From drag queens (and kings) to global black identity to hula-hoops, see where LANDINGS LONDON landed us.

1. LONDONLONDONLONDONLONDONLONDON
LANDINGSLANDINGSLANDINGSLANDINGSLANDINGS
LONDONLONDONLONDONLONDONLONDON
LANDINGSLANDINGSLANDINGSLANDINGSLANDINGS
02.05.18

2. LONDON,ENGLAND
Trying to understand culture is intimidating, period. Trying to understand culture today can be downright scary.
We can’t explain it all, but we can tell the stories of what’s happening out there. Landings is a cross-section of
one city’s cultural story at one moment in time. It’s a look at what interesting things and people are out there
that we may not know much about, but can gain something from.
London was our fourth city. Taking place in 2017, arguably the most culturally turbulent year in modern history,
we had our hands full. We took on a lot and we walked away with even more.
We talked about the urgency to redefine masculinity. We covered the evolving global black identity as well as
pride within black identities specific to different countries. We talked about the growing influence of digital
safe spaces to help women in real-world applications. We acknowledged sexual fluidity is becoming more
openly embraced. Finally. We saw beautiful, bright examples that female empowerment and sexuality don’t
have to be mutually exclusive. Especially if a hula-hoop is involved. We saw that members-only clubs survive
on timeless cues of genuineness, not annual dues or elitism. And we saw that real change-makers see the
value of refugees in our society and workforce, creating systems to prove just that.
Have a read where we landed.

3. &masculinity global black
identity.
INUA ELLAMS
REDEFININGREDEFININGREDEFININGREDEFININGREDEFINING

4. LANDINGS • LONDON
Fast forward two hours. I peek at my watch, do some quick
Google Maps math and confirm I’ll be about 45 minutes late
to interview a drag queen throwing a massive St. Patrick’s Day
party. Choices. Choices? Not really. Our next interview would
happen (and was glorious), but you couldn’t have paid me to
leave my seat. Inua had not only gotten me over my allergy
of spoken word, but the man put my brain on airplane mode
to everything but the flow that came out of his mouth.
Ellams was born into an upper-middle-class family and raised
in Nigeria until he was 12. He enjoyed a good life. His family
moved to Dublin where he was literally taught what racism
means by a white schoolmate. The concept was foreign to
him, but he took the kid’s word for it. His 90-minute, one-
man show covers the next 20 years of his life and how race,
racial identity, racial stereotypes and creative expression have
shaped him. His style is equal parts spoken-word, poetry, hip
hop and TED talk. Some of the most beautifully written lines
you’ll ever hear strung together, pairing Greek mythology
with hip-hop references, always landing on a deeper social
point. And, boy, does the man have swagger in his delivery.
Rewind 4 hours. Inua sits on the stool he would later use for
his show, middle of the stage, posing for pictures while we
talk. A shared appreciation for 90s hip-hop and the state of
basketball led us to a conversation around the influence of
American black culture. “We didn’t have what they have. We
didn’t have textbooks with important historical figures. Maybe
MLK or Malcolm, but our own British people weren’t really
celebrated. And the British Black identity has been stunted as a
result. African-American culture over the last several decades
has very much dictated what global black identity has been. It’s
evolving now, and countries are developing their own unique black
identities. But it’s still tied heavily to the cues from the States.”
The observation is eye-opening and gives even greater power to
an already influential African-American culture. It heightens a
sense of responsibility to help shape global black identity in the
right ways. It also means that Black British culture, looked at as
one of the most well-defined black cultures outside of the U.S., is
primed to influence global black identity in a big way. And Ellams, an
accomplished poet, playwright and performer is looking to redefine
what that influence looks like. “I always felt the gentle nudge in
the direction of certain prescribed areas I should play in because
I was black. But I’m a bohemian soul. I’ve got a lot of interests.
And I’m proud of that.” In a TED talk last year, he discussed the
difficulties amongst black men today to do the same. To showcase
anything other than the expected manifestations of masculinity
for black men is a threat to their masculinity itself. He urges men
to find their safe spaces, even if it’s a barbershop, to express
their feelings, as well as for society to create a more welcoming
environment for black men to be able to redefine what masculinity
looks like. The challenge he puts out there is one that adds another
dimension to what gender equality should ultimately include.
ME:
INUA:
inua, thank you tons for the time. so
interesting and so excited for your show.
just FYI, I have to head out about half-way
through to make our next interview up in
stoke newington.
(head shaking) no way. trust me. you’re going
to want to stay.
INUA
ELLAMS
INUA
ELLAMS

5. digital safe spaces to
in the real world.
HERA HUSSAIN
HELP WOMENHELP WOMENHELP WOMENHELP WOMENHELP WOMENHELP WOMEN

6. LANDINGS • LONDON
Meeting Hera atop one of London’s leading—and tallest—FinTec
buildings was misleading. Amidst beautiful 4-meter screens with
views across London and some of the poshest art and design work
in the city, it was easy to forget the nobility of what she’s doing, and
who exactly she’s helping.
Her organization, Chayn, which is Urdu for “solace or peace of
mind,” leverages 300 volunteers across 17 projects to help women
throughout India, Pakistan, Italy and 10 other countries.
Ultimately the platform is designed to help women via skills-training
education, micro-education and mental health. Something like
learning how to build your own domestic violence case without a
lawyer could be the difference between freeing yourself from a
trapped life and death.
Maybe most interesting, over 70% of the volunteers are women
who have been abused themselves, and needed help like Chayn is
offering. “There’s nothing more rewarding yet also saddening than
hearing from someone that they’re using our services.” And Chayn
may need to expand its services within England soon enough. “In
London, shelters are shutting down and places are gasping for air.”
Sometimes before people can find a physical safe space, they need
the help of a virtual safe space to map the journey there.
we’ve built an open-source project that
leverages technology to empower women
against violence and oppression so they
can live happier and healthier lives.
“ “
HERA
HUSSAIN
HERA
HUSSAIN

7. 01
JOHN SIZZLE
EMBRACEEMBRACEEMBRACEEMBRACEEMBRACE
sexual fluidity.

8. LANDINGS • LONDON
We’re getting situated in the miniscule office-turned-dressing-
room of The Glory, a well-known LGBT pub in Stoke Newington.
John Sizzle, the owner for the last 10 years, is set to be on stage in
20 minutes. He’s giving orders to people, checking papers and telling
us we have more than enough time. I’m panicked. He’s completely
at ease. He has a routine. Over the next 20 minutes, John calmly
and masterfully works on his makeup, lashes, stockings, outfit, wig
and boots all while covering club culture, drugs, sexuality, fashion
and the rise of drag kings. Enjoying, but of course, his pint of Frontier.
Dipping his eyeliner brush in said pint before accenting the
shimmer-sparkle effect he’s working on, he tells us, “Everything
always changes, all the time. It’s just what it is and we are
who we are. And you have to learn to be happy and accept
that change. And I know exactly what I am. I’m not young
anymore. I’m not beautiful like some of these boys. I have a
fucking mustache. But I know exactly what I am and what I
bring to these people.” What John brought to those people was
a masterful MCing of the evening’s show, mixing songs with
dance performances, always with a heavy dose of cheeky verbal
lashings pointed at both veterans and newcomers in the crowd.
There’s a sense of uber-openness in the world today that John
loves. “There’s a looseness in gender that’s coming to life more now.
It’s not binary. We’re beginning to accept that most people don’t just
exist on one end of the spectrum like everybody thinks. It’s messy.
It’s confusing. It’s great.” And watching John own the stage with a
crowd as mixed as they come at his fingertips, it’s great, indeed.
there’s new music, new drugs, new
everything now. and it’s all great.
it’s like all the trans noise. It’s all
the rage these days. But actually,
it’s really just gay 2.0. we also
had to come out, deal with hatred,
work to be accepted, find and build
our community. the gay community
-we’ve been there, done that.
IT’S 9:40PM.IT’S 9:40PM.
“
“
JOHN
SIZZLE
JOHN
SIZZLE

9. OBIE CAMPBELL
AND SEXUALITY.
EMPOWERMENT
The
of
INTERSECTION
BEAUTIFUL
INTERSECTION
BEAUTIFUL
INTERSECTION
BEAUTIFUL
INTERSECTION
BEAUTIFUL
INTERSECTION
BEAUTIFUL
INTERSECTION
BEAUTIFUL

10. LANDINGS • LONDON
Obie’s smile matches her outfit which matches her hoops which
match her skates which match, well, everything she does. Obie
just shines. Effortlessly. There’s a whimsical joy to everything she
discusses. Which is a lot, by the way. Alone she owns a number of
Guinness World Records for hooping, and as “Miss Pearl the Whirl,”
her nom de hoop as a member of Marawa’s Majorettes, a crew I’ll
get into shortly, they hold a number of group hooping records as
well. But there’s much more to the story than hula-hoops.
“It’s more than the only hoop store in London,” she explains, as we
walk towards The Hoopermarket, her kiosk-sized hooping outpost
that serves as storage facility, hoops-for-rent space, meet-up and
kids’ gathering place. It sits amongst a row of other pint-sized stores
and shops in Gillett Square in East London. Most people working
there are African and/or Caribbean and everyone knows Obie. She
seems to be the little sister of the block. Everyone loves her and
everyone keeps a protective eye on her. We grab a fresh-squeezed
juice from a Jamaican friend and shimmy our way into her market.
“Hoopermarket is the centre of culture,” she continues while moving
high-heeled roller skates, cases of hoops and ample swag out of
the way for me to sit. And it’s true in a few ways. The area is one of
the most diverse areas of London, but the market represents what
The Majorettes, the most fierce hoop troop in London, are all about:
bringing together different subcultures. The brand of hooping these
ladies run is like a cocktail of world-class sports performance mixed
with retro disco show, female empowerment and a not-so-subtle
dash of sexuality. And they’re pretty emphatic that all these things
can coexist effortlessly.
It’s no surprise then that identity to Obie—and many of the girls
in the troop—is not a singular concept. All these pieces of the
Majorettes pie are never pre-measured, calculated or overtly
discussed. They just do their thing and invite anyone to join along.
It’s a natural flow. How Obie personally identifies is similar. “I guess
I’d be called Black British, but it’s hard for me to consider myself
British. And that’s ironic given all the noise these days about
protecting British culture. British culture to me is the Queen, the
etiquette, knowing knife and fork placement. But the real culture of
this city is all this amazing stuff and amazing people around here.”
Watching Obie teach a hoop class in a beautiful ballroom inside the
Shoreditch Town Hall that afternoon, it was easy to see how what
they’re up to is good for everyone, of any culture. People, young and
old, male and female, athletic and far from it, from all cultures, did
their best to emulate the absurdly synchronized gyrations of hips,
hoops, heads and hands. But more than anything, we all just tried to
emulate Obie’s smile. And the fact that we were trying shows that
she’s onto something.
the real culture of this city
is all this amazing stuff and
amazing people around here.“
“
OBIE
CAMPBELL
OBIE
CAMPBELL

11. The
MURSAL HEDAYAT
SENDINGSENDINGSENDINGSENDINGSENDINGREFUGEES WHERE THEY BELONG.
WORKFORCE.WORKFORCE.WORKFORCE.WORKFORCE.

12. MURSAL
HEDAYAT
MURSAL
HEDAYAT
Mursal was only 3 when she and her mum fled conflict in
Afghanistan for London. But the conflict and confusion that resulted
on British soil may have equally influenced a business idea to help
refugees 20+ years later.
Mursal’s mum, a civil engineer, had spent over a decade working
with Save The Children in Afghanistan. Despite the experience, she
was greeted with discrimination and scant job opportunities upon
arrival in London. After studying at Leeds, Mursal entered Year Here,
a post-graduate programme in social entrepreneurship. “You have
a choice to step away and disengage from terrible things that are
happening in the world. This program taught us to do the opposite.
It taught us to ask the right questions.” Mursal did just that, fully
leaning into the cultural tensions out there, using her own personal
experience as the starting point.
Mursal launched Chatterbox at the end of 2016, helping highly-
educated refugees offer language tutoring and cultural training to
individuals, businesses and other organisations. Despite impressive
education and work experience, many of these professional
refugees are otherwise left unemployed, creating large time-gaps
in their CVs, perpetuating the difficulties finding an already difficult
position in the British workforce. And culture. Chatterbox currently
offers over 9 languages and has struck deals with several businesses
and universities in the city, with further expansion slated for 2018.
After speaking with Mursal for only a few minutes, it’s clear this
a woman on a mission. Already the CEO of a funded startup, she
speaks with a mix of fact and fervor that few seasoned politicians
can replicate. She has plans for refugees, the city and the world.
Which is probably a good thing for all of us.
You have a choice to step away and
disengage from terrible things that are
happening in the world. This program
taught us to do the opposite. It taught
us to ask the right questions.”
“ “
LANDINGS • LONDON

13. PETE CROSS
THE TIMELESS ART
of AUTHENTICITY.AUTHENTICITY.AUTHENTICITY.AUTHENTICITY.AUTHENTICITY.

14. PETE
CROSS
PETE
CROSS
Sipping tea with him on the 4th story of his beauty of a social
club, The Union, looking down onto Greek Street, the anecdotes
of his 25+ years in the business bleed into broader history
lessons focused on Soho and greater London spanning decades.
“Keep in mind how not progressive London—and these streets—­were,
particularly in food and drink. We didn’t have olive oil until Terence
Conran brought it from Italy in the 1960s. Before that you could only
buy it from a bloody chemist!” It’s an interesting culinary and cultural
perspective from a man that began his career working on oil rigs
in the North Sea. And despite that being a short stint in his larger
journey, he managed to find the seed of his life’s meaning amidst
cramped spaces with dirty men.
Soon after returning to land, he opened his first bar called, “The
Dog House,” an ode to the unique place within the oil rig that is
part shelter, tool shed, office, communications center, coffee room,
lunchroom and general meeting place for the driller and his crew.
Pete liked the concept of a general gathering spot where a meeting
of the minds could take place. And one where, with nowhere to go,
your only option was to be fully yourself.
And when Pete opened The Union in 1993, he wanted to focus on
the personality of the place.
Walk in the doors of The Union as a member and don’t expect
a Soho House feel. Expect, despite being one of nearly 2,000
members, for the host, a veteran at the club for over 20 years, to
welcome you but also reprimand you for not having seen you in
some time. He’ll also know something curiously personal about you
as part of said welcome. Sit for a cocktail, a bottle of wine or a meal,
and expect staff leadership to stop by the table to deliver a Jimmy
Carr-meets-Ricky Gervais greeting. A nonchalant “Miss, this drink is
on us. Dinner here with this bastard grants you at least that much,”
dropped deadpan, in stride, before carrying on to the bar.
Pete and The Union are pushing off the elitist quality that often
comes with a members-only setting. “We’re flirtatious, affectionately
sarcastic, cheeky without being too familiar.” Very few places get this
curated authenticity, affection and attention to enjoyment. It’s a time
warp to a slice of culture from many decades past. This is Pete’s last
work—his “masterpiece”—and despite the need to update some of
the place’s offerings (e.g., social media presence, new partnerships),
The Union is a reminder of timeless values we all secretly long for.
elvis costello once said, ‘we are not
this year’s model’ and he was right. we
weren’t creating something new. london
had had its social clubs. and there were
others. great ones at that. and there
still are. but what you get when you
walk in the door here is one of a kind.
“ “
to spend a few hours with pete cross
is to temporarily suspend time.

15. writing: jeff beck
design: thomas bolger,
jessica peña
photography: jon
attenborough
production: dan eagles
landings : london