BLACK HISTORY MONTH

All my life, I never really celebrated/acknowledged anything such as “Black history month”. Didn’t know about it until recently. And please don’t blame me, it’s not because I have been ignorant it’s just because I was never Black until I arrived in the UK. 🤷🏾‍♀️

This is the same reason a fellow Nigerian who just arrived in the Uk for studies has refused to identify with the term “Black”. 

During our conversation, I noticed he deliberately tried to avoid using the word Black to describe himself while sharing his experience. And when I called him Black he bluntly retorted “Please don’t call me Black, I’m not Black”. 

He continued: “You know back in Nigeria I can’t be described as Black, I’m light-skinned”. 😅

And I remember laughing out loud and saying to him: “you don’t really have a choice here, you know; whether you like it or not you’ll be addressed as Black”. 

I said to him: “The moment you landed in the UK your identity changed, and with or without your permission you’ll be called Black!”

Just like this colleague of mine and myself, there are many others whose identities have changed without their consent once they arrived “abroad”. 

This unprecedented change, this somewhat new identity, this race, is what we celebrate in this month of October. But not just that, the celebration is also about our Heroes’ past, recognizing the contributions of Black people through history and telling the beautiful stories of Black people which is often left untold.

I believe that the time is coming where many things will go into extinction:

• Color will be one of the least things to consider when people make choices;

• Many families would have a connection with Black either by blood or by love;

• There’ll be no such thing as “Black Lives Matter” anymore because Black lives will automatically matter!

I say this because I believe that the goal of the Black Lives Matter movement is for the movement to become redundant.

We’re getting there! 

Agree?

#Blackhistorymonth

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