BBC’s Radio 1Xtra turns 20 today. The channel is dedicated to amplifying and celebrating Black music and culture, a mission it has upheld since 2002.
Loose Women host Charlene White today took to Twitter to mark the milestone with a thread detailing why the station was so important then, and why it continues to be relevant today.
White joined the station as a reporter the year it launched and went on to present its two-hour news, magazine and documentary segment alongside DJ G Money.
In her post, White praised Radio 1Xtra for hiring staff who “lived the culture, we were not spectators dipping into and demonising it like many others.”
THREAD: 20 yrs ago today, the BBC started a radio station in celebration of black music and culture. BBC @1Xtra was special in many ways. And most importantly it was full of staff who *lived* the culture, we were not spectators dipping into and demonising it like many others…
— Charlene White (@CharleneWhite) August 16, 2022
She added: “They didn’t find staff from job ads in broadsheet newspapers and uni schemes – they took to streets up and down the country to find new talent, new voices, new story tellers. The unifier? We loved the culture.
“I do find it hilarious when organisations now say they can’t find ‘diverse’ talent. We had an office full. Not just race, but class, sexuality, gender, disability… we did it before it became fashionable. We did it because… well why would you not?!
“It meant within those walls we were able to be creative without being made to feel like the weird odd one out. In any other office we would be forced to be less than ourselves. At 1Xtra it was the opposite.
“I am the journalist I am today because of my time there. I stupidly expected every newsroom to be like 1Xtra – I left and realised they weren’t.”
Other Radio 1Xtra reporters also took to social media to celebrate the station, including Adele Roberts.
“Thank you for some of the best and most special years of my life and for believing in me before I believed in myself,” she posted.
Happy birthday @1Xtra ????
— Adele Roberts (@AdeleRoberts) August 16, 2022
Changing the game since 2002 and long may you continue!
Thank you for some of the best and most special years of my life and for believing in me before I believed in myself.
A station full of passion and brilliant people.
In my heart forever ???? pic.twitter.com/nVzEmdpzom
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