Chardine Taylor-Stone

Last updated

Chardine Taylor-Stone
Big Joanie (52614748230).jpg
Taylor-Stone on stage in punk band Big Joanie
Born
London, England
Education Birkbeck, University of London
OccupationsWriter, musician and activist
Known for
  • Activism such as the Stop Rainbow Racism Campaign
  • former drummer in Big Joanie

Chardine Taylor-Stone is a British feminist activist, writer and musician. She was the drummer of punk band Big Joanie between 2013 and 2023. She founded Stop Rainbow Racism to campaign against the performance of "blackface" at LGBTQ+ venues in 2015.

Contents

Early life and education

Taylor-Stone was born in London, England, and is from a working-class background. [1] She was raised in Kettering, Northamptonshire, where at the age of 17 she first became politically active in the Stop the War Coalition. [2] She studied for a BA degree in Arts and Humanities and a master's degree in Law (LLM) at Birkbeck, University of London. [3] [4]

Career

Taylor-Stone was the original drummer for the band Big Joanie, started in 2013. [5]

In December 2015, Taylor-Stone founded Stop Rainbow Racism to campaign against the performance of "blackface" at LGBTQ+ venues. [6] [7] The campaign began in response to a performance by drag queen Charlie Hides at The Royal Vauxhall Tavern.

In 2015, Taylor-Stone organised an intergenerational one-day conference "Black British Feminism: Past, Present and Futures" at the Black Cultural Archives in Brixton with Black feminist and friend of Olive Morris, Liz Obi. [8] [9] In 2016, Taylor-Stone co-founded Black Girls Picnic with cultural activist Kayza Rose. [10] In 2017, Taylor-Stone won the British LGBT Award for Contribution to LGBT+ life for the Stop Rainbow Racism campaign. [11] In 2021, she returned the award in protest at the award's sponsorship of MI5 and MI6. [12]

Taylor-Stone has written and spoken about Black British Feminism, [13] racism in LGBT Communities, [14] British working-class life, [15] Afrofuturism, [16] music [17] [18] and socialism. [19] [20] In 2022, Big Joanie were nominated for Best Alternative Act at the MOBO Awards. [21]

On 5 October 2023, the band announced that Taylor-Stone had left, replaced by an interim drummer for their European tour that month. [22] [23]

Taylor-Stone is currently writing music and performing with Border Widow along with Hatty Carman. [24]

Awards and recognition

Essays

References

  1. Taylor-Stone, Chardine (6 May 2022). "Big Joanie: 'It's tougher than ever to be a working-class musician'". Dazed. Interviewed by Günseli Yalcinkaya. Retrieved 2022-12-16.
  2. "Interview with Momentum NCG candidates: London". New Socialist. 17 June 2020. Retrieved 2022-12-16.
  3. Taylor-Stone, Chardine (2 January 2014). "Where are the Black Women in Science Fiction?". Media Diversified. Retrieved 2022-12-16.
  4. IVC (29 July 2022). "Independent Venue Week start 10th anniversary preparations with Independents Day 2022". Independent Venue Community. Retrieved 2022-12-16.
  5. Mongredien, Phil (29 August 2020). "One to watch: Big Joanie". The Guardian. Retrieved 2022-12-16.
  6. McCormick, Joseph Patrick (14 December 2015). "Cabaret act accused of 'blackface' retires from performing at London venue". PinkNews. Retrieved 2022-12-16.
  7. SoNAdmin (12 December 2015). "Racism in the Rainbow". Shades Of Noir. Retrieved 2022-12-16.
  8. "14 March 2015 12:00 ~ Black British Feminism: Past, Present and Futures – Black Cultural Archives – London | womensgrid – women's news". www.womensgrid.org.uk. Retrieved 2022-12-16.
  9. Bangura, Siana (13 March 2015). "I too am Black and a Feminist: On the importance of Black British Feminism". Media Diversified. Retrieved 2022-12-16.
  10. Taylor-Stone, Chardine (23 August 2016). "black girls picnic: a movement in collective self-care". AFROPUNK. Retrieved 2022-12-16.
  11. 1 2 "Chardine Taylor-Stone Archives". British LGBT Awards. Retrieved 2022-12-16.
  12. Velasquez, Juan (4 November 2022). "Big Joanie Is Staying True to Their Queer Punk Ethos". Them. Retrieved 2022-12-16.
  13. Campbell, Rosa (28 October 2021). "Black feminisms: a conversation with Stella Dadzie and Chardine Taylor Stone". History Workshop. Retrieved 2022-12-16.
  14. Taylor-Stone, Chardine (23 February 2017). "We Need To Tackle Racism And Misogyny To Move Forward In The LGBT+ Community". HuffPost UK. Retrieved 2022-12-16.
  15. Taylor-Stone, Chardine (30 March 2021). "How Community Organising Could Change The Game For The British Left". Double Down News. Retrieved 2022-12-16.
  16. Taylor-Stone, Chardine (7 January 2014). "Afrofuturism: where space, pyramids and politics collide | Chardine Taylor-Stone". The Guardian. Retrieved 2022-12-16.
  17. Taylor-Stone, Chardine (24 April 2021). "Nina Simone Was a Radical". jacobin.com. Retrieved 2022-12-16.
  18. Mahon, Leah (6 December 2022). "The Afro-Punk pioneers who defy stereotypes". Voice Online. Retrieved 2022-12-16.
  19. Taylor-Stone, Chardine (10 July 2018). "Pride has forgotten its truly radical roots". Dazed. Retrieved 2022-12-16.
  20. Taylor-Stone, Chardine (14 July 2021). "England's Footballers Are Changing the Conversation. It's Time the Left Caught Up". Novara Media. Retrieved 2022-12-16.
  21. Kenneally, Cerys (11 November 2022). "MOBO Awards introduces new Alternative and Dance/Electronic categories for 2022". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 2022-12-16.
  22. Kelly, Tyler Damara (5 October 2023). "Big Joanie announce departure of founding drummer, Chardine Taylor-Stone". The Line of Best Fit . Retrieved 2023-10-22.
  23. "Punk gave me confidence as a young Black woman to break the mould". Roundhouse. Retrieved 2022-12-16.
  24. "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 2025-10-01.
  25. Strudwick, Patrick (28 December 2016). "The Most Inspiring British LGBT People Of 2016". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 2022-12-16.
  26. "Pride Power List 2018". Pride Power List. 8 July 2018. Retrieved 2024-12-22.
  27. "Pride Power List 2019". Pride Power List. 6 July 2019. Retrieved 2024-12-22.