Nzingha Assata. I am mother, grandmother, political activist and Afrikan warrior. I was born in Jamaica on the 15^th March 1951 and came to England on the 16^th January 1959. My parents were Clifford and Ionie Bedward, unlike couples of today my parents remained married until death. They were honest church people, my father being a strict preacher and my mother a keen supporter of this work. In addition to supporting my father’s church activities my mother was a dressmaker, caterer and organiser of community functions. These activities were used to generate additional income for our family. I am one of 8 children, 6 of whom are alive today and I have an enormous extended family consisting of 26 nieces and nephews, their children, I can’t even remember the number and their children’s children, not to mention an army of second and third cousins many of whom live here in England. I have two children, Nicolette and Warren and four grandchildren Aisha, Keisha, Reahana, Davarel. I understand that I have a fifth grandchild Gabi by my son Warren but I do not know her.

My career has been long and varied. I have a Batchelor of Arts degree in Social Science. I am a registered nurse a registered health visitor and am also qualified to train student health visitors. My work has been mostly in the inner city areas of London and I have provided advice and support to people from all over the world. I can say that my profession has afforded me the opportunity to influence parents in the care and management of their children and I have found this work very rewarding. The present conditions in the world I believe stems from the fact that many parents are failing in their responsibility to be parents and many act as if they and their children are friends. Some children are allowed to do just as they please, running rings around their parents; some parents are afraid to speak strongly to their children and to let them know who is the adult in the home.  In my work I give very clear advice to parents about managing their children and not letting their children manage them. My own great parents are no longer alive but I can always remember my father telling us that there were only two big people in the home and you were not one of them.

In addition to working in the UK, I have worked in Jamaica and went home to live in 1998 – 2003. Whilst living there I organised cultural events and exhibitions in local community centres and the library in Spanish Town. I had the opportunity of speaking performing poetry on several occasions on Irie fm radio station.

Voluntary Work

I am very active in the pan-Afrikan community and have a long history of defending, teaching and helping to develop a better life for Afrikan people. I have over the years been involved in raising funds for Ethiopia famine appeal; I have been active as a parent governor and taken on leadership roles in the Parent Teachers Association. I have also been Secretary for several years to my professional trade union CPHVA at London Region.

I have held various roles in community organisations such as co-ordinator for the Universal Afrikan Peoples Development Association 1994-1997, fund-raising co-ordinator and treasurer for the Marcus Garvey Centenary Committee 1997-1978. I am currently one of the founding members of the Alliance of Afrikan Women, we organise community events, Know Thyself Workshops and other cultural gatherings. On my website are pictures of the first Black History Ball which we organised in February 2009 to bring our people together, it turned out great and we hope to repeat it.  I also support a number of community organisations by making donations and I send resources for re-education of Afrikan people to activists in Kenya, Jamaica, and other parts of the world. I recently become a member of the Global Afrikan Congress UK, (GACuk), an organisation established to campaign for reparations for Afrikan people across the world. My document about reparations was one of the documents submitted to the UN Durban review conference in Geneva in April 2009 as part of the GACuk report. 

I campaign and speak on issues affecting my community and I am particularly passionate about “women’s rights.” I am author of two books, “In Praise of our Ancestors” and “Women in the Garvey Movement.” I am also an ardent letter writer championing the cause of Afrikan people. One of these days I will put together a book of my letters, as there are many.

I want to thank my daughter Nicolette for her active help and support with computer technology and producing flyers for our events.