In 1968, a young Jamaican woman appeared on British television screens to read the news. She was the first Black woman to do so. The reaction was not celebration. It was rage.
Barbara Makeda Blake Hannah had arrived in England in 1964, part of the Windrush generation. She worked in her father’s news magazine, then moved into television. Thames TV hired her for its daily Today programme. She was a pioneer, whether she wanted to be or not.
Viewers wrote in using racial slurs. They demanded she be removed from their screens. Within a year, she was gone. “The viewers said, ‘Get that [N-word] off our screen,’ and so I didn’t have a job anymore,” she later recalled.
She returned to Jamaica in 1972. And there, she found her purpose.
Rastafari was emerging as a global cultural and spiritual force, carried by the music of Bob Marley and the Wailers. Blake Hannah embraced the faith. In 1982, she published Rastafari: The New Creation, the first book on the movement written by a practicing member. It explained the faith to the world in simple, accessible language. Chapters covered Emperor Haile Selassie I, Marcus Garvey, Bob Marley, the ganja sacrament, and repatriation. It remains in print, now in its seventh edition.
She wrote a novel, Joseph – A Rasta Reggae Fable, inspired by Marley’s life and spiritual journey. She produced films. She became a cultural consultant, lecturing on Jamaican culture at universities around the world.
In 1984, she was appointed an Independent Senator in the Jamaican Parliament. She served until 1987. She worked in the Office of the Prime Minister under both Michael Manley and Edward Seaga.
Her activism extended to the global stage. She was a member of the Jamaican delegation to the 2001 UN World Conference Against Racism, where she contributed to the sub-committee on Reparations. Returning home, she founded the Jamaica Reparations Movement in 2003. The movement inspired a Parliamentary debate on reparations and the establishment of a Parliamentary Commission on Reparations in 2007.
Her awards tell the story of a life spent in service. The United Nations Peace Medal in 1974. The Ethiopian Crown Council’s Adowa Centenary Medal in 1998, for her work on behalf of the global Rastafari community. A Lifetime Achievement Award from BEFTTA in 2011 for “pioneering contribution to journalism and race relations”.
And then, in December 2020, a different kind of recognition. The British media periodical Press Gazette launched an award in her name. The Barbara Blake-Hannah prize recognises emerging journalists from minority backgrounds who are breaking through barriers, as she did. The inaugural winner was Kuba Shand-Baptiste, a British-Jamaican journalist.
Blake-Hannah was 80 years old when the award was announced. She told The Gleaner: “Fifty years ago, what happened to Barbara Blake should never have happened. This award is saying that 50 years later, here is an opportunity to make a change”.
She published her memoir, Growing Out: Black Hair and Black Pride in the Swinging Sixties, in 2010. It was reissued by Penguin in 2022, with an introduction by Bernardine Evaristo. The book traces her journey from a young Jamaican woman socialised to dislike her natural hair to a Black woman embracing her identity in 1960s London.
Barbara Blake Hannah was driven out of Britain by racism. She went home and built a legacy that Britain could not ignore. Fifty years later, her name is attached to an award that opens doors for the journalists who come after her. That is what a pioneer does. They take the blows, and they build the path.
Sources:
- Google Books, JOSEPH – a Rasta Reggae Fable (2013), author biography.
- Jamaica Gleaner, “Aniefiok Ekpoudom talks winning the Barbara Blake-Hannah award,” 9 January 2022.
- Google Books, Joseph – A Rasta Reggae Fable (2024 edition).
- Duke University Library, Growing Out: A Biography catalog record.
- BBC World Service, Heart and Soul: Jamaica, birthplace of the Rastafari faith (2007).
- Google Books, RASTAFARI – the NEW CREATION (Gold Medal Edition), author biography.
- Kriso.ee, search results for Barbara Blake Hannah.
- BBC, Windrush at 75: Barbara Blake-Hannah (2023).
- Google Books, GROWING Up – Dawta of JAH (2020).
- Duke University Library, Rastafari: A Universal Philosophy in the Third Millennium catalog record.
- Google Books, RASTAFARI – the NEW CREATION (additional edition), author biography.
- Google Books, Growing Out (2010 edition).
Verification Table
| Key Fact | Source & Context | Status |
| Born in Jamaica in 1941 | Duke University Library; Google Books | Verifiable |
| Moved to England in 1964 | Google Books | Verifiable |
| Became Britain’s first Black female TV journalist on Thames TV’s Today programme in 1968 | Google Books; Jamaica Gleaner; BBC | Verifiable |
| Faced racist backlash from viewers and lost her job within a year | Jamaica Gleaner | Verifiable |
| Returned to Jamaica in 1972 | Google Books | Verifiable |
| Became a Rastafarian | Google Books; BBC | Verifiable |
| Published Rastafari: The New Creation in 1981/1982 | Google Books | Verifiable |
| It was the first book on Rastafari written by a practicing member | Google Books | Verifiable |
| Wrote Joseph – A Rasta Reggae Fable, a novel inspired by Bob Marley | Google Books | Verifiable |
| Served as Independent Senator in Jamaican Parliament, 1984–1987 | Google Books | Verifiable |
| Received United Nations Peace Medal, 1974 | Google Books | Verifiable |
| Received Ethiopian Crown Council Adowa Centenary Medal, 1998 | Google Books | Verifiable |
| Received BEFTTA Lifetime Achievement Award, 2011 | Google Books | Verifiable |
| Founded Jamaica Reparations Movement in 2003 | Google Books | Verifiable |
| Press Gazette launched Barbara Blake-Hannah award in December 2020 | Jamaica Gleaner | Verifiable |
| Published memoir Growing Out (2010), reissued by Penguin (2022) | Duke University Library; Kriso.ee | Verifiable |
Achievements, Awards & Commemorations
| Achievement | Date | Details |
| Britain’s First Black Female TV Journalist | 1968 | Thames TV’s Today programme |
| United Nations Peace Medal | 1974 | For work in media and cultural advocacy |
| Ethiopian Crown Council Adowa Centenary Medal | 1998 | For work on behalf of global Rastafari community |
| Independent Senator, Jamaican Parliament | 1984–1987 | Appointed by Governor-General |
| BEFTTA Lifetime Achievement Award | 2011 | For “pioneering contribution to journalism and race relations” |
| Barbara Blake-Hannah Award | December 2020 | Press Gazette award for emerging journalists from minority backgrounds |
| Jamaica Reparations Movement | 2003 | Founder; inspired Parliamentary debate and Commission on Reparations |
| Rastafari Youth Initiative Council Award | 2010 | Empress Mennen 120th Birthday Award |
