Black British

Black British are British people of black African descent, especially those of African-Caribbean background. The term has been used from the 1950s to refer to Black people from former British colonies in the West Indies and Africa, who are residents of the United Kingdom and consider themselves British. Others are also from former French-speaking colonies in Africa such as Senegal and the Democratic Republic of the Congo(which was Belgian), and many of the Black Africans in Britain still speak French as well as their own native languages. The black population has increased from 1.1 million to over 1.5 million from 2001 to 2009, a growth of 40%. The UK has the second-largest black population in Europe, after France.

Population
In the 2001 UK Census, 565,876 people stated their ethnicity as Black Caribbean, 485,277 as Black African and 97,585 as Black Other, making a total of 1,148,738 in the census's Black or Black British category. This was equivalent to 2 per cent of the UK population at the time. Mid-2009 estimates for England put the Black British population at 1,521,400 compared to 1,158,000 in mid-2001, an increase of 23.9% in 8 years. Most Black Britons can be found in the large cities and metropolitan areas of the country: there are almost 1 million Black Britons in London.

Dialect
British Black English is a variety of the English language spoken by a large number of the Black British population of AfroCaribbean ancestry. British Black dialect is heavily influenced by Jamaican English owing to the large number of British immigrants from Jamaica, but it is also spoken by those of different ancestry. British Black speech is also heavily influenced by social class and the regional dialect (Cockney, Mancunian, Brummie, Scouse, etc.).

Music
Black British music is a long-established and influential part of British music. Its presence in the United Kingdom stretches from concert performers like George Bridgetower in the 18th century to street musicians like Billy Waters. In the late 1970s and 1980s, 2 Tone became popular with the British youth; especially in the West Midlands. A blend of punk, ska and pop made it a favorite amongst both white and black audiences. Famous bands in the genre include The Selecter, The Specials, The Beat and The Bodysnatchers. Jungle, Dubstep, Drum and Bass and Grime music were invented in London and involve a number of artists from primarily Caribbean communities but recently Black Africans also, most notably Ghanaian and Nigerian. Famous grime artists include Dizzee Rascal, Tinchy Stryder, Tinie Tempah, Chipmunk, Kano (rapper), Wiley and Lethal Bizzle. It is now common to hear British MCs rapping in a strong London accent. Niche, with its origin in Sheffield and Leeds, has a much faster bassline and is often sung in a northern accent. Famous Niche artists include producer T2.

Media
The black community in the UK have two leading publications. Pride Magazine which is the largest monthly lifestyle magazine within the community. The Guardian stated the magazine has dominated the black magazine market for over 15 years and is now in its 21st year. Its owner, Pride Media, also specialises in helping organisations target this fast-growing community through a range of media. The other key publication is The Voice Newspaper, which targets the Caribbean diaspora and has been in print for over 20 years. The community also has a number of radio stations and cable TV channels targeting them.

Social issues
There is much controversy surrounding the politics of integrating the United Kingdom's black community, particularly concerning institutional racism and inequality present in the employment and higher education of urban black Britons.

Unemployment According to the TUC report Black workers, jobs and poverty, people from black and certain Asian groups are far more likely to be unemployed than the white population. The rate of unemployment among the white population is only 12%, but among black groups it is 16%, mixed-race 15%, Indian 7%, Pakistani 15% and Bangladeshi 17%.

Notable Black Britons

In art and film, Steve McQueen won the Turner prize in 1999, he has since directed his first feature Hunger. The film earned him the Camra d'Or at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. Ren Carayol is a successful broadcaster, broadsheet columnist, business & leadership speaker and author, best known for presenting the BBC series Did They Pay Off Their Mortgage in Two Years?. He has also served as an executive main board director for blue-chip companies as well as the public sector. In sport, prominent examples of success include boxing champion Frank Bruno, whose career highlight was winning the WBC world heavyweight championship in 1995. Altogether, he has won 40 of his 45 contests. He is also well known for acting in pantomime. Lennox Lewis, born in east London, is another successful Black British boxer and former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. Kelly Holmes, who won two gold medals in the 2004 Athens Olympics, is also mixed-race: her black father was born in Jamaica, while her white mother is English.