BRITISH-BORN Jamaican Kuba Shand Baptiste, the first winner of the Barbara Blake-Hannah (BBH) Award meant to level the playing field in UK journalism, which has largely excluded blacks and minorities, is finally here.

Shand-Baptiste left behind the icy chill of her northern clime via Gatwick Airport on a British Airways flight that touched down in warm Jamaica last Wednesday night for a one-week trip, courtesy of the Jamaica Tourist Board — her prize for winning the award named after the veteran Jamaican journalist.

First order of business for the British journalist was to meet the octogenarian Blake-Hannah, saying how delighted she was to meet the woman whose exploits in racist 1968 Britain led to the award which she won in 2020. Her trip was delayed by COVID-19 restrictions.

The BBH Award came about after a young black British journalist, Bree Johnson-Obeng, happened upon an intriguing story originating 54 years ago which revealed that Blake-Hannah, the first black on-screen journalist in Britain, was fired from her job on Thames Television because of complaints from racist white viewers.

At the same time the Press Gazette was looking to improve diversity in media entries for the British Journalism Awards. They promptly accepted a suggestion from Johnson-Obeng to create an award to recognise Blake-Hannah whom she had interviewed on Sky News about her dismissal nine months after making British history in 1968.

The Gazette, UK’s leading online media trade magazine dedicated to journalism, named one of its coveted British Journalism Awards after Blake-Hannah to recognise “the best up-and-coming writer from a minority background”.

Press Gazette Editor-in-Chief Dominic Ponsford acknowledged that the journalism industry in the UK did not have a good record in reflecting the diversity of the country and that the British Journalism Award finalists and winners had generally illustrated that situation.

Embracing the award, Blake-Hannah noted: “After 50 years in which I had been remembered only as a paragraph in British Black History Month stories, I suddenly became the centre of a massive British media spotlight — with Zoom interviews becoming a feature of my daily life.”

Entries from non-white journalists and females who do not have a publication to support their entry were made free of cost, thanks to Google. Blake-Hannah is one of the judges. The prize includes a trophy and an all-expenses-paid trip to Jamaica.

The 28-year-old Shand-Baptiste said her last trip to Jamaica was 10 years ago, recalling: “I loved my previous visit to Jamaica where my mother was born. I intend to enjoy myself as much on this trip.”

She was accompanied on her trip by her mom, Everine Shand who hails from Manchester, Jamaica, and migrated to Birmingham, England, at age 12. Her father, Dave Baptiste, was born in London of Antigua-Barbudan parents.

Shand-Baptiste was nominated for her work on racism in education published in the Voices comment section of The Independent. She currently works as I-News assistant opinion editor, a job she landed shortly after winning the award.

Since arriving in Jamaica she has visited the Bob Marley Museum; toured Devon House; dined at Gloria’s, the popular seafood spot in Port Royal; visited the murals in downtown Kingston; toured the National Gallery of Jamaica; and discussed Kingston’s cultural scene with Enola Williams, co-owner of the R Hotel and Red Bones.

Joined by relatives who are still resident in Jamaica and some from New York, Shand-Baptiste also paid a courtesy call on Culture Minister Olivia “Babsy” Grange, enjoyed the Mystic Mountain experience, and climbed Dunn’s River Falls.

Today her itinerary continues with the Hampden Estate Rum Tour, a visit to the Harbour Street Craft Market, before rafting at the Lethe Village tomorrow. She ends the week’s activities with lunch at Ras Natango Gallery and Garden.