World’s Archbishop Assassinated in Liverpool Cathedral. Nigerian Actor Claims Responsibility
February 26, 2024
Greetings,
Belated Happy New Year.
Remember Christmas Day? It seems a long time ago now since the British public and many others around the globe followed the annual tradition of sitting down to listen to the Queen’s (no, King’s) Speech. Many would also have listened to the Pope. It is also normal for the Christmas service from Canterbury Cathedral to be broadcast nationally and indeed globally, including of course the address from the Archbishop of Canterbury, The Most Revd Justin Welby GCVO. I missed all of those, but I did catch the sermon, delivered by the Revd Dr Munther Isaac, vicar of the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus Christ, of Christianity. Titled “Christ Under the Rubble,” it is easily one of the best speeches I have ever heard. It included a brilliant phrase I heard for the first time “the Theology of Empire” – and the following memorable lines:
“We are outraged by the complicity of the church. Let it be clear: Silence is complicity, and empty calls for peace without a ceasefire and end to occupation, and the shallow words of empathy without direct action — are all under the banner of complicity.”
I was also privileged to hear Revd Isaac speak in London at the last huge protest march against the genocide. Whether the Archbishop of Canterbury was also on the march, I don’t know – there were reportedly some 250,000 people there, so I could have missed him. It seems the Palestinian cleric also missed him, for he sought a private audience a few days ago, at any place of his Lordship’s choice: the House of Lords, Lambeth Palace or Canterbury Cathedral. Archbishop Welby however refused to see him because, he said, Isaac had dared share a stage with the notorious Jeremy Corbyn, whom he considers anti-Semitic in the same way as the Israeli government regards the International Court of Justice anti-Semitic.
Now, one of the reasons given for the continuance of the genocide is that Hamas fighters, since their devastating October 7 attack, insist on “cowardly” using civilians as human shields. The world knows this is not true, and that the real cowards are the Israeli government and armed forces who think nothing of killing innocent defenceless civilians by the tens of thousands. Is it any braver, one wonders, for Archbishop Welby, still smarting from Revd Isaac’s biting Christmas Day words (he might call them character assassination), to use Corbyn (who won’t do so much as utter a single word of rebuke against his myriad political assassins, Welby included) as his excuse for not wanting to look a fellow Christian minister in the eye and explain why he gives cover to the likes of Netanyahu, whom he seems to have been happy enough to meet cordially, one-to-one, at least once?
“His Grace” also gets a mention in what I wrote as a short statement to accompany a portrait of me that is part of a photography exhibition coming up at Liverpool Cathedral starting in March. The Racial Justice Office at the Cathedral is spearheading a project looking at the Church of England’s links to the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, and some Black people in Liverpool are photographed and offer reflections. The Slavery and Repentance Exhibition is on from 18 March to 6 April.
Forthcoming.
This is the list of my engagements over the next few months:
March 1, Liverpool. Participant, Gaza Night Cabaret. The CASA
March 7, London. Two Coleridge-Taylor songs at exhibition launch: Coleridge-Taylor and the Americans. Stanley Arts
March 9, Bolton. Call Mr. Robeson. Bolton Octagon Theatre, for UNISON.
March 30, London. Preview presentation: Coleridge-Taylor of Freetown. Stanley Arts
May 10 – 12, 24 – 26, Brighton: Coleridge-Taylor of Freetown. (World Premiere) Rotunda Theatre @ Brighton Fringe Festival
As you can see, the première of Coleridge-Taylor of Freetown is approaching, and I have had the good fortune to find a most suitable and eminent pianist to share it with me: Allyson Devenish, an African Canadian resident in London, absolutely epitomises one of the themes that the play explores: survival, resilience and achievement of African womanhood in the Diaspora. She will also be accompanying me when I sing in March, at the exhibition dedicated to Coleridge-Taylor, by American photographer Laura Migliorino, who graciously allowed me to crash her party, so to speak.
Recently...
The Madame Blanc Mysteries (TV) Series 3, Xmas Special episode in which I have a decent part is now streaming on Channel 5 and Acorn TV.
The New Year’s Eve Service for Peace at the Ullet Road Unitarian Church was very moving. One abiding memory for me was watching, as I was singing my second song, Deep River, a little girl playing on the floor of the aisle, totally oblivious of what the service was about. I thought of girls her age being crushed, or their bodies decomposing in the rubble as I sang and she played. I made a recording of my two songs and some of the poems and speeches from the service. (Funnily, I missed the top half my head off the recording of Deep River!)
I was also recorded as part of another episode of a drama podcast series Am I Old Yet? By Flloyd Kennedy: Somewhere in London
What I am most proud of however, and is an excellent example of how artists can respond to the burning issues of their time, is this video: I’m explaining a few things ... about Gaza. An adaptation of the Pablo Neruda poem about Guernica (the Spanish Civil War), a group of Liverpool artists got together to make a powerful, wonderful piece of art. Do please watch and share.
I will be taking Coleridge-Taylor of Freetown to the Edinburgh Fringe in August, and straight after that will be doing a performance of Call Mr. Robeson for a Welsh festival in the USA. I am working on getting at least one other American gig then, but would also welcome other suggestions, particularly in the South East. In the future, I’d like to offer residencies at American universities and colleges, since I now have a substantial body of work that could make that a viable proposition. I have in fact written to a few with versions of this email: Weapons of Mass Creation from the UK: British Nigerian Artist Offers/Seeks Residency. I have included it here in case any of my American friends feel they (or others they can forward it to) would be interested and can make it happen. For those of you elsewhere, do get in touch, and I will do one to suit wherever it is you think you can help – be it Nigeria or Canada or anywhere else.
We are now approaching a paywall, which exists to encourage people to contribute financially to my work. Behind/below it I have interesting content not directly related to my work that I put under the heading “Parting Shots,” and share with paid subscribers. People have said they enjoy them, which is gratifying, because it takes some time and thought to assemble. For now, my policy is to remove the paywall when the next newsletter comes out, so if you are not a paid subscriber, all is not lost – you’ll be able to see it in a number of weeks, but why wait six weeks or more?
For my free subscribers, that’s all for now. Thank you for reading, and do forward this newsletter as you see fit. Be well till the next time, and let’s keep doing things to restore and maintain each others’ faith in humanity.
Best wishes,
Tayo Aluko
Parting shots: Black Christians and the American Presidency (video collection)
As Islamophobia and Anti-Semitism continue to be enabled by what’s going on in Occupied Palestine, one can assume that there will be many Americans who are pleased to know that as usual, their next president will be a “good ol’ Christian.” That is, if either of the frontrunners makes it to the finishing line.
The Orange Man is reputedly Christian (who can forget that photo with the Bible at the tail end of his presidency?).
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