sixties charts her life and career in Britain.[2]

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.[5]

The British media periodical Press Gazette launched the "Barbara Blake-Hannah prize" in 2020 to recognise emerging talented journalists from minority backgrounds.[6]

Bibliography
  • Rastafari – The New Creation, 2012
  • Joseph – A Rasta Reggae Fable, 2013
  • The Moon Has its Secrets: A novel, 2014
  • Growing Out: Black Hair & Black Pride In The Swinging Sixties, 2016
  • Home The First School: A Home-Schooling Guide To Early Childhood, 2019
  • Growing Up – Dawta of Jah, 2020

References
  1. Blake Hannah, Barbara (28 October 2008). "It wasn't Trevor or Moira - I was the first black British TV presenter". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  2. Jolaoso, Simi (23 October 2020). "Barbara Blake Hannah: The first black reporter on British TV". BBC News. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  3. Jones, Ellen E. (7 January 2021). "Barbara Blake-Hannah: how Britain's first black female TV reporter was forced off our screens". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  4. Johnson-Obeng, Bree (31 October 2019). "Barbara Blake Hannah - the first black female journalist on UK TV". Sky News. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  5. Knight, Bryan (26 April 2020). "Living Legend (feat. Barbara Blake Hannah)". YouTube.
  6. "Barbara Blake-Hannah prize launched as Press Gazette bids to improve British Journalism Awards diversity". Press Gazette. 13 August 2020. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
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