Our latest episode celebrates Black History Month with three amazing ladies who are members of the Leeds African Communities Trust. Meet Lucy Ndlovu, Abigail Marshall Katung and Kendi Guantai and please have a look at their biographies further below.

We explored the idea of the Strong Black Woman; where does it come from? why is it important? what are the positive and negative aspects of it?

I found this discussion fascinating as I’m not from that community and wanted to learn more. I also wanted to compare it with the messages that I received from my Latin American cultural background.

Biographies

Lucy Ndlovu is a researcher and a recent graduate at Leeds Beckett University where she completed an MA in Public Relations and strategic communication. She currently works in the Housing sector in this field. She is interested in the sociocultural model of PR and communication and as a practitioner, Lucy looks at race, gender, class and ethics and how these frame vital discussions within organisations.

Abigail Marshall Katung is a Labour & Cooperative Councillor in Leeds City Council. She’s the Lead Member for BAME, Support Executive Member, Chairs the Strategic Board of FE (14-19)25yrs and the Hate Crime Strategic Board. She is the first African to be elected on to the Leeds Council in May 2019. She is also an England Athletics Coach specialising in sprinting at the Leeds City Athletics Club.

Dr. Kendi Guantai is a public speaker, corporate communications expert, mother and community advocate. In her work, Dr. Guantai is an academic at the Leeds University Business School (LUBS), where she designs and delivers postgraduate courses in Corporate Communication and Public Relations. She is also a trainer on the Goldman Sachs 10K Women’s Project and is currently the Vice President of the International Association for Business Communicators (IABC) - EMENA region. She is also the current President and co-founding trustee of the Leeds African Communities Trust.