What does it mean (to me) To be Black?

12 May

"When the lights go out, I am still black, female and fatale"

Priscilla Owusu-Mensah - shortlisted for the African Kuenyehia Art Prize, 2017.

But we are who we are
You can't see them all but this a life full of scars
Every breath that I take is a chance to go again
And remind myself I ain't defined by my past

Gotta stop myself from getting bitter
To some people I'll always be a ni.....er

They might avoid that name
Cos nowadays I guess they know what not to say
Doesn't change how they behave
True colours will show their face

- "Bridgeland, Road" - British rapper Guvna B, 2023.

This marks the third article in my mini-authenticity series.

Yesterday was the end of the annual Black History Month in the UK. And reflecting on how far I have come as a proud, authentic black man, I dug through my journals and memories of my journey…..

23 January 2001

‘’Oh, my word, what’s happening?’’

A staff member literally ran into hiding when three of us, all from Ghana walked into a pharmacy for the first time. We had just qualified to practice pharmacy with the NHS, and we were reporting to work for the first time. The shock on all the staff in seeing three black professionals together for the first time was too much for her to bear.

22 July, 2002

‘’ Look mummy, it’s the devil.! “

We had just arrived in Plymouth, Devon, after qualifying to be pharmacists for the NHS. My cousin was taking a bus trip to work when a five-year-old child, screamed to his mother when he saw him in the bus in the next seat.

The woman, clearly embarrassed, apologised to my cousin.

But it set us thinking – what exactly had the child seen in the past that enabled him to equate black people to the devil?

24 July 2016

‘’Don’t worry, she only got the job is for the organisation to appear diverse, not because she deserves it’’

After a gruelling interview, she finally got the job as a high-ranking leader in an educational organisation – the first black woman to do so in Plymouth. As she walked down the corridor in fatigued glee, she heard whispering in the corridor – a friend was consoling someone else who didn’t get the job and was crying foul. She heard the words above and that hurt her deeply. No one in that organisation knows she heard that to this day. And she deserved that job, because 7 years in, she’s still in the same job, with raving reviews from her clients. But she still carries the scars of what her 'friend' said.

15 May 2020

‘’ The look’’

We had this when we went shopping in one of Plymouth’s biggest supermarkets just before lockdown. We were followed by the security guard throughout the shop for no apparent reason other than the fact that we were the only black people in the entire shop.

18 July 2021

‘’ Can you roll down your windows please – Is this car yours?"

One of Plymouth’s top black consultants in Derriford, the city's main hospital was driving home after a long shift. He was stopped by police for no apparent reason. He was driving a brand-new car and was well within the speed limit. He introduced himself when asked. They found nothing in the car. They apologised and waved him on. No apology or reason was given.

26 July 2017

‘’Can you strip, please? ‘’

The security guard asked me. I had been on a business tour to Kenya, Angola, South Africa and Botswana in 8 days. I was intercepted by police at Heathrow Airport and taken to a room downstairs after baggage reclaim. The entire contents of my bags were searched and I was asked to take off my clothes. Nothing was found. And no apology.

25 July 2021

‘’Why didn’t I get the job?’’

She asked. All her friends had applied for jobs. They had all been interviewed and gotten jobs. They had submitted their CVs online. She was at least as qualified as they were. She was in the top ten in the whole of the Southwest for her exams. But she couldn’t get a job. It also happened that she was the only one with an African name. And she was only sixteen.

23 April 2023

‘’Was he foreign?’’

The first question that was asked when a healthcare BAME colleague made an error. As if being ‘foreign’ had anything to do with his competence.

26 September 2023

‘’Why can’t she learn and speak English’’?

A black refugee had just escaped war-torn Sudan, where she only spoke Arabic and wanted to buy some medication. I angrily replied and asked the one who asked the question – "do people ask you why you don't speak Arabic when you went on holiday to Morocco’?

Yes, being black has its burdens. And yes, every black person, even Michelle Obama will tell you they have encountered racism.

My black friends tell me the pressure they feel when they are practising, because inadvertently, they (along with their BAME colleagues) would be referred to as ‘foreign’ when an error was made even though a majority of them spoke English fluently.

But yes, these are a minority of cases. The vast majority of people I have encountered in this country have been caring. Loving. Accepting.

But I sometimes wonder whether it is because I have been privileged. I am now a black leader and a respected professional in a city that is 96% white. My god children are all white. My closest friends in this city are white. I am just as home with my white friends as I am with my black friends.

I think about the decent, highly educated graduate couple from Nigeria who had been accepted to study in this country and were found homeless and sleeping on the street because the higher education facility had messed up their accommodation and no one was willing to help. They had paid thousands in fees and tickets. Would that had happened if they were British? Or Ukrainian?

I love the fact that I'm black, and i don't have to choose.

I love grime, Afrobeat, hip-hop and soul, AND I also love Rock and Country.

I love Stormzy, Little Simz and AJ Tracey, AND I also love Coldplay, George Ezra and Sam Fender.

I love Fufu and plantain and Jollof and African doughnuts, AND I also love a good roast as well as sausage and chips.

I am truly African, AND I am also truly British.

I love my native Ghana very much, AND I also love my home England very much.

I can enjoy and watch ‘Top Gun’ on Netflix AND also watch and enjoy ‘Friends’ on ITV.

So, what does being both Black African AND Black British mean to me?

It has given me the power of the ‘’AND’’

One of the greatest gifts I have is to bring people together irrespective of their origins, sexual orientation, age, race, gender or background.

I am proud that wherever I work, I actively encourage, and go out of my way to promote diversity and inclusion.

It means that I can be an inspiration to my fellow BAME members, a bridge to all races, and be judged on my competence as a business leader, author, speaker and pharmacist, NOT on my colour.

And I can challenge racism, hidden or overt, wherever I see, hear or experience it in any form.

And so should every single person reading this newsletter.

So saying ‘I’m not racist’ is not enough.

As Martin Luther King said,

‘’We will remember more the silence of our friends, than the hatred of our enemies’’

What hurts me most as I reflect on Black History month, is my white friends who are silent and passive in the face of racism. It hurts more than those actually spewing out the racist hatred.

Being anti-racist is that kind vicar friend of mine who took those homeless Nigerians into his home till they could find proper accommodation.

And he is white.

Because the only thing that should be separated by colour is laundry, not humans.

So how can you do your active part to be anti-racist?

I’m rooting for you,

Steven.