What's New! 4 May 2017

Roland Gift
Roland Gift is regarded as one of the most famous Black singers to have lived in Hull. In the 1980s, he exploded onto the music scene as the frontman of the internationally successful band ‘Fine Young Cannibals.’ This story explores Gifts experiences as a teenager growing up in Hull, rise to stardom and return to the city to perform as a singer and actor and was written by our guest writer Thomas Burrows.
 
Contemporary Voices: Oral history by Val Bibby
Yesterday we released our latest Contemporary voices interview with Val Bibby. Val’s family background is not entirely known to her but she recalls that her great grandfather was from the West Indies and her grandfather was from Sri Lanka. They emigrated to Hull together on the same ship within the merchant navy as cooks. She talks about a difficult childhood peppered with racist abuse that led her to feelings of shame about her ethnic makeup. An opportunity to return into education also paved the way into exploring her own racial makeup and become more comfortable about her family's origins. This experience gave her the confidence to transform her life and make a career change after years of steady employment.