As Tony Cealy the creator of the project describes the name 492 Korna Klub came as result from conversations with Clare Douglas, Jacques Fergus and his mother Joyce Collins. The number 492 represents the 492 passengers that came on the SS EmpireWindrush, a ship that sailed from Jamaican to Tilbury docks in England. His mother as well as many other members of the Afro Caribbean Community lived in Brixton when they first arrived from Jamaica. As his mother mentions, ‘it was a difficult time for we Jamaicans to find places to socialise back then so we would often get together on corners (Corna- Korna) of the street and talk about life here in London’. The gatherings and discussions grew amongst the people and soon they had to find alternative places to meet. One of the places she remembers meeting is the site where Brixton Sports club stands today on the junction of Moorlands Road and Coldharbour Lane.

This radio series is based on the Forum Theatre and Theatre of the Oppressed techniques. Within this project we have created Radio of the Oppressed. Through these techniques the listeners are encouraged to actively participate in a dialogue initiated by the issues raised on the play and determine the course of the series by sharing their thoughts, feelings, beliefs and experiences. To learn more click here and read about Forum Theatre on Air project. An experimental community project that took place in Laos by Mary Traynor.

This series poses questions, it does not offer answers. Listeners propose answers and everyone is invited to look at different options and perspectives. It does not declare right and wrong, it does not seek single solutions, it seeks discussions and a step forward in each person’s ability to take care of themselves and to look at their community with compassion. 

The project is a place to gather, dialogue, explore, express, share, learn, teach, develop and build community. Its Noh Budget Films way to interact with individuals within communities to analyse oppression and oppressive systems, learn about our african history and significance of our presence in the UK. It’s also a way for us to share our experiences and our stories and challenge to develop new ways of dismantling systems of oppression and promote critical thinking and social justice through this liberatory radio project.

Through this project we want to help combat local and global oppression, contribute in political struggles, in social justice, in community organizing, in education, in employment, and in social policy and explore how to transform dehumanizing systems into those that move toward social and economic freedom and justice.

We are made up of individuals who are change-makers, educators, global activists, local leaders, artists, organizers, advocates, rabble-rousers, hair-raisers and instigators. 

Through this project we as a community can engage in active dialogue on what is important. It allows individuals to create a safe space that everyone may inhibit in groups and use to explore the interactions which make up our lives. It is a lab for problem solving, for seeking options, and for practising solutions.

Despite the versatility of the radio drama form, there is very little evidence of forum theatre on radio, with the exception of The View, a forum theatre project conducted by Dead Earnest Theatre Company on BBC Radio Sheffield in 2008.

More recently, the radio drama form has evolved to embrace the interactive possibilities offered by the Internet, with BBC productions such as the Dark House (2003) andChain Gang (2004–09), in which listeners influenced the development of storylines. We aim to push this context further where the listener interacts with the characters to change the outcome.

We believe the model of our project has to interrogate two major theories of development communication: entertainment-education and participatory communication. Both of these contribute to an improvement in quality of life for listeners.

We believe that this project can provide inherent opportunities for democratic dialogue and participation within the production process these include discussion, reflection and taking action strategies.