Blue Note Narratives

Blue Note Narratives with Gus John Part 2

In part two of the podcast with Professor Gus John, entitled ‘Global Majority,’ we continue to explore the concept of the people of the Global Majority. Starting with his move to Manchester, Gus continues to share real examples in which he was deeply involved of friendship and collaboration between people, often from different cultures, who had more that connected them as human beings through their colonial past than divided them.  Professor Gus shares his experiences of striving for racial and class equity in England, including eight years as the first Black Director of Education in the UK. His dry sense of humour will have you cracking up!

Blue Note Narratives with Gus John Part 1

Hi, you are listening to Blue Note Narratives, conversations on love, light, life, and all in the key of blue. I’m your host, Rosemary Campbell-Stephens, and today, in part one of episode four, Spiritually Well Heart,  I am in rich and deep conversation with one of our icons, the one and only walking historical encyclopedia that is Professor Gus John. Bring your notepads for this unfettered, unfiltered walk through the very full and colourful life of this scholar/activist. In this part one of a three-part episode, his eloquent reflections on his early life as a child in Grenada, and how this grounding led him, via the circuitous route of a graveyard, towards the priesthood and activism in the UK are in equal measure instructive and delicious.

Blue Note Narratives with Elaine Foster Allen

This episode of Blue Note Narratives, is a conversations on love, light, life, and all in the key of blue. I’m your host, Rosemary Campbell-Stephens, and today, in episode three, Education and Troubled Hearts,  I am in conversation with the deeply wise Elaine Foster-Allen, my mentor before mentoring was a thing, and former Permanent Secretary to three different administrations in Jamaica. Join us as we journey through her life stories about political activism and advocacy in the UK and Jamaica.

Blue Note Narratives with John Gilmore

Hi, you are listening to Blue Note Narratives, conversations on love, light, life, and all in the key of blue. I’m your host, Rosemary Campbell-Stephens, and today, in episode two Unlearning and Reawakening, I am in conversation with a deeply reflective John Gilmore, founder of The Leap Schools in South Africa. Let's deep dive into what John as a White South African man, has to say about whiteness, blackness, and how we/us, me being a Black African Caribbean woman, got here. We explore how together we can reimagine an Ubuntu future for we/us, provided we are both open to love and being loved.  This episode, a timely conversation recorded in February 2023, offers a fresh perspective on the ongoing discourse of the Global Majority. The online launch of the book, Educational Leadership and the Global Majority: Decolonising Narratives was the previous year April 2022. John Gilmour was one of the panellists at the book launch.

Blue Note Narratives with Dr. April Warren-Grice

Welcome to a special moment in the Blue Note Narratives journey. In our first episode, Remembering How to Remember,  I have the privilege of conversing with the remarkable Dr. April Warren-Grise, a bundle of intellectual and spiritual energy wrapped in Black joy.  Let's dive right into her work: creating communities of practice for and with educators. That creative process unleashes culturally nourishing spaces for students and teachers to remember, restore, and reimagine. I have to thank Dr. Phillip Smith for the quote ‘the blackness that whiteness created,’ which April loved and to which I added. This Episode One of Blue Note Narratives: Remembering How to Remember was recorded in February 2023. The online Book Launch of my book Educational Leadership and the Global Majority: Decolonising Narratives, which is referred to in this podcast and on which April was a panellist, took place the previous year, April 2022.