The Myths of British Progressiveness
About a week ago, a video of a BBC journalist interviewing the Prime Minister of Barbados made the rounds on Twitter. If you didn’t know already, as well as the removal of the Queen as Head of State, Barbados has announced plans to hold a referendum on gay marriage. The BBC journalist questioned Mia Mottley on this, asking her if, in Barbados, “people should be allowed to be gay.” Mottley, quite rightly, found the question offensive and asked the journalist if that was a question he would ask the UK, to which he sanctimoniously responded “well we have laws on gay marriage, you’re having a referendum on gay marriage so…
The Bluest Eye and the Pervasiveness of White Supremacy
Note: This post is written as if you have already read the book, but does not contain major spoilers that will prevent you from reading it if you haven’t. In fact, I hope that after reading this you order yourself a copy – it will be worth the read, trust me. Toni Morrison’s debut novel, The Bluest Eye, was first published 50 years ago. Set in Ohio during the Great Depression, the novel tells the story of Pecola Breedlove, a dark-skinned Black girl who is made to believe that she is so ugly that she wishes for her eyes to be blue. Of course, that is a very simplistic summary.…
Why Black Excellence Will Not Defeat Racism
The murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis has sparked an international conversation about racism, specifically anti-Blackness. It is a conversation that has drawn in people from across countries and generations, and within the Black community we’ve been looking to our elders for history, guidance and comfort during this time when our pain is amplified and visceral. Many Black people, myself included, have expressed that we don’t want our children to grow up experiencing the same struggles that we, our parents, and our grandparents have experienced. Understandably, young Black people don’t want that to be their experience either. On 9 July Shaun Bailey, the Conservative London mayoral candidate, tweeted that a…
Why I’m Saying Bye to ‘BAME’
It’s safe to say that 2020 has been a god-awful year for this world. Without a shadow of doubt, it has been particularly awful for Black people. The never-ending fight against institutional racism has intensified in the past three months, with Covid-19 ravaging our community and the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd generating global protests against police brutality against Black people. The Black community has had to fight a pandemic and institutional racism at the same time, and it has been traumatising and draining in every way possible. The recent Black Lives Matter protests have led many non-Black people to consider the disease of anti-Blackness, some…
Meghan: A Story of British Racism
For a long time, I was one of those Brits who didn’t really care too much about the monarchy. I didn’t have much interest in their lives, or their weddings – when Wills and Kate got married I took advantage of the extra bank holiday to go on a city break to Copenhagen. The way I saw it was: they’re there, there’s little I can do about it, but if we were to ever have a referendum on their abolishment I would 100% vote yes. As I’ve gotten older, my feelings about their abolishment have gotten stronger and I am now of the opinion that the entire institution should be…
Giving Blood: Why More Black People Ought to Do It
A few months ago, I received a letter from the NHS informing me that I have the sickle cell trait. For those of you who are unfamiliar, sickle cell disease is a group of red blood cell disorders. Red blood cells contain haemoglobin, which carries oxygen around the body, and people who suffer from sickle cell produce abnormally shaped red blood cells. These ‘sickle’ shaped cells die prematurely or can get stuck in small blood vessels, blocking them and causing serious medical problems. Sickle cell anaemia is the most serious type of sickle cell disease, and those who have it are susceptible to life-threatening infections, loss of vision or stroke and…
#SurvivingAbuse: Three Reasons Black People Need to Stop Caping for Sexual Abusers
TW/CN: This post discusses sexual abuse. 2018 was hailed as the ‘Year of the Woman’, and there was much celebration of women’s achievements across the world. Notably 2018 saw the rise of women visibly speaking out about the injustices and evils they have and continue to face – particularly sexual abuse. The #MeToo movement, founded in 2006 by Tarana Burke – an African-American civil rights campaigner – gained greater traction in light of the Harvey Weinstein case and the sexual abuse of women became headline news. This continued with the conviction of Bill Cosby and Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court despite Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s harrowing testimony…
Why Telling Black People They Are Aggressive IS Aggressive In Itself
Pretty much every Black person I know – myself included – can tell you of a time when they have been branded ‘aggressive’ or ‘intimidating’ by a white person. Get angry at someone who has done something wrong to you? Aggressive. Walking around in a group with your friends? Intimidating. Challenging any form of authority? Aggressive AND intimidating. Everywhere Black people go they have to navigate around this branding. White people constantly claim to feel threatened by us, even when we are doing normal, innocuous things. There are a whole raft of cases I could point to in the United States of Black people having the police called for…
To All the Friends Who Say ‘I Don’t See Race’
I guess you could consider this a public service announcement. To all the people who say/have ever said things like, “I don’t see colour/race,” this is a message for you. Unless you are genuinely, medically diagnosed as colour blind, you are a liar. You can see colour because it is clearly there on display for you to see. If what you mean is that you don’t consciously (and I stress the word ‘consciously’) allow your recognition of someone’s colour to dictate your opinions of them and the assumptions you make about them, then that’s all well and good but you need to SAY THAT. You may be thinking that I’m…
