A ‘local legend’ who has done over 100 half marathons for charities incl Cancer Research is fighting for a possibly life-saving treatment after being diagnosed with a rare form of lung cancer. Christian Clarke, 63, from Stockport hopes he can get running again open.substack.com/pub/melissas...

'Local legend' who completed over 100 half marathons fights for life-saving treatment after rare lung cancer diagnosis

Christian Clarke has run for charities including Cancer Research and hopes to get back to running again.

open.substack.com

Tharel Thompson, 30, from Barbados miraculously survived an unprovoked attack in Reading which left him unable to walk and with life-changing injuries. This is the definition of courage & strength 🙏🏾

Brit teen Marcus Fakana, 18, who was jailed in Dubai for having consensual sex with a then-17-yo girl during a holiday romance has been released after being granted a pardon, a campaign group says. He arrived safely home in the UK on Thursday, they added.

My newsletter has now reached over 1k subscribers on Substack. I started The Source to shed light on underreported stories from Black, Asian & Arab communities in the UK. Now it’s evolved to producing its own independent journalism, telling stories from the Black community. Thank you for supporting🙏🏾

A Black British man has launched his own ‘sold-out’ UK dodgeball event after feeling the sport wasn’t accessible to Black people. Quason, 32, from East London says his club is ‘disrupting’ the scene, bringing people together & breaking barriers melissasigodothesource.substack.com/p/black-brit...

Black British man launches 'sold-out' dodgeball event 'disrupting' the scene and breaking social barriers

The Source Exclusive: Quason Matthews, 32, from Leyton, East London, was one out of five Black people in his dodgeball league and felt the sport wasn't accessible to Black people

melissasigodothesource.substack.com

Today marks the 5th year anniversary of the murder of George Floyd who was killed by a white police officer. It moved so many to fight against racism but much of that fight has disappeared. But those still genuine in their efforts will never forget. RIP George Floyd 🙏🏾

Twitter is down

An award-winning ballet company created after founder Cassa Pancho was told growing up that Black people were ‘too flat footed’ to dance ballet - has been forced to move into a church w/ 1 toilet & no showers. Ballet Black now needs funds to help renovate shorturl.at/h6GEe

The Source Exclusive - Award-winning ballet company showcasing Black & Asian dancers forced to move into church with one toilet and no showers

Ballet Black was created after founder Cassa Pancho was told Black people were 'too flat footed' to dance ballet. She now needs to raise funds to renovate her new space.

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It’s been a loooong day

A Black man who adopted white nationalist views says that after discovering feminist literature & community, he learned to ‘love his Blackness.’ Kelvin Frimpong, 22, says he fell down the alt-right pipeline after facing racism in order to protect himself shorturl.at/y7hNo

The Source Exclusive: "I fell down the alt-right pipeline but after discovering feminist literature and finding community, I learned to love my Blackness"

Exclusive to The Source

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A Black woman who was the only non-white face out of 100 in her 1st media job, launched her own network w/ now over 1k Black journalists. Hannah Ajala has pledged to help w/ costs incl travel for interviews in a bid to normalise seeing more Black journos🙌🏾 shorturl.at/RzIuZ

The Source Exclusive: ‘I was the only non-white face in a deparment of over 100 - now I’ve created my own network of more than 1000 Black journalists’

Exclusive to The Source

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Albertina Aparicio known as Tina who recently celebrated her 100th bday has died her family has said. The exceptional midwife who delivered 2000 babies & was part of the Windrush generation passed away last night at 11.15pm. Rest in peace Tina. 🕊️🙏🏾

Melissa Sigodo@melissasigodo.bsky.social · 2y ago

An exceptional midwife who delivered 2,000 babies was saved by one of them who went on to become a paramedic & later rushed to her aid. Albertina Aparicio known as Tina was part of the Windrush generation. She is now turning 100 years old👏🏾👏🏾 t.co/okUXJ83Yhq

The first of many stories from the Black community in the UK written exclusively for my independent platform - The Source shorturl.at/7Muhj🙌🏾🙏🏾 Story by journalist Arike Idris

Melissa Sigodo@melissasigodo.bsky.social · last yr.

A pensioner has received an honorary degree for dedicating her life to helping people w/ sickle cell after her own daughter died from it after being forced to wait 6hrs to be seen in 2000. At nearly 80, Cecilia who still gives support says she is ‘overwhelmed’ by the honour 🥺🙌🏾 shorturl.at/7Muhj

A pensioner has received an honorary degree for dedicating her life to helping people w/ sickle cell after her own daughter died from it after being forced to wait 6hrs to be seen in 2000. At nearly 80, Cecilia who still gives support says she is ‘overwhelmed’ by the honour 🥺🙌🏾 shorturl.at/7Muhj

The Source Exclusive: Pensioner honoured for dedicating life to sickle cell sufferers after daughter’s tragic death

Exclusive to The Source

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85 graves have been vandalised in the Muslim section of a cemetery in Watford. Police say a large number of the damaged graves were believed to be the resting place of babies and young children. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Children's plaques vandalised at Muslim graveyard in Watford - BBC News

Dozens of graves are targeted at a Watford cemetery in what appears to be an Islamophobic attack.

bbc.co.uk

A 15yo boy & 13yo girl have been found guilty of the manslaughter of 80yo Bhim Kohli who was attacked in a park. The court heard that the boy racially abused the pensioner & slapped him in the face w/ a shoe while he was on his knees & the girl filmed it. RIP Bhim Kohli 🙏🏾

TW: A 7yo girl who is being referred to as Cwecwe was allegedly raped at school while waiting for transport in South Africa last October 2024. The incident has sparked calls for justice following the handling of the case which has not progressed since www.enca.com/top-stories/...

A sickle cell suffer was forced to wait 21hrs to get a bed while feeling like his organs were being pulled out, as nurses ‘didn’t think he was in as much pain’. Campaigners say SC - the UK’s biggest genetic blood disorder isn’t treated equally due to race www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news...

Black schoolgirls 'ignored, misjudged and seen through stereotypes', says report

A new report by has found that Black schoolgirls are seen only in a negative light by educators which they say has a harmful effect on their wellbeing and transition into womanhood

mirror.co.uk

Article on #sicklecell by @melissasigodo.bsky.social 👇🏽 www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news...

Sickle cell 'not treated equally' despite being biggest genetic blood disorder

Sickle cell disease commonly affects people of African and Caribbean backgrounds and can be life-threatening but campaigners and experts say it isn't treated equally to other blood disorders because o...

mirror.co.uk

What happens when Adolescence stops trending and the conversations about VAWG go quiet? Especially for women of colour. Read the latest opinion piece by Exec Director of End Violence Against Women Andrea Simon in my latest newsletter this week. open.substack.com/pub/melissas...

"I was laughed at for quitting", Ex-Tory Councillor Black slaves comment, RIP Alex Wheatle & stories from Black, Asian & Arab communities you shoudn't have missed this week -curated by Melissa Sigodo

“Black victims of femicide receive less public attention than white women", writes Andrea Simon in this week's opinion

open.substack.com

A former banker says he was laughed at for quitting his job to start a vegan footwear brand but now he’s had The Rock & others wear his shoes. Emmanuel Eribo from Brent says he couldn’t have done it w/o his supportive mum who sold 2nd hand cars to provide www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news...

'Friends laughed when I quit my city job – now I collaborate with A-listers'

Emmanuel Eribo says people laughed at the idea of him launching sustainable footwear brand LØCI - since then, the brand has caught the eye of Hollywood A-Listers including Oprah as well as a collabora...

mirror.co.uk

A refreshing change of pace to attend Tessy’s brunch by Chief Executive of The Diana Award Tessy Ojo. Also great to catch up with Lorraine King & journalist Marverine Cole who held a workshop. You can read about it all in my newsletter out now. melissasigodothesource.substack.com/p/black-chil...

For IWD, I’m shouting out Alvina Appleton, a mum who once struggled to afford period pads but has since helped close to 20k women & girls by providing free menstrual products through her charity Flow Happy. She’s now been awarded funding to expand it 💪🏾💪🏾🙌🏾 londonnewsonline.co.uk/news/mum-awa...

Mum awarded funding to aid fight against period poverty

Since Alvina Appleton founded Flow Happy in 2020, the charity has supported 19,959 women and young girls by providing 223,440 free period products across London.

londonnewsonline.co.uk

An aspiring lawyer has been blocked from receiving university funding after he was asked to provide ‘excessive’ proof of living in the UK such as utility bills for the last 20 yrs despite being ‘made homeless by the Windrush scandal & hostile environment’ www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news...

Aspiring lawyer made homeless must prove 20-year address history to get funding

Euen Herbert says he was made homeless and placed in detention as a result of the Windrush scandal. But after managing to get himself out of holding by using self-taught law, he faces another hurdle

mirror.co.uk

RIP to a Neo-Soul Queen 🕊️👑

My newsletter is out now so you can catch up on all the news you missed from Black, Asian and Arab communities melissasigodothesource.substack.com/p/rapper-sto...

Rapper Stormzy addresses Mcdonald's backlash, asylum seeker lay dead for 4 months & more stories from Black, Asian & Arab communities you shouldn't have missed - curated by Melissa Sigodo

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Melissa Sigodo@melissasigodo.bsky.social · 2y ago

Sometimes when I’m writing my newsletter, I see so many stories where governments could have made a choice between doing better & doing far, far worse. What could have been a watershed moment instead ends up signalling a new low.

Sometimes when I’m writing my newsletter, I see so many stories where governments could have made a choice between doing better & doing far, far worse. What could have been a watershed moment instead ends up signalling a new low.

So basically Bluesky is mainly copy pasting tweets? Oh no, this has to change. What is the actual conversation on here?? Can anyone say?

You can’t even talk about a slavery memorial without receiving a barrage of hateful comments on Twitter. Sigh

I was truly honoured to speak with @melissasigodo.bsky.social‬ to talk about the current climate of rising hate, divisive attacks, and threats from mis- and disinformation. Now more than ever, we must come together and speak to our values.

Melissa Sigodo@melissasigodo.bsky.social · 2y ago

DEI has become a slur, summer riots made us fearful, social media is toxic. But it never gets spoken about from the point of view of the people it affects in the UK. But now we’re talking about it. My conversation with Deputy Mayor of London Debbie Weekes-Bernard out now youtu.be/fWTqYvwM6JM?...