My first thought when contacted about guest editing the culture section in today’s Saturday magazine was: this will elevate me into an intellectual bracket far beyond my wildest dreams. The first person I told was my dad. The second was my secondary school English teacher, Mr Pickering.
I guess it was a subtle way of letting them know that the student is now in charge. It’s a truly wonderful feeling. Even if this entire takeover is trash, I’m still proud to have been given this wonderful opportunity.
That said, I did get an A in my GCSE English and English Lit! To give some context: I am not a writer, nor an intellectual or a journalist. I am Femi Koleoso, a musician from north London.
Born to Nigerian parents and raised in Enfield, a corner of London paved with gold, I started playing the drums at church (I know, typical). This became more than a hobby; it was a deep-set love, nurtured in the UK’s wonderful state school system and polished in powerful youth clubs. Today, I travel the world with my band, Ezra Collective, playing and producing music, DJing and broadcasting on BBC Radio 6 Music for a living.
If there were a version of the “British-Nigerian dream” that didn’t involve becoming a lawyer, accountant or doctor, you could say my family and I got pretty close. There’s power in a happy story; it brings hope. Normal school, amazing career.
That said, joy is at the centre of who I am, and every day I am filled with hope for the future. But is there really reason to have hope for the future? Though I often only want to talk about Arsenal football club and playing the drums, I am well-informed enough to see the many reasons to lose all hope, not just for the future of the UK but the world.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
