Draft:Jason Okundaye

Jason Osamede Okundaye (born 30 January 1997) is a British writer. The Evening Standard named him one of London's leading emerging writers. He works as a freelance journalist and essayist, covering topics such as politics, history, and popular culture and media, and previously had a column in Tribune. His debut book Revolutionary Acts was published in 2024.

Early life and education
Okundaye was born at St George's Hospital, Tooting to Nigerian parents and grew up on the Patmore Estate in Battersea. He attended Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Primary School and won a scholarship to Whitgift School in Croydon. He went on to study Human, Social & Political Sciences at Pembroke College, Cambridge. During his time at the university, he led the Cambridge Students' Union Black and Minority Ethnic society.

Okundaye first caught the media's attention following a series of post on social media about racism in the United Kingdom where he claimed racism manifested in all social groups. Following the coverage, Okundaye experienced racist abuse, death threats and rape threats.

Career
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Okundaye worked in policy and saw his writing as a side hobby. He then quit his job to freelance full time.

Okundaye has been a regular contributor to The Guardian, the London Review of Books, Vice, Dazed, i-D, GQ, the Evening Standard, and Bustle. He has also written for NME, the New Statesman, British Vogue, The Independent, The New York Times, the Financial Times, Time Out, and The Sunday Times. In 2020 and 2021, he had a column in Tribune Magazine.

Okundaye is vocal about a number of social and political issues in the UK, writing about them from a left-wing perspective. He has written about topics such as race in British society, politics, the housing crisis, the monarchy, and Black British LGBT+ culture with a specialty in the experiences and history of Black British gay men. In addition, he covers popular culture and media in the film, television, theatre, music, and literary worlds and has interviewed public figures such as Malachi Kirby, Emma Dabiri, Steve McQueen, and Rakie Ayola.

In 2021, Okundaye co-founded the digital archive and podcast Black & Gay, Back in the Day with Marc Thompson.

Okundaye signed with RCW Literary Agency in summer 2020. In April 2021, he announced his upcoming debut book, Revolutionary Acts, which documents Black British gay history and culture from the 1970s to the present. Faber and Faber won the rights for a 2024 release. The book is structured around profiling the following figures: Ted Brown, Dirg Aaab-Richards, Alex Owolade, Calvin "Biggy" Dawkins, Dennis Carney, Ajamu X, and Thompson. Revolutionary Acts had a positive critical reception with The Guardian calling it a "groundbreaking debut" and Bricks magazine saying it is "a dynamic and crucial narration of Black queer history for the 21st century". It has also been shortlisted for The Orwell Prize for Political Writing 2024.

Personal life
Okundaye lost his father to cardiomyopathy in 2016. In 2021, he wrote a piece for The Guardian on his regrets regarding not coming out as gay before his father's death.

Essays

 * "Pilgrimage on the P5 Bus" in The Alternative Guide to the London Boroughs for Open House London, edited by Owen Hatherley (2020)
 * "Entering the Scene: Finding a community of love" in Black Joy, edited by Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff and Timi Sotire (2021)

Reference
Category:Living people Category:1997 births Category:Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge Category:Black British LGBT people Category:British male essayists Category:British socialists Category:English archivists Category:English columnists Category:English gay writers Category:English LGBT journalists Category:English male non-fiction writers Category:English people of Nigerian descent Category:Gay writers Category:LGBT people from London Category:Opinion journalists Category:People educated at Whitgift School Category:People from Battersea Category:People from Tooting Category:Writers from London