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Calling Una Marson

The Extraordinary Life of a Forgotten Icon

June Sarpong Jennifer Obidike

$39.99

Hardback

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English
Akan Books
04 June 2025
The groundbreaking story of the BBC’s first Black woman broadcaster — finally brought to light.

Una Marson was unstoppable—a poet whose words lit up hearts, a broadcaster who made history in 1941 as the first Black woman on the BBC, and an activist who fought fiercely for racial and gender equality. She brought Caribbean culture to the global stage, challenged prejudice head-on, and dared to imagine a better world. Yet history nearly erased her.

From the streets of 1920s Kingston, Jamaica, to the heart of British broadcasting during World War II, Una’s journey was one of resilience, ambition, and brilliance. She shared ideas with George Orwell, held her ground with T.S. Eliot, and used her voice to amplify the silenced while navigating a world unprepared for her genius.

Calling Una Marson restores this trailblazing woman to her rightful place in history. Through meticulous research and vivid storytelling, it celebrates her dazzling, difficult life and the legacy of courage, creativity, and justice she left behind.
By:   ,
Imprint:   Akan Books
Country of Publication:   United Kingdom
Dimensions:   Height: 240mm,  Width: 159mm,  Spine: 34mm
Weight:   460g
ISBN:   9780008603885
ISBN 10:   000860388X
Pages:   288
Publication Date:  
Audience:   General/trade ,  ELT Advanced
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active

June Sarpong MBE (born 31 May 1977) has enjoyed a 15-year career which has already seen her become one of the most recognizable faces of British television. She has interviewed everyone - from Nelson Mandela to Tony Blair to 50 Cent. She's also the co-founder of the WIE Network (Women: Inspiration and Enterprise), and of the DNA Summit (Decide Now Act), an initiative that bring together some of the most innovative minds in the world to generate ideas and initiatives that will effect lasting social change. June Sarpong was awarded an MBE for her services to broadcasting, philanthropy and charity, making her along one of the youngest people to receive an MBE. Jennifer Obidike is an American ghost-writer and co-writer who has been living in London for more than a decade. She has worked with Penguin Random House and HarperCollins and runs a freelance editorial service called Let Me Read For You, where she offers structural editing on non-fiction and fiction, and coaches women to write first drafts of books that have been brewing in their minds for years.

Reviews for Calling Una Marson: The Extraordinary Life of a Forgotten Icon

Praise for Diversify ‘Engaging and informative … June Sarpong examines the research behind diversity and discrimination while grounding them in personal narratives, highlighting our common humanity.’ Kofi Annan, co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize ‘I am so glad June Sarpong is working on this matter of diversity. We don't seem to know how to handle differences. When will we learn that we share one common humanity as Shakespeare's Shylock declared so eloquently?’ Desmond Tutu ‘My experiences during the Holocaust has led me on a lifetime mission to promote the benefits of diversity … telling my story and that of my step-sister Anne Frank and why civil society must do all it can to protect and celebrate our diversity. Diversify helps us take the first steps on the journey to tolerance.’ Eva Schloss MBE “A passionately written polemic” You Magazine ‘How boring would life be without diversity? A case of the bland leading the bland. Life would be pretty … dull without [my autistic son’s] literal, lateral, tangential take on the world … Mozart, Orwell, Van Gough, Warhol and many other amazing artists, scientists and musicians were on the autistic spectrum. And yet only 15% of autistic people are in the workforce. If only we would learn to think outside the neurotypical box’ Kathy Lette ‘An engaging read with lots of important and good ideas’ Stylist ‘May prove to be our handbook to negotiate these troubled times’ Psychologies


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