It's October, Black history month in England. Do I care? Is this still relevant? Growing up as part of "The Americas" and receiving a rash of American television, Black history month is presented as a big deal (for African Americans at least). Of course not being an African American I don't really know if I am seeing this through television eyes where everything looks bigger than it is in reality. Tom Cruise, anyone?
Over in London, I don't hear a peep about it. I only knew it was Black History Month because I came across a newsletter. So my question to myself why do I not know about this month? I've not a few theories. The first is I, as an individual, I'm not part of the black British community. I'm more on the periphery by the fact that we sharing the same colour skin and geographical location. However that's where the similarities ends. I do not share the same world view. I never grew up in a world where I was a colour minority. This and my life experiences have shaped my psyche, aspirations and obstacles. I knew my own history, I had great teachers who made me question the world around me and never just accept things on face value. So if someone said "Black people are...." I never took their word for it and but did the research myself. By the way anyone who starts statements generalising people on race, religion, nationality, sexuality, whatever, is really not someone you should be taking advice from. So Black History month, that's a joke right? I didn't need any such thing. I am living it everyday. My very presence on the island was a testament to black history. No one needed to rehash old wounds. Certainly not me.
But things change. As an immigrant to any society you are immediately the other. Whether through language, religion, values, skin colour. Moving from a society where you are in the majority to one where you are a minority gives much needed perspective. Suddenly it all made sense.
Years ago I was a teaching assistant in a school and for Black History Month the kids were doing projects on black role models. There was no real interest in the project by the teachers it being a tick box exercise and the examples there were giving were the usual regurgitated people Sojourner Truth, Rosa Parks, Martin Luthor King, Madame CJ Walker, Malcolm X, and George Washington Carver. All Americans, all important, all dead. Oh sure they added in a sprinkle of celebrities from the black trinity of Sports, Music and Entertainment like, Colin Jackson, PDiddy, Naomi Campbell, and Oprah Winfrey, no one that you would really have to hurt your brain to suggest. The kids weren't encouraged to go beyond the surface and find out about people like Lonnie Johnson, David Lammy, Ozwald Boateng, Angie Lemar.
Kids need role models. Someone to emulate and look up to. And if the images that we see, the articles we read, and the words that we speak are all negative then what do you expect but a negative outlook on life. If by your words, actions and body language you scream "I know you and this is all you can achieve, so don't bother to try" then something is seriously wrong. For the politically correct/liberal tree huggers out there who preach the colour of a person's skin should not affect who they choose as they role models take a step back and look at yourself. I'm betting you were never a visual minority in your society. I'm betting you never had to walk down a street and see people clutch their purses or check for their wallets as you approach. Never had people approach you with the assumption that they know everything about you based on what they saw on television last night. Never had the most powerful, influencing tool of the 20th Century subtly and not so subtly tell you that you can only go this far and no further. "But I have loads of black friends and we get along great, I'm not racist" I hear you say. Really? Then why do you always think of them as your black friends and never just your friends. Why do I feel like a fashion accessory for you to parade and prove your open minded credentials to other liberal tree huggers. By the way what was that hesitation in your voice, and wide eyed stare when i asked to marry your daughter, friend.
So yeah though I may not feel as passionate about Black History Month as some of you, I do care. How else can we know where we are going if we don't know where we have come from?
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