Jason Okundaye

Who knew it would take an American pope to remind us of the value of art and good taste? | Jason Okundaye Anti-AI and pro-beauty, Leo XIV has proved an unlikely custodian of culture – and a patron of meaningful work in a world of algorithmic slop, says Guardian assistant newsletter editor Jason Okundaye

Who knew it would take an American pope to remind us of the value of art and good taste? | Jason Okundaye

Jason Okundaye | Shabana Mahmood’s Triangulations Shabana Mahmood is in a different situation from previous minority ethnic home secretaries who were accused of catering...

On the point analysis from @jaseokundaye.bsky.social www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2025/no...

Welcome to the great unwokening of Hollywood! Shame no one can be bothered to turn up | Jason Okundaye Sydney Sweeney has become the poster child of a predicted rightwing cultural domination. So why is no one watching her films, asks Guardian assistant newsletter editor Jason Okundaye

Welcome to the great unwokening of Hollywood! Shame no one can be bothered to turn up | Jason Okundaye

‘Young people can come in and have life-changing moments’: Gus Casely-Hayford on V&A East, a new museum for Gen Z The director wants London’s long-awaited institution to ignite creative passion in the Gen Z visitors it’s aimed at. As he unveils the building and its contents, can he pull it off?

‘Young people can come in and have life-changing moments’: Gus Casely-Hayford on V&A East, a new museum for Gen Z

If the right really wants free speech in universities, why is it so obsessed with discrediting students? | Jason Okundaye The media loves to manufacture outrage about what students get up to – and to discipline those who dare challenge conservatives, says Jason Okundaye, a Guardian assistant newsletter editor

If the right really wants free speech in universities, why is it so obsessed with discrediting students? | Jason Okundaye

‘They said I didn’t belong here’: rap star Knucks on his uprooted childhood – and why he records bus conductors For the follow-up to his Mobo-winner Alpha Place, the UK rapper revisited Nigeria, drawing inspiration from bygone days of school bullies and washing his clothes by hand

‘They said I didn’t belong here’: rap star Knucks on his uprooted childhood – and why he records bus conductors

No shame, no opprobrium: racism is priced in now. Of all the right’s victories, this one has been critical | Jason Okundaye In this age of Tory nativism and Faragist populism, the question isn’t ‘is this person a bigot?’ Now it is ‘does that matter at all?’ says Guardian writer Jason Okundaye

My piece on the death of one nation conservatism and the rise of blatant racism for the Guardian www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

No shame, no opprobrium: racism is priced in now. Of all the right’s victories, this one has been critical | Jason Okundaye In this age of Tory nativism and Faragist populism, the question isn’t ‘is this person a bigot’? Now it is ‘does that matter at all?’ says Guardian writer Jason Okundaye

No shame, no opprobrium: racism is priced in now. Of all the right’s victories, this one has been critical | Jason Okundaye

‘This is a west African story’: how modern art tackled Nigeria’s identity crisis As the landmark Nigerian Modernism exhibition opens at the Tate, curator Osei Bonsu talks about the art in dialogue with ideas of nation-making

‘This is a west African story’: how modern art tackled Nigeria’s identity crisis

I had to flee the US – as a foreign, Black, pro-Palestinian activist, I tick every box on Ice’s list | Amandla Thomas-Johnson I’ve never been accused of any crimes, let alone prosecuted. My experience sums-up the draconian plight of non-citizens in the US, says journalist Amandla Thomas-Johnson

I had to flee the US – as a foreign, Black, pro-Palestinian activist, I tick every box on Ice’s list | Amandla Thomas-Johnson

Farewell Amazon Fresh: the no tills thing was all a bit too awkward | Jason Okundaye The ‘just walk out’ innovation promised frictionless shopping – but these days, maybe we all need a bit less tech in our lives, says assistant newsletter editor Jason Okundaye

Farewell Amazon Fresh: the no tills thing was all a bit too awkward | Jason Okundaye

Paperback copies of Jason Okundaye’s book Revolutionary Acts. The cover features the title and the authors name in green writing and it is overload with a black and white image of a black man wearing a tank top, trousers and studded leather gear.

If you’d like to buy a copy of my book, which looks at the lives and history of Black gay men in Britain, you can get a copy from a bookshop or any of the retailers on the attached link. And please do buy books from the other withdrawn authors linktr.ee/revolutionaryacts

Why I withdrew my book from an LGBTQ+ literary prize | Jason Okundaye The Polari first book prize claims to promote trans rights and trans voices. But when I saw the longlist, I had to act, says Guardian writer Jason Okundaye

Why I withdrew my book from an LGBTQ+ literary prize | Jason Okundaye

Why I withdrew my book from an LGBTQ+ literary prize | Jason Okundaye The Polari first book prize claims to promote trans rights and trans voices. But when I saw the longlist, I had to act, says Guardian writer Jason Okundaye

I wrote about the decision myself and other authors took to withdraw from the longlist of the Polari Book Prizes for LGBTQ+ writers www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Harlem to Hebron: the long history of Black solidarity with Palestinians A mutual alliance between oppressed people has been revived with Israel’s full-scale invasion of Gaza

Harlem to Hebron: the long history of Black solidarity with Palestinians

That is to say while I’m pleased other authors followed suit I think this is just a bare minimum action tbh. We’re not chaining our bodies to gates or going out to protest it’s just one email to your publicist to request that you’re taken off

Appreciate this but I just don’t see it as that big a sacrifice. It’s just a prize, it’s not like there’s life changing money on the table. It cost me nothing to pull out and I got on with the rest of my day. The burden is borne by the trans people who are once again treated like a discursive issue

If you’ve personally stolen my book that’s one thing… but sharing it out to the public is a piss take. I worked hard for years researching and writing this book at a lot of personal financial sacrifice and it is degrading and undercutting to be brazenly pirated

‘Little England’ no more: what I learned on my first trip to the Caribbean From stilt-walking to queer inclusion, I came for Crop Over but left Barbados with a powerful education in the island’s heritage, history and future

‘Little England’ no more: what I learned on my first trip to the Caribbean

‘I have different weathers in my brain’: how Celeste rekindled her love of music after heartbreak and loss After a No 1 debut album, a Brit win and Mercury and Oscar nods, the pandemic and a devastating breakup paused the singer’s rising career. Now, she’s back with a new record and a newfound sense of peace

‘I have different weathers in my brain’: how Celeste rekindled her love of music after heartbreak and loss

You cannot tell a person is Jewish from their skin colour, in the way you can tell a person is Black from theirs. You could tell a person is Jewish from what they are wearing which would give context, but that still does not mean it is read from colour. That is a very simple and clearly true point.

The Diane Abbott row shows how impoverished Britain’s conversations about race have become | Jason Okundaye We should be able to discuss the different ways in which minorities are racialised in a thoughtful – and sometimes confronting – way, says Guardian writer Jason Okundaye

The Diane Abbott row shows how impoverished Britain’s conversations about race have become | Jason Okundaye

Wireless festival review – Drake’s disjointed three-night headline run smacks of desperation An all-star lineup of supporting turns – including, astonishingly, Lauryn Hill – show up to bolster the beleaguered megastar, but this is a very scrappy affair

Wireless festival review – Drake’s disjointed three-night headline run smacks of desperation

I wrote off Glastonbury as a ‘white’ festival – until I finally went Camping, fogey rock acts and a lack of diversity meant I once ignored Glasto. But visiting Worthy Farm for a second year was like returning home

I wrote off Glastonbury as a ‘white’ festival – until I finally went

When did ‘feminist critique’ of celebrities become nothing more than a snide telling-off? | Jennifer Jasmine White Those delivering paternalistic lectures to Sabrina Carpenter, Addison Rae and Sydney Sweeney would do well to revisit recent history, says writer Jennifer Jasmine White

When did ‘feminist critique’ of celebrities become nothing more than a snide telling-off? | Jennifer Jasmine White

Very pleased that my book Revolutionary Acts has won the Somerset Maugham Award. Thanks to the Society of Authors and congratulations to my co-winners.

We in the cultural sector must stand up to Trump’s attacks – if not now, when? | Gus Casely-Hayford My former colleagues at the Smithsonian face unprecedented attack. I urge them to defend their principles, says Gus Casely-Hayford, the director of London’s V&A East

We in the cultural sector must stand up to Trump’s attacks – if not now, when? | Gus Casely-Hayford

I told the truth about the West Bank and was threatened and assaulted. Now I'm relying on you to act | Issa Amro Our lives are blighted by illegal settlements, and Israel has just approved 22 more. Without concrete action, we will be erased, says Palestinian human rights defender Issa Amro

I told the truth about the West Bank and was threatened and assaulted. Now I'm relying on you to act | Issa Amro

Was the Black Lives Matter rebellion all for nothing? It may feel like that, but I have seen reasons for hope | Jason Okundaye It is easy to look back at 2020 and feel aggrieved, even fooled. But in the British city where slaver Edward Colston’s statue was pulled down, I found cause for optimism, says Guardian writer Jason Okundaye

Was the Black Lives Matter rebellion all for nothing? It may feel like that, but I have seen reasons for hope | Jason Okundaye

Britain has dropped down Europe’s LGBTQ+ rights rankings. Good – now we might have to face reality | Jason Okundaye In 2015, the UK placed first on the rainbow map. But even then, as an 18-year-old gay man, I knew that wasn’t the whole story, says Guardian writer Jason Okundaye

Britain has dropped down Europe’s LGBTQ+ rights rankings. Good – now we might have to face reality | Jason Okundaye