Una Marson - Journalist, Writer, Producer
Born in Jamaica in 1905, Una Marson went on to become a poet, journalist, playwright, activist, and went on to break moulds by becoming the first Black woman employed by the BBC as the first Black producer. She championed women's voices and put a spotlight on the richness of Caribbean culture.
In the late 1920s when Una was just twenty-one year’s of age she was a founder and editor of Jamaica’s first women’s magazine The Cosmopolitan. It wasn’t your ‘typical’ women’s publication majoring on the home, beauty and fashion—Una made sure her pages tackled everything from race to women's rights – she was way ahead of her time.
When she moved to London in 1932 Una was unable to secure a job due to racism so lived with Dr Harold Moody and his family. She became the editor of The Keys, the publication of the League of Coloured Peoples, Britain’s first civil rights organisation founded by Dr Moody.
Una’s play ‘At What A Price’ about a young woman who moves from the Jamaican countryside to the city and is pursued by her white boss performed to critical acclaim in Jamaica in 1932. Una brought the play to the UK in 1933, it is thought to be the first known play written by a Black person to be perform in the West End of London.
Una wrote poetry. Her poetry blended personal stories and Caribbean pride. Her collection Tropic Reveries (1930) were about love and nature. Heights and Depths (1931) gave voice to themes such as identity, love, heartbreak, colonialism, and Black womanhood. It was only when Una moved to the UK in 1932 did she start writing about racism. Una was unsettled by the reception she received from ‘The motherland’. Una wove Jamaican dialect into some of her poems, adding rhythm and authenticity.
As mentioned, Una was the first Black presenter and radio producer employed by the BBC. She worked as Programme Assistant with the BBC Empire Service in 1941 on ‘Calling the West Indies’, a radio show that connected Caribbean soldiers serving in the British forces with their families back home. Service men read letters to their families. Una went on to produce her own successful radio show ‘Caribbean Voices’. The programme showcased Caribbean authors including Kamamu Braithwaite and Derek Walcott giving them a launchpad to showcase their work and allowing the
world a peak into Caribbean literature and culture. Although Caribbean Voices was a success life at the BBC wasn’t all peaches and cream. Una returned to Jamaica in 1946 and continued her community work there.
Una was well traveled, during her lifetime she lived and worked in the UK, USA and her place of birth, Jamaica . She was a pioneer, an activist and feminist who championed equality for Black people and women – especially Black women. Una Marson passed away on the 6th May 1965 in Jamaica.
Kinky Hair Blues
Gwine find a beauty shop
Cause I ain’t a belle.
Gwine find a beauty shop
Cause I ain’t a lovely belle.
The boys pass me by
They say I’s not so swell
I hate dat ironed hair
And dat bleaching skin.
Hate dat ironed hair
And dat bleaching skin.
But I’ll be all alone
If I don’t fall in.
Una Marson poem 1937
(The Moth and the Star collection)