Goodbye Mister Fish 'n' CHIPS: TV chef [Ainsley Harriott] is bringing the. joys of Caribbean cuisine to the nation "I love Caribbean cookery and I think it's very important to get that message across because a lot of Afro-Caribbean people have been living here for almost a generation now," says Ainsley, who lives in south London with his Yorkshire wife Claire and their children Jimmy, 6, and Madeleine, 3. Ainsley is to some the saviour we have been waiting for. The Good Food Show special events steward, Tony Wright, called him "phenomenal" staing: "That's the only word I can use. As soon as Ainsley did ackee and saltfish, I said, `Yes!'. He didn't do the traditional stuff. He did something Caribbean."
The irony of the black man with his top off - such as almost any black music star you care to mention - is that it doesn't say to me: "Look at this wonderful black man with his six-pack." We were never wanted for our minds, which was why it was illegal to teach slaves to read. We were flesh, a commodity, labour. As today's black man shows off his pride and joy, the modern billboard becomes the equivalent of yesteryear's slave stocks. The tragedy with the flesh doesn't end there. Too many of us are impressed by a black fascism which fails to question the oppressive power structures of idealised family structures or the obsession with genes, blood and national pride.
Occasionally, a rare talent emerges, such as Lauryn Hill or Maxwell, whereas previously the talent came in hordes. Look at the way Lauryn Hill has gone back to Bob Marley and Stevie Wonder for inspiration and technique. She's still a rap artist but here is a woman who has learnt her trade. It's a question of feeling basically unsafe around a generation that has no respect for its elders.
