Draft:Jason Okundaye

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  • Comment: Opinions and tweets are not sufficient to demonstrate notability. TheBirdsShedTears (talk) 08:05, 17 July 2021 (UTC)

Jason Okundaye
Born (1997-01-30) 30 January 1997 (age 27)
Tooting, London, England
EducationPembroke College, Cambridge (BA)
Occupations
  • journalist
  • columnist
  • author
  • archivist

Jason Osamede Okundaye (born 30 January 1997)[1] is a British writer. The Evening Standard named him one of London's leading emerging writers.[2] He works as a freelance journalist and essayist, covering topics such as politics, history, and popular culture and media, and previously had a column in Tribune. His debut book Revolutionary Acts will be published in 2024.

Early life and education[edit]

Okundaye was born at St George's Hospital, Tooting to Nigerian parents and grew up on the Patmore Estate in Battersea.[3][4] He attended Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Primary School and won a scholarship to Whitgift School in Croydon.[5] He went on to study Human, Social & Political Sciences at Pembroke College, Cambridge.[6][7][8][9] During his time at the university, he led the Cambridge Students' Union Black and Minority Ethnic society.[10][11]

Okundaye first caught the media's attention following a series of post on social media about racism in the United Kingdom where he claimed racism manifested in all social groups.[12] Following the coverage, Okundaye experienced racist abuse, death threats and rape threats.[13][14]

Career[edit]

Okundaye has been a regular contributor to The Guardian, the London Review of Books, Vice, Dazed, i-D, GQ, the Evening Standard, and Bustle.[15][16][7] He has also written for NME, the New Statesman, British Vogue, The Independent, The New York Times, the Financial Times, Time Out, and The Sunday Times.[17][18] In 2020 and 2021, he had a column in Tribune Magazine.[19]

Okundaye is vocal about a number of social and political issues in the UK, writing about them from a left-wing perspective. He has written about topics such as race in British society, politics, the housing crisis, the monarchy, and Black British LGBT+ culture with a specialty in the experiences and history of Black British gay men.[20][21][22] In addition, he covers popular culture and media in the film, television, theatre, music, and literary worlds and has interviewed public figures such as Malachi Kirby, Emma Dabiri, Steve McQueen, and Rakie Ayola.

In 2021, Okundaye co-founded the digital archive Black & Gay, Back in the Day with Marc Thompson.[23][24]

Okundaye signed with RCW Literary Agency in summer 2020. In April 2021, he announced his upcoming debut book, Revolutionary Acts, which documents Black British gay history and culture from the 1970s to the present. Faber and Faber won the rights for a 2024 release.[25][26] The book is structured around profiling the following figures: Ted Brown, Dirg Aaab-Richards, Alex Owolade, Calvin "Biggy" Dawkins, Dennis Carney, Ajamu X, and Thompson.[27] Revolutionary Acts had a positive critical reception.[28]

Bibliography[edit]

Books[edit]

  • Revolutionary Acts: Stories of Love, Brotherhood, and Resilience from Black Gay Britain (2024)

Essays[edit]

  • "Pilgrimage on the P5 Bus" in The Alternative Guide to the London Boroughs for Open House London, edited by Owen Hatherley (2020)
  • "Entering the Scene: Finding a community of love" in Black Joy, edited by Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff and Timi Sotire (2021)

Reference[edit]

  1. ^ Jason Okundaye (30 January 2020). "It's my birthday today and I'm 23 years old, which is basically 25, which is basically 30. So please enjoy this picture of me chilling with my age mates". Retrieved 13 April 2021 – via Twitter.
  2. ^ Taylor, Joanna (11 May 2023). "Meet London's leading emerging writers". Evening Standard. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  3. ^ Okundaye, Jason (15 April 2021). "Malachi Kirby". Port Magazine. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  4. ^ Jason Okundaye (14 March 2019). "I was born in St George's. Tooting". Retrieved 19 April 2021 – via Twitter.
  5. ^ Roberts, Rachel (30 July 2017). "Cambridge student claims 'all white people are racist' in tweets supporting Rashan Charles protests". The Independent. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  6. ^ "Jason Okundaye". RCW. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  7. ^ a b Okundaye, Jason (10 December 2020). "The photo that shaped me: Jason Okundaye on his childhood home". New Statesman. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  8. ^ Bennett, Rosemary. "All whites are racist' scandal at Cambridge". The Times.
  9. ^ Sanusi, Victoria (August 2017). "A Black Student Made A Powerful Point About Her Place At Cambridge". Buzzfeed.
  10. ^ O’Leary, Abigail (29 July 2017). "Head of Cambridge University equality group brands 'all white people racists' after 'praising' east London rioters in shocking tweets". The Mirror.
  11. ^ Collier, Hatty (31 July 2017). "Police drop probe into Cambridge University student over tweets claiming 'all white people are racist'". Evening Standard.
  12. ^ Oluwaseun (21 July 2017). "The rise in right-wing witch hunts against black student leaders has not gone unnoticed". gal-dem.
  13. ^ Mills, Jen (6 August 2017). "Cambridge student says 'All white people are racist' comment was misconstrued". Metro.
  14. ^ Okundaye, Jason (5 August 2017). "I was accused of saying all white people are racist. This is what happened next..." The Observer.
  15. ^ "Jason Okundaye". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  16. ^ "Jason Okundaye". Vice. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  17. ^ "Jason Okundaye". NME. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  18. ^ "Jason Okundaye". The Independent. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  19. ^ "Jason Okundaye". Tribune. 20 January 2021. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  20. ^ Okundaye, Jason (8 April 2021). "Ted Brown: the man who held a mass kiss-in and made history". The Guardian.
  21. ^ "I wanted a space where we could represent, honour and celebrate black queer life in the UK". ITV News.
  22. ^ Okundaye, Jason (6 June 2019). "Why Hackney Is the Perfect New Home for UK Black Pride". Vice.
  23. ^ Okundaye, Jason (19 February 2021). "We tried to carve out our own spaces: how the black LGBTQ+ community of the 1980s and 1990s is being honoured online". GQ.
  24. ^ Mahon, Leah (9 February 2021). "LGBTQ+ History Month: Jason Okundaye and Marc Thompson launch digital archive documenting black queer lives in Britain". The Voice.
  25. ^ Comerford, Ruth (19 April 2021). "Faber pre-empts Okundaye's 'beautiful, moving' account of Black gay Britain". The Bookseller. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  26. ^ Raza-Sheikh, Zoya (19 April 2021). "Faber to publish Jason Okundaye's "generation-defining" debut book on queer Black sexuality". Gay Times Magazine. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  27. ^ Bakare, Lanre (29 February 2024). "Revolutionary Acts by Jason Okundaye review – bringing Black gay history to life". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  28. ^ Guobadia, Otamere (6 March 2024). "Jason Okundaye's history of Black gay life is a quiet revelation". Gay Times. Retrieved 26 March 2024.


Category:Living people Category:1997 births Category:Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge Category:Black British LGBT people Category:British male essayists Category:British socialists Category:English archivists Category:English columnists Category:English gay writers Category:English LGBT journalists Category:English male non-fiction writers Category:English people of Nigerian descent Category:Gay writers Category:LGBT people from London Category:Opinion journalists Category:People educated at Whitgift School Category:People from Battersea Category:People from Tooting Category:Writers from London

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