Uppity: The Intellectual Playground

UPPITY: The Intellectual Playground

Agenda

We’re back. Uppity, the world’s first Intellectual Playground, returns with a packed agenda tailored for the surreal times we inhabit. This month, we run the gamut: a surprise performance, a Melanin warm-up, a legendary rap educator, a high-stakes deradicalization, and a memorial service for a world we once knew.

The Melanin Warm-Up

Our monthly monologue on everything weird, woeful, and wonder-worthy. This time, we’re diving into the abyss: the Epstein files, the surreal alliance of Nicki Minaj and Donald Trump, the slow-motion collapse of Sir Starmer, and the Great Tory Exodus as Mammy Badenoch loses her flock to Reform. Plus, we’re tracking the rise and rise of Zac Polanski.

Mr. Breis Breezes In

The breathtakingly brilliant rapper and educator Breis enters the Uppity Circle. He’ll be performing, presenting, and dissecting his magnum opus, Stranger On Earth. Expect a masterclass in flow and philosophy, wit and wisdom.

Saving Sajid From Sajid

Sajid Javid was the first person of colour to hold a Great Office of State - Chancellor and Home Secretary. Theoretically, a symbol of progress; in reality, a source of profound embarrassment for Black and Brown Britain.

When “The Saj” hinted in The Times that he wouldn't even permit his own immigrant parents entry into the UK, he signalled that racism hasn't been defeated, it’s just been diversified and promoted. This leaves the Uppities with a collective challenge:

Exactly how do we deradicalise Sir Sajid and his ilk?

Bring your blueprints.

In Loving Memory of the Rules-Based Order

In a matter of days, the new world order has arrived with a bang: Trump’s invasion of Venezuela, the bombing of northern Nigeria under the guise of "stopping Christian genocide," the chilling justification of ICE-led violence, the threat of NATO on NATO violence over Greenland and the proclamation by Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carney, that the world as we knew it no longer exists.

This all means one thing: ‘The Rules-Based Order’, otherwise known as the "Liberal International Order" is officially dead. Survived by its murderer - Global White Supremacy - the illusions of international law, human rights, and equality have been buried. How should the children of the colonised remember the rules-based order? How do we navigate this new "might is right" landscape? We’re holding a wake for the era of rights and rules.

The Lineup: Full speaker list to be announced shortly.

The Perks: A curated array of snacks is included with your ticket.

The Vibe: Arts. Culture. Politics. Satire. Deep-fried in unapologetic Blackness.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

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Host or Publisher Nels Abbey