Chardine Taylor Stone

Chardine Taylor Stone is a musician, cultural producer, and award-winning Black feminist activist and writer.

Chardine previously founded Black Girl’s Picnic, a movement in collective self-care for Black women and girls, and Stop Rainbow Racism, which worked to stop racist performances in LGBTQI venues. In 2017, she facilitated and guided the writing of the Women’s March London principles alongside other Black feminist women. She was featured in The Voice newspaper as one of the Women Who Rocked the World in 2015.

As a writer, educator, and anti-racist activist, Chardine often uses music, art, and fashion history to instigate socio-political analysis. She lectures and facilitates workshops on topics such as Black feminist histories, Black queer identities, Afrofuturism, music subculture histories, and Black involvement in the esoteric, weird, and downright bizarre.

She is regularly asked to speak and consult on these topics for media such as Channel 4 News, BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour, London Live, and TedXTottenham, as well as film/culture festivals, conferences, museums, and art institutions such as the BFI, Tate Modern, ICA, and the British Library. Chardine has also been an invited speaker at universities in the UK, including Cambridge, Oxford, Manchester, and many more. She is a former board member for the Museum of Homelessness, Duckie Youth, and London Black Women’s Project.

Chardine was a founding member and stand-up drummer in the Black feminist punk band Big Joanie, whose album Sistahs was released in 2018 to positive reviews. The band toured across the UK, Europe, and the USA, opening for legendary feminist punk bands such as Bikini Kill, Gossip, and Sleater-Kinney, as well as IDLES and Skunk Anansie. In 2022, Big Joanie was nominated for Best Alternative Music Act at the MOBO Awards.

Her new producer project, Border Widow, is with composer and performer Hatty Carmen. She also DJs as DJ Cherry Drop, playing blues, rockabilly, rocksteady, and northern soul, all on vinyl, having supported acts such as Lee Scratch Perry, Parliament/Funkadelic, and The Dandy Warhols.

Chardine is a committed trade unionist and active member of the Musicians’ Union.