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...

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...

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

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

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

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. 🕊️🙏🏾

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

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

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...

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...

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

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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.

🎧 Recommend a listen to Deputy Mayor of London @debbieweekesb.bsky.social and @melissasigodo.bsky.social in #thespace. An authentic and important conversation but some difficult topics covered. It struck me how quickly things have changed and not for the better in recent months.

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?...

Going live in 10 minutes 🚨 Join me for the premiere of this much needed conversation about everything people have endured in the UK. I’ll be live tweeting using #thespace youtu.be/fWTqYvwM6JM?...

Deputy Mayor of London Debbie Weekes-Bernard says she was ‘fearful’ during the riots last summer as it took her back to the racial trauma she experienced as a child which left her in tears. Tune in to The Space tonight at 8pm on YouTube.

My weekly newsletter on all the news you shouldn’t have missed is out now & so is the trailer for the latest episode of The Space. Read the newsletter 👉🏾 melissasigodothesource.substack.com Look after yourselves & have a great weekend 🙌🏾

‘I was fearful for my children’ Deputy Mayor of London - Debbie Weekes-Bernard sits down with me on The Space. Premieres Sunday 8pm on YouTube. youtu.be/sjPM6XLORHc?...

A Croydon activist, Ringo Vision who runs a mobile soup kitchen serving home-cooked meals from a shopping trolley to the homeless has been given a police warning stating his work was causing antisocial behaviour. He’s now been forced him to stop helping www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/news/2493329...

Rapper Santan Dave has helped fund a new scheme that provides recovering elderly patients discharged from St George’s Hospital with essential items to help them settle back at home. The packs are provided by the Juliet O Foundation set up by his mum 👏🏾👏🏾 www.stgeorges.nhs.uk/newsitem/rap...

The more that racists are given a platform, the more people believe that everyone shares their views. We don’t. Here’s a different platform. New episode of The Space coming soon on YouTube.

Handmaids Tale currently playing out in America. www.newsweek.com/married-wome...

Samuel L Jackson. 👌🏾

‘Humbling talented Black people is Britain’s favourite pastime.’ Catch up on what you missed in my newsletter this week. melissasigodothesource.substack.com/p/grenfell-t...

A petition to ‘halt the demolition of Grenfell Tower’ where 72 people died in a horrific fire has been launched. Bereaved & survivors say they have ‘not been properly consulted’ as the petition states that until there is justice, ‘Grenfell must stand’ www.change.org/p/grenfell-d...

‘They prefer to dog whistle by co-opting a term & weaponising it as a slur. Some even choose to pseudo-race-science their way out of simply admitting and saying, ‘I’m a racist white supremacist’. My thoughts on the last week in my newsletter 👇🏾 open.substack.com/pub/melissasig…

Now Reform wants to rid the UK of DEI, how predictable.

‘The moment the words were uttered, revealed how entrenched the racist belief is that Black people and other minorities are intellectually inferior and could never be in positions of power and authority without “useless woke” initiatives.’ melissasigodothesource.substack.com/p/extraordin...

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

You really have to take chances in life

“Musk has done us an inadvertent favour. He has helped us reveal who will stand up to fascism and who will be fascism's comfort providers.”. @nelsabbey.bsky.social writes in this week’s newsletter recapping the stories you shouldn’t have missed this week 👇🏾 open.substack.com/pub/melissas...

Has the memeification of fascism been studied yet? All things considered.