Paul Boakye
@paulboakye.net
Playwright and author exploring culture, memory and belonging. Making documentary and editorial films using AI-assisted production. Traveller. Occasional shower crooner.
Barely-there swimwear is the norm in Brazil, and body shaming worries don’t seem to bother anyone. They learn to accept their bodies from childhood. That ease in the sun comes with a cost: skin cancer is the most common cancer there, with non-melanoma cases making up ~30% and melanoma about 1%.
My personal style signifier is a tam, something I’ve worn for decades. Many of you probably don’t know what that is, but the perfect tam is hard to source. I’ve bought them in countries I’ve travelled to over the years. I settle on one and wear it until I lose it. www.ft.com/content/fd4a...
Ben Okri talks taste
The poet and novelist on Pushkin, berets and tarot cards
ft.com
They lure you with free coffee at the Gilead stand during the International AIDS Conference in Rio, Brazil. Smart ploy.
Activists storm the stage during the opening ceremony of #AIDS2026, shouting, “When people with AIDS are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back,” along with other slogans aimed at pharmaceuticals, ICE, Trump, and genocidal murder in Gaza. It was as animated as things got.
History teaches us that organised people eventually defeat organised money.
Love this guy. You do, too. www.theguardian.com/film/2026/ju...
Keith David on his incredible career: ‘I want you to understand Black men as full-scope human beings’
The hard-working character actor has over 400 screen credits, from The Thing to Platoon to Rick and Morty, and he isn’t slowing down any time soon
theguardian.com
“If this appointment marks the start of renewed British leadership on global climate and development, it will be warmly welcomed across Africa,” said Mohamed Adow, a director of Power Shift Africa, a thinktank. www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Ed Miliband indicates development and climate will be at heart of UK foreign policy
Exclusive: Foreign secretary to take up World Bank seat and play active role in shaping changes to global lender
theguardian.com
I’ll be at the International AIDS Conference next week, where the fallout from US HIV funding cuts will be impossible to ignore. How serious do you think this moment is? A short-term shock, or something with longer consequences? www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
Trump’s HIV funding cuts having ‘severe and devastating’ impact around the world
The President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief has saved 26m lives globally, but slashing of funds and dismantling of USAID have forced clinics to shut in dozens of countries
theguardian.com
Three annual UK awards — of £10,000, £5,000 and £2,500 — are available for authors engaged on their first commissioned works of non-fiction. rsliterature.org/rsl-giles-st...
RSL Giles St Aubyn Awards for Non-Fiction - Royal Society of Literature
RSL Giles St Aubyn Awards for Non-Fiction Three annual awards — of £10,000, £5,000 and £2,500 — are available for authors engaged on their first commissioned works of non-fiction. The RSL Giles St Aub...
rsliterature.org
This award is for a creative non-fiction piece of up to 5,000 words on any subject. The contest is open in February and August. Value: $250 Reading period: 1-31 August 2026 Open for: All writers lunchticket.org/contests/dwm/
The Diana Woods Memorial Award - Lunch Ticket
lunchticket.org
LatinoLife UK lit up Walpole Park on Sunday 19th July. Music, movement, colour everywhere you looked. Loved it.
Worth another look - Charlie Chaplin in The Great Dictator youtu.be/J7GY1Xg6X20
Charlie Chaplin - Final Speech from The Great Dictator
YouTube video by Charlie Chaplin
youtu.be
⚽ The England football team pisses me off. You’re 1-nil up. Go and get the second, the third. Don’t just sit back in your own half, defending. Where’s your attacking spirit? #WorldCup
This is for the Paraguayan senator who racially abused Kylian Mbappe online. The Harry Kane moment made me laugh out loud. 🤣 #WorldCup
🎭 Emerging playwrights 18–30: the Bill Cashmore Award is open. Two winning one-act plays will be professionally produced at the Lyric Hammersmith and Bristol Old Vic, with #writers receiving £4,078.47, dramaturgical support and rehearsal involvement. Apply by 25 August: lyric.co.uk/programmes/t...
The Bill Cashmore Award - Lyric
Applications are now open for The Bill Cashmore Award, which offers a paid opportunity for two new one-act plays by writers aged 18-30, to be professionally produced at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre a...
lyric.co.uk
Mexico's President, Claudia Sheinbaum, implies during a press conference her government will take action after an ICE agent killed Mexican national Lorenzo Salgado Araujo.
www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...
Celebrating the African diaspora: the photography of Armet Francis
Hackney-based visual arts charity Autograph has received entire photographic estate of Jamaican-British photographer Armet Francis – a major gift that brings more than 70,000 images into their permane...
theguardian.com
Prayers do come true. So glad to wake up to a 4–1 win for Belgium. I suppose the USA will now want to start a war with them or threaten tariffs over Belgium whooping the USA at football without cheating. #WorldCup2026 #Football #FIFA #Belgium #USA #InternationalFootball
Join thousands helping to leave a legacy of better health for future generations. To sign up for or find out more about the Black Health Legacy research study, please complete a short questionnaire by clicking the link below. Thanks. blackhealthlegacy.org/get-involved/
Get involved - Black Health Legacy
You can join Black Health Legacy if you are: Joining Black Health Legacy is easy To find out more, download our Participant information sheet Your saliva sample and data will only be used for research...
blackhealthlegacy.org
The saxophonist was saxophoning at Mrs Lutchman's wedding in Crystal Palace Park last Sunday. 👏🏽
‘Bold, truth-telling’: learning from the rich histories of pan-African journalism
‘Bold, truth-telling’: learning from the rich histories of pan-African journalism
Diaspora reporting has long connected struggles across borders. Our new editor asks: what can The Long Wave take from this?
theguardian.com
Tracy Chapman - Give Me One Reason. 1988. En el programa Saturday Night Live.
