Paula Akpan

"We’re trying to express and exemplify that Black history is [not] something for just one month," says the Black History Walks consultant.
Courtesy of Dr Michelle Yaa Asantewa
Over the last few years, discussions around Black British history and the importance of teaching it in academic settings have become increasingly common. Black communities have begun to ask why history books traditionally skew so white and why Black people in Britain have been denied the ability to ground ourselves in t...

The acknowledgements section of Candice Carty-Williams’s new book, Empress and Aniya, includes a list of the friends who helped her when she was young. “I thought about how grateful I was for the friends, and their families who took me in. If it wasn’t for them, 15-year-old me wouldn’t have been safe in any sense of the word,” she writes.
The author, now 32, greets me at the door of her south London home with a warm smile and a pair of lurid green Crocs for me to slip into. She worked as a ma...

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the fatal shooting of Mark Duggan. Duggan is one of many people to have died or been seriously injured during an interaction with British police, yet no officer in the UK has been convicted of murder following a death in custody since 1969, and only two have been found guilty of manslaughter. In ‘Those Left Behind’, we meet British families from different generations who have lost loved ones to police brutality.
Having just turned 40 in 2008, Sean Rigg...

Today marks the last day of Love Island 2021, with the live final slowly creeping towards us. That means we’ve spent the best part of two months in front of the TV every evening, but it’s perhaps best if we don’t dwell on that too much. What we cannot ignore, however, is that this latest series of Love Island has incurred the highest number of Ofcom complaints in the show’s six-year history.
A colossal 33,500+ complaints have been made to broadcast watchdog Ofcom since the series kicked off t...

Ten years later, police officer who killed Susan Alexander's son Azelle Rodney got off a murder charge.
This year marks the tenth anniversary of the fatal shooting of Mark Duggan. Duggan is one of many people to have died or been seriously injured during an interaction with British police, yet no officer in the UK has been convicted of murder following a death in custody since 1969, and only two have been found guilty of manslaughter. In ‘Those Left Behind’, we meet British families from diff...

With contestants like Jake playing strategically to stay in the villa, the mechanics of Love Island are more visible than ever before. A hot single looking for love? As if. Jake’s eyes are glued on the cash prize.
With just a week to go ’ Love Island​’s live final next Monday, we’re preparing ourselves for the end of a season that, despite a rocky start, has kept viewers hooked night after night. And during its final weeks, as the villas cooled down post-Casa Amor, some extreme metadynamics h...

Police removed Christopher Alder from hospital after he'd been assaulted on a night out. Soon after they reached the station, he was pronounced dead.
This year marks the tenth anniversary of the fatal shooting of Mark Duggan. Duggan is one of many people to have died or been seriously injured during an interaction with British police, yet no officer in the UK has been convicted of murder following a death in custody since 1969, and only two have been found guilty of manslaughter. In ‘Those Le...

Ahead of the ten-year anniversary of Mark Duggan's death, we spoke to four generations of British families impacted by police brutality.

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the fatal shooting of Mark Duggan. Duggan is one of many people to have died or been seriously injured during an interaction with British police, yet no officer in the UK has been convicted of murder following a death in custody since 1969, and only two have been found guilty of manslaughter. In ‘Those Left Behind’, w...

Sometimes when watching reality TV, all you want to do is reach your hands through the screen and turn a contestant’s head in the direction of the drama you know is imminent. As a viewer, it’s uncomfortable when you’ve been purposefully shown more than the person you’re watching and you’re waiting for that penny to drop. It’s something that Love Island viewers became more than familiar with last week, as we waited to see what Millie’s fate would be.
Let’s recap: the boys were shipped off to C...

With Casa Amor approaching, we recap who got dumped, who’s giving us the ick, and the fascinating case of Toby: a man apparently doomed to an eternity of pulling ex-partners for chats until they forgive him.
Well, it has been quite a week. Or rather, the Love Island producers are finally churning out the content that we pay our TV licence for.
Jake popped the question to Liberty and, when she said ​“I love you”, promptly broadcast it to the rest of the villa without saying it back. A public v...

There’s something desperately sad about going through a world map and crossing off all the places you can’t go to. Poring over Wikipedia and scrutinising the LGBT rights section of each country before checking what other Black people have said about travelling to this part of the world. You’re hedging your bets, calculating the trade-off of some discrimination and discomfort in exchange for an idyllic holiday setting, before likely deciding that you simply cannot put yourself through this.

Golden sandy grains nestled between one’s toes, blue waters lazily rolling in and back out, the distant squawks of seagulls letting you know that you have truly arrived at your destination—the call of the beach entices many. Along with offering us a break from our everyday lived reality, it remains the very picture of tranquility and relaxation. However, over the years, the towns boasting these idyllic spots have become havens for specific communities: Black and queer people.

Oaks Bluff in Massachusetts has long been billed as the "summer haven for the African-American elite" as it was histor

The nation switched over to Love Island from the Euros final last night, licking our wounds after a bitterly disappointing penalty shootout, searching for some reprieve and levity. A week ago, that would’ve been a hopeless endeavour. But as if they read our minds – or, no doubt, scoured through our tweets – the Love Island producers have finally upped the ante on the island of amour.
New bombshells for both the boys and girls have rocked the house. All the men are finding ways to manufacture ...

With a promise of hot singles ​“ready for a summer of love”, ITV’s flagship dating game show is back and honestly? It’s been underwhelming, to say the least.

Pandemic or not, Love Island delivered on its classic first week staples: a grandiose tour of the neon-adorned villa with a revamped doghouse and honeymoon pad, squealing girls attempting to crack open that first bottle of fizz while quietly assessing the competition, Laura Whitmore stalking into the villa to start of the proceedings. An...

After skyrocketing to fame last year as the breakout star of Netflix hit show Outer Banks, Madison Bailey felt compelled to address her sexuality on TikTok. As she becomes one of GLAMOUR’s Beauty of Pride Issue digital coverstars, she opens up to Paula Akpan about her journey to realising her pansexuality, the pressures of being a Gen-Z queer spokesperson, the importance of queer representation and her unbridled love for her girlfriend.
Madison Bailey, the 22-year-old star of Netflix teen dra...