Shaheera Asante
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Caroline S. Asante (born December 1979) is a British-born broadcast journalist, editor and environmentalist of Guyanese and Ghanaian descent.


Early life

Asante was born in London to a Guyanese, South American mother and
Ghanaian The Ghanaian people are a nation originating in the Gold Coast (region), Ghanaian Gold Coast. Ghanaians predominantly inhabit the Republic of Ghana and are the predominant cultural group and residents of Ghana, numbering 34 million people as of ...
, West African father, who met as students at the
University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
. She is a princess of the royal family of Oyemum in Ghana, via her grandmother who was
Queen mother A queen mother is a former queen, often a queen dowager, who is the mother of the monarch, reigning monarch. The term has been used in English since the early 1560s. It arises in hereditary monarchy, hereditary monarchies in Europe and is also ...
of
Shama District Shama District is one of the fourteen districts in Western Region, Ghana. Originally it was formerly part of the then-larger Shama Ahanta East Metropolitan District in 1988, which was created from the former Sekondi Takoradi Metropolitan Authorit ...
(formerly known as the Shama Ahanta East Metropolitan District), in the Western Region of  
Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...
, with ancestral lineage from the Asante Akim North Region. She is both Fante and Ashanti. Asante spent her early and primary school years with her grandparents in both Demerara and Linden, Guyana before returning to the United Kingdom for secondary education in North London. Together with her mother she emigrated to Canada at where she later studied Humanities at the
University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...
.


Career

Asante began working as a music and entertainment television presenter in Canada working for
Citytv Citytv (sometimes shortened to City, which was the network's official branding from 2012 to 2018) is a Television in Canada, Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The network consis ...
,
MuchMusic Much is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. It is headquartered at 299 Queen Street West in what was o ...
, and
Rogers Cable Rogers Cable is Canada's largest cable television service provider with about 2.25 million television customers, and over 930,000 Internet subscribers, primarily in Southern and Eastern Ontario, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador. Roger ...
. During the late 1990s, she produced and presented various entertainment and music programmes including her own programme, ''World Music Express'', at the time one of the youngest presenters of what was then the first dedicated world music show of its kind in North America. Africa's music icons
Manu Dibango Emmanuel N'Djoké "Manu" Dibango (12 December 1933 – 24 March 2020) was a Cameroonian musician and songwriter who played saxophone and vibraphone. He developed a musical style fusing jazz, funk, and traditional Cameroonian music. His father w ...
,
Baaba Maal Baaba Maal (, born 13 June 1953) is a Senegalese singer and guitarist born in Podor, on the Senegal River. In addition to acoustic guitar, he also plays percussion. He has released several albums, both for independent and major labels. In July ...
, Oumou Sangare,
Angelique Kidjo Angelique or Angélique may refer to: * Angélique (given name), a French feminine name Arts and entertainment Music * Angélique (instrument), a string instrument of the lute family * ''Angélique'', a 1927 opéra bouffe by Jacques Ibert * A ...
and
Femi Kuti Olufela Olufemi Anikulapo Kuti (born 16 June 1962), popularly known as Femi Kuti, is a Nigerian musician born in London and raised in Lagos. He is the eldest son of Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti and a grandchild of political campaigner, women's r ...
among others appeared as guests on Asante's show, which earned her a Best Ethnic and Cultural Expression TV Series Award, in both 1998 and 1999, from the Cable Television Awards in New York. Asante returned to the United Kingdom in 2000, and became a presenter for
BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...
's ''
Late Junction ''Late Junction'' is a music programme broadcast weekly on Friday nights by BBC Radio 3. Billed as "Journeys in music, ancient to future. The home for adventurous listeners.", the programme has a wide musical scope. It is not uncommon to hear me ...
'' from 2001 to 2007, during this time the show won a Sony gold award in 2003 for Music Programming. She then co-created and presented BBC's first online African show ''Africa on Your Street''. dedicated to promoting African content and culture. Asante worked across the BBC networks as freelance presenter, producer and writer. In 2004, she wrote and presented radio documentaries including ''Somaliland'' and ''Goddess in Every Woman'' for
BBC World Service The BBC World Service is a British Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception area, language selection and audience reach. It broadcas ...
. In London, Asante curated several high-profile exhibits for "Africa 05" to promote more positive images of Africa and Africans in the media. Asante said she was "fed up of the negative images of Africa in the media. which negated positive and empowering stories and people". In 2007, she created ''Ghana 50'' and ''Forward Africa'' as two large-scale contemporary curatorial exhibitions, at the
Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...
, London, the opening of which music producer
Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (March 14, 1933 – November 3, 2024) was an American record producer, composer, arranger, conductor, trumpeter, and bandleader. Over the course of his seven-decade career, he received List of awards and nominations re ...
attended. She has also lectured on contemporary African art and society at the
Hayward Gallery The Hayward Gallery is an art gallery within the Southbank Centre in central London, England and part of an area of major arts venues on the South Bank of the River Thames. It is sited adjacent to the other Southbank Centre buildings (the Royal ...
in London and continues to be a creative pioneer for contemporary African culture. In March 2007, Asante co-hosted ''Resistance and Remembrance'', an event at the
British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...
to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Abolition of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. An apparent decision by BBC Radio 3's ''Late Junction'' executive producer Andrew Kurowski to temporarily replace her on one of the ''
Late Junction ''Late Junction'' is a music programme broadcast weekly on Friday nights by BBC Radio 3. Billed as "Journeys in music, ancient to future. The home for adventurous listeners.", the programme has a wide musical scope. It is not uncommon to hear me ...
'' programmes, to accommodate a more "English folk-roots season of music" according to Asante, was criticised in ''The Times'' by music columnist Paul Donovan: "Asante, was incensed to be told by e-mail by the show’s producer Andrew Kurowski, that for her next scheduled programme she would not be presenting, but would be temporarily replaced by Mark Russell, who had not been a presenter of the programme since 2001. She regards the stated reasons as spurious." In response to this comment the BBC stated: “To our knowledge, Shaheera hasn’t made these accusations to us. She is on contract, and no decision has been made to take her off ''Late Junction'', or the Radio 3 network." Asante continues as a freelance producer for other BBC networks, and insisted that there were no hard feelings between her and BBC Radio 3, and that the station "did not represent the entire BBC broadcasting network". Asante said she had "enjoyed many years at BBC to date" and "continues to have a close affinity with her producers and other staff" and was "committed to great programme making".


Environmental advocacy

Asante founded the firs
Cambridge Eco-Living Festival
(2017–2019) in the iconic city of
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
in which she created a city-wid
#GoPlasticFreeDay
and the UK's first pop u
eco lifestyle centre
within
retail shopping centre.
Asante is currently as sought after sustainability video content producer, educator and is a passionate environmental activist and mother. She holds a Masters of Science degree in Sustainability from the Global Sustainability Institute (GSI) at
Anglia Ruskin University Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) is a public research university in the region of East Anglia, United Kingdom. Its origins date back to the Cambridge School of Art (CSA), founded by William John Beamont, a Fellow of Trinity College at the Unive ...
, Cambridge.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Asante, Caroline Shaheera Living people BBC Radio 3 presenters English people of Ghanaian descent English people of Guyanese descent Canadian television personalities English radio personalities British environmentalists 1979 births