Una Marson - Journalist, Writer, Producer
Born in Jamaica in 1905, Una Marson went on to become a poet, journalist, playwright, activist, and became the first Black woman employed by the BBC as a 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 became 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 for the 'League of Coloured Peoples' - the British civil rights organisation founded by Dr Moody.
Una had written a play called ‘At What A Price’, about a young woman who moves from the Jamaican countryside to the city and is pursued by her white boss. The play was performed to critical acclaim in Jamaica in 1932. She brought the production to the UK in 1933 - it is thought to be the first known play written by a Black person that was performed in the West End of London.
She also wrote poetry - her poetry blended personal stories and Caribbean pride. Una would weave Jamaican dialect into some of her poems, adding rhythm and authenticity. Her 1930 collection 'Tropic Reveries' were about love and nature. 'Heights and Depths' written in 1931, gave voice to themes such as identity, love, heartbreak, colonialism, and Black womanhood. When Una moved to the UK she started writing about racism - she was unsettled by the reception she received from ‘The motherland’.
In 1941, Una worked for the BBC as Programme Assistant with the BBC Empire Service on the radio show ‘Calling the West Indies’. The show connected Caribbean soldiers serving in the British forces with their families back home - the Service men read letters to their families. Una went on to produce her own successful radio show called ‘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 - 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.
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)