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Tomiwa Owolade

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Tomiwa Owolade (born July 1996) is a Nigerian-born British journalist and author based in London, England.

Early life

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Owolade was born in Nigeria in 1996 and moved to London in 2005. He studied English at Queen Mary, University of London[1] and earned a postgraduate degree in English from University College London.

Career

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Journalism

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Owolade is a journalist and commentator on race, language, education, and free speech. He began his career at the UnHerd website.[2] He is currently a columnist at The Times and contributes to The Observer, The Telegraph,[3] New Statesman[4] and London Evening Standard[5] and BBC Radio 4 documentaries.[6][7]

Diane Abbott controversy

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In April 2023 Owolade's column[8] in the Observer on race and its role in differences in educational outcome in the UK provoked[9] a letter[10] from MP Diane Abbott in which she stated that Jews, Irish people and Travellers do not experience racism as black people do.[11] This caused controversy and discussion during which Owolade supported[12] calls for Abbott's resignation.[13] and which resulted in her suspension from the Labour Party.[14] Abbott withdrew her remarks and apologised.[15]

This is Not America

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In 2021 Owolade was the major winner of the Giles St Aubyn Award from the Royal Society of Literature[16] for his book This is Not America which was published[17] by Atlantic Books in 2023. In the book, Owolade argues that "too much of the conversation around race in Britain is viewed through the prism of American ideas that don't reflect the history, challenges and achievements of increasingly diverse black populations at home."[18]

This is Not America was widely reviewed.[19][20][21][22] In The Guardian, Colin Grant called it a "timely intervention into the politics of identity"[23] and Tony Sewell wrote in The Telegraph that it is "a sensible study".[24] Pratinav Anil in The Times, where it was book of the week in June 2023,[25] found that it focussed on class over race. In The Spectator, Margaret Casely-Hayford called Owolade's "positive attitude" "glib".[26] Kehinde Andrews stated that it was "so spectacularly bad it should never have been published" and coined the term "Uncle Tomiwa"[27] which provoked further controversy.[28] In December 2023 The Times chose the book as one of the best of the year,[29] as did Tortoise Media[30] and Michaela Wrong in The Spectator.[31]

Other

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Owolade was one of the judges at the UCL Orwell Political Fiction Prize in 2023.[32][33]

References

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  1. ^ "Alumni profile - Tomiwa Owolade". www.qmul.ac.uk. 2021-10-18. Retrieved 2023-05-22.
  2. ^ Owolade, Tomiwa (12 September 2021). "The problem with white saviours". UnHerd. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  3. ^ Owolade, Tomiwa (2023-06-04). "How American jargon infiltrated British English – and our politics". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
  4. ^ "Tomiwa Owolade, Author at New Statesman". New Statesman. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
  5. ^ Owolade, Tomiwa (2023-08-28). "Salman Rushdie's warning rings true: ignore the Twitter outrage". Evening Standard. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  6. ^ "BBC Radio 4 - The Church of Social Justice". BBC. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  7. ^ "BBC Radio 4 - Across the Red Line, Series 5, Are American approaches to combating racism worth trying in Britain?". BBC. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  8. ^ Owolade, Tomiwa (15 April 2023). "Racism in Britain is not a black and white issue. It's far more complicated". The Observer. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  9. ^ Bradley, Adrian (28 April 2023). "The writer at the centre of the Diane Abbott row". New Statesman. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  10. ^ "Success for women need not be the same as for men". The Observer. 23 April 2023. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  11. ^ Hughes, Tammy (23 April 2023). "Diane Abbott loses Labour whip over racism comments". Evening Standard. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  12. ^ Owolade, Tomiwa (5 January 2024). "For one who knows the pain of racism, Diane Abbott shows such ignorance". Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  13. ^ Rose, David. "Keir Starmer must expel Diane Abbott, says writer at centre of letter row". www.thejc.com. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  14. ^ "Diane Abbott suspended as Labour MP after racism letter". BBC News. 23 April 2023. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  15. ^ Belam, Martin (23 April 2023). "Labour suspends Diane Abbott as MP over letter suggesting Jewish people and Travellers do not experience racism". The Irish Times. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  16. ^ Callaghan, Morgan (8 December 2021). "2021 RSL Giles St Aubyn Awards Winners Announced". Royal Society of Literature. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  17. ^ "Atlantic and W F Howes snap up Tomiwa Owolade's debut in five-way auction". The Bookseller. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  18. ^ LSE. "This is Not America: why black lives in Britain matter | LSE Festival". London School of Economics and Political Science. Retrieved 2023-05-22.
  19. ^ Rashid, Tanjil (25 June 2023). "Britain's race delusion". New Statesman. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  20. ^ Martin, S. I. (6 July 2023). "This is Not America by Tomiwa Owolade review – a British take on Black identity". The Guardian.
  21. ^ "This is Not America: Why Black Lives in Britain Matter by Tomiwa Owolade - nuanced, compassionate and surprisingly optimistic". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2023-12-12.
  22. ^ "The search for a new language about race". www.ft.com. Retrieved 2023-12-12.
  23. ^ Grant, Colin (26 June 2023). "This Is Not America by Tomiwa Owolade review – black and British… and a world apart". The Guardian.
  24. ^ "A must read exposé of how Britain fell for America's madness on race". The Telegraph. 17 June 2023.
  25. ^ Anil, Pratinav (2023-07-26). "This Is Not America by Tomiwa Owolade review — it's class, not colour, that matters in Britain". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
  26. ^ Casely-Hayford, Margaret (1 August 2023). "Black Britons betrayed". The Spectator. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  27. ^ Andrews, Kehinde (30 June 2023). "This is not… a serious book". Make it Plain.
  28. ^ "A massacre of straw men | Obadiah Mbatang". The Critic Magazine. 16 August 2023. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  29. ^ Marriott, James (5 January 2024). "12 best thought and ideas books of 2023". Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  30. ^ Armstrong, Stephen; Allfree, Claire (15 December 2023). "The Tortoise Top books to buy this Christmas". Tortoise. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  31. ^ Spectator, The (8 November 2023). "Books of the year II: more choices of reading in 2023". The Spectator.
  32. ^ UCL (2018-04-30). "News". UCL English. Retrieved 2023-05-22.
  33. ^ "Judges: 2023 Political Fiction Book Prize judges". The Orwell Foundation. Archived from the original on 9 January 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
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