The Oxford BHM 100 — Part 2
This Black History Month, the University is highlighting the power of excellence and academic achievement, past and present, and how the contributions of Black people have contributed to the calibre of the University’s reputation.
Continuing our series celebrating the power of academic achievement and how Black people, past and present, have contributed to the calibre of Oxford University’s reputation and understanding of Black experiences.
Each nomination was submitted by a member — or sometimes multiple members — of our student, staff, alumni and donor community, because of the impact it has had on them personally. The entries have their own unique value, and are not placed in any particular order.
(Read The Oxford BHM 100 — Part 1 here)
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La June Montgomery Tabron
‘Bynum Tudor’ Fellow at Kellogg College, President and CEO of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF)
In 2014, Tabron became the first woman and African American to lead the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in its 90-year history, having served in a variety of positions since she joined the Kellogg Foundation in 1987.
Tabron leads the Kellogg Foundation in its work to support thriving children, working families and equitable communities, embedding a commitment to engaging communities, developing leaders and racial equity into every undertaking.
Find out more about La June Montgomery Tabron here.
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Shaunna Marie Latchman
Communications Officer, Oxford University
‘History was one of my favourite subjects in school. I would soak up the images of Egyptian kings and recreate sketches of mythical Greek monsters, all whilst trying to wrap my head around what life would have been like in those times. As an adult I still enjoy dipping into the past, but gone are the rose-tinted glasses, now I understand the need to know who I am and the pride that events like Black History Month instils in people worldwide. That is the purpose of documenting our past.
‘Recorded history is almost like a cheat-sheet in times of crisis; being able to understand epidemics like the Spanish Flu or recalling how society has recovered from World War I is such a privilege, and has provided us today with invaluable understanding. Our own researchers at the University of Oxford have provided insight that we may never have thought about or looked into in the past — the disproportionate effect of COVID-19 in minority ethnic groups. Am I scared? Yes. But I am also reassured in the knowledge that if this has been investigated then there will be steps taken to ensure that these groups are protected; either in acknowledging the risk to staff who belong to minority ethnic groups or in the development of a vaccine.
‘For me, Black History Month is an opportunity to invite everyone to learn about the world’s history, to recognise the achievements and contributions of the Black community and inspires pride among young Black people.
‘Black History is more than our past, it is our present, it represents unity and growth, it allows us to confront racial discrimination — it is our future.’
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Alain Locke
Rhodes Scholar, writer and philosopher Hertford College (1909)
As important as it is to celebrate academic achievement, I think we need to confront uncomfortable legacies of the past too, so I nominated Alain Locke, the first African American Rhodes Scholar, who attended Hertford College in 1909.
He was invited to a luncheon with the other Rhodes scholars with the American ambassador in London, and when the ambassador discovered Locke was black he put pressure on the Rhodes Trust to disinvite him, but Locke refused to withdraw. Although he attended the event and was seated away from the Southern Rhodes scholars who were attempting to segregate him, it was the event that he later described as a tipping point in his life. He noted that he was ‘converted from an individualistic aesthete into an ardent but I hope not bigoted racialist’. After Oxford, Locke went on to be a key figure in the Harlem Renaissance.
His experience reminds us how hard it is to be a pioneer, and how often, because we want to emphasise progressive historical moments, we erase the difficulties and the painfulness of the actual experience of Oxfordians of colour, then and now.
Nominated by Emma Smith, Professor of Shakespeare Studies, Hertford College
Alain Leroy Locke (Pennsylvania & Hertford 1907) was the first African American Rhodes Scholar. Even before Locke arrived in Oxford, his intellect had been recognized. Dr Robert Ellis Thompson noted that he was “by much the ablest student in the graduating class of the School of Pedagogy of this year.” Despite this, several Oxford colleges passed him over because of racial prejudice. He was eventually admitted to Hertford, where he studied “Literae Humaniores” — Literature, Philosophy, Greek and Latin from 1907–1910.
As biographers Jeffrey Stewart and Michèle Mendelssohn have pointed out in The New Negro and Making Oscar Wilde respectively, Locke hoped to model himself on Oscar Wilde. He identified Oxford as the place to leave American racism behind. Race nevertheless affected his experience as a Scholar, and he described the University as “a land of class distinctions.” When Locke was selected for the Scholarship, some Rhodes Scholars from the American South threatened to resign their Scholarships if his name was not withdrawn.
Later on in his Oxford career befriended Pixley ka Isaka Seme. They became lifelong friends and established the Cosmopolitan Club, a society for students who shared an interest in internationalist matters.
After obtaining a PhD from Harvard in 1917, he had a distinguished academic career and taught philosophy at Howard University from 1912 to his death, in 1954. Locke was one of the pivotal figures behind the rebirth of the black arts movement in the early 20th century.
Nominated by Rhodes Trust
To find out more about how the Rhodes Trust is examining its own legacy and focusing on eliminating racism, visit:
https://www.rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk/blm-covid-impact/blacklivesmatter-racism-and-legacy/.
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Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE portrait image in CMS
CEO of Stemettes, MBE (Keble College, 2006)
A former child prodigy, Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE was just 20 years old when she received her Master’s Degree in Mathematics and Computer Science at Oxford. After Oxford, Anne-Marie initially worked in the finance industry, but while participating at a conference she realised, ‘How crazy is it that I’m the only person like this where I work? That was when I realised that I was a woman in tech, and one of few. I realised that there was probably something I could be doing about it.’
Anne-Marie founded STEMettes — a social enterprise working to inspire and support young women into STEM careers. ‘When we look at technology, physics, the physical sciences, we have this dearth of women entering the industry. We have a dearth of girls choosing those options academically. We have this notion that it’s just not something that females do. STEMettes was a response to that.’
Since its inception in 2013, STEMettes has exposed almost 45,000 young people across Europe to Anne-Marie’s vision for a more diverse and balanced science and tech community. In 2017 Anne-Marie was awarded an MBE in the New Year’s Honours ‘for services to young women within STEM careers’.
*Quotes taken from Quad alumni magazine.
Nominated by the Department of Computer Science
70
JC Niala
Writer, poet, anthropology doctoral student at St Catherine’s College
JC’s research focuses on urban gardening, and is based on allotment sites across the city of Oxford, where she is also an allotmenteer.
Of her research passion, she says: ‘Early on in my research, I became fascinated by land law. Many people do not realise that in the U.K. unless privately owned, all land belongs to the Crown and is thus managed in various ways. Guerrilla gardening is therefore an activity that sits on the edge of legality. It led me to think about the ways in which we as human beings make up various categories such as nature and culture because this has a big impact on how we treat our world.’
JC’s book A Loveliness of Ladybirds was shortlisted for the Nan Shepherd Prize in 2019, and her other research interests include examining the lives of African peoples in global contexts, such as; African soldiers in WW1, Afrikan scholars who studied at the University of Oxford and African women who successfully resisted colonialism.
Find out more about JC here: https://www.jcniala.com/urban-gardening
Nominated by Michèle Mendelssohn, Professor of English & American Literature, Oxford University, Tutorial Fellow, Mansfield College
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Christian Cole
Barrister, (University College, 1873)
‘This is an institution of higher education. We should be a place that helps regular society to get to know the history of UK Black and Asian people. The UK has its own Rosa Parks here (Paul Stephenson), why do we have to wait until Black History Month to hear about them?
‘The University could do more to work with schools and share content that encourages awareness of these people, because, as David Olusoga said, ‘they have been here since the Romans’.
‘I personally, am moved by the story of Christian Cole*, the first Black African student to graduate from Oxford University.
‘His is a story of raising-up someone else, to raise yourself. His family encouraged his ambitions and supported him to come and study here, yet he was not treated well at all and was a poor student at Oxford.
‘But, he was so bright. He overcame all that and by the force of his personality he made allies at Oxford — despite attempts to denigerate his personality with caricatures filled with racist tropes.
‘When he left Oxford he was not accepted in London and returned home to Africa. But again, his community got together and fundraised to send him back, which allowed him to achieve the Bar and qualify as a barrister here.
‘The great tragedy of course was that he could not get a job in England as a Black barrister, and left to work in Zanzibar, where he died of smallpox very young (33).
‘The struggle of this person, and the waste of his talent, moves me. But for equality, he could have been a really great UK Black person. His story is a reminder that no matter what you have to face in life, you have your community and friends behind you. Listen to them, and not the people who tell you, you can’t do it.’
Nominated by Daphne Cunningham, Experimental Research Group Administrator, Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Chair of the Oxford University BME Staff Network
68
Sir Hugh Springer
Hertford College (1962), former Governor General of Barbados
Sir Hugh Springer first came to Oxford to study Greek at Hertford College, (later becoming a Senior Visiting Fellow at All Souls College and then an Honorary Fellow).
Returning to Barbados after his degree, Springer led the Progressive League, was the first General Secretary of the Barbados Workers’ Union, and went on to write scholarly works on politics and work on developing higher education institutions in the Caribbean and the wider Commonwealth. In 1984 he was appointed Governor-General of Barbados.
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‘Say Your Mind’ podcast by Kelechi Okafor
‘The podcast ‘Say Your Mind’ by Kelechi Okafor is hilarious and heartfelt, celebrates black excellence, and doesn’t ever pull its punches when calling out the madness in this world.
‘Recognising Black History Month is important to me, because the way our society is structured is actively exclusionary of Black people. To combat this, we must seek out the work and perspectives of Black people, and actively celebrate Black achievement and excellence. Black History Month provides a frame within which to do this; a banner under which we can collate and elevate the work of Black people to the position it deserves, year-round.’
This is her website: https://www.kelechiokafor.com/
Nominated by Tamsin Savvides, studying Earth Sciences at University College
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Martin Forde QC
Brasenose College (1979)
Martin Forde QC is a leading barrister who has served as the Independent Advisor to the Windrush Compensation Scheme since 2018. He was appointed by the Home Secretary to assess how to compensate the people who lost their jobs, homes, and livelihoods, as well as those who were deported or imprisoned after being wrongly declared illegal immigrants.
He has also recently been appointed by the Labour Party’s National Executive Committee to lead the inquiry investigating the leak of a report to the Equality and Human Rights Commission regarding alleged anti-Semitism in the party. He is a health law expert and sits as a Recorder.
Martin has been outspoken on society’s response to the Windrush scandal, the depiction of immigration in the media, and the impact of Covid-19 on healthcare staff.
He is and will always be instrumental in righting the wrongs of the Windrush scandal, a very significant step in Black inclusion in the UK, both the original immigration and the subsequent mistreatment at the highest level.
Nominated by Brasenose College
65
Dr Des Oliver
Composer and Tutor at Magdalen College, Faculty of Music
Dr Oliver is a composer and composition tutor at Magdalen College. He is also a filmmaker, and recently created a documentary series about Black British musicians and composers, and the issues surrounding black identity — commissioned by Sound and Music for the British Music Collection.
In his video created for Oxplore, the University’s free educational digital outreach portal for 11–18 year olds, Dr Oliver talks about his own experiences as a classical musician and the issue of cultural appropriation: when is it OK to play music from a culture that is not your own?
https://oxplore.org/question-detail/does-music-matter#2389
Nominated by the Oxplore team
64
Patricia Kingori
Associate Professor in Global Ethics at the Nuffield Department of Population Health
Professor Kingori, is a Wellcome Senior Investigator at the Wellcome Centre for Ethics and Humanities and the Ethox Centre, University of Oxford. Patricia’s primary expertise lies in Sociology and her current research interests bridge the Sociology of Science and Medicine, and a critical examination of ethics in practice.
She is currently leading a project looking at ‘fakes and fabrications’, both in healthcare and more generally within ideas — like how do we decide what is real or fake, and how do we navigate information deciding what is true and false?
On the back of this she has a podcast called Genuine Fakes, about things that are both real and fake at the same time, such as diamonds, art, architecture, literature, medicines and online dating profiles) which are considered real and fake at the same time.
Nominated by Genevieve Juillet, Media Relations Manager Medical Sciences
63
Arthur Ralph Carnegie
Law tutor at Jesus from 1964–67 and Rhodes Scholar
I would like to nominate my then law tutor, Ralph.
When he died in 2011, he was eulogised by The Hon. Mr. Justice Winston Charles Anderson, of the Caribbean Court of Justice, as ‘both father and prince to the vast majority of us who follow the vocation of the law’. He had a big impact on me during my time at Oxford.
Born in Jamaica, he attended (1946–1954) and win the coveted academic role of Assistant Master, at Jamaica College (1955–1956). There he taught Second Form which included Patrick Robinson, now President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.
In 1960 he won a Rhodes scholarship to study Jurisprudence at Jesus College, Oxford, and upon completing his studies and research became Fellow and Tutor in Law, Junior Dean, and Secretary to the Governing Body of Jesus College.
Ralph was revered and deeply admired by his students — including me, and by fellow jurists equally. Known for his ‘mastery in the class room, and his extraordinary record of research and publication’, he served the Law and the universities that he taught at, ‘with complete and selfless devotion’.
Nominated by David Lermon Jesus College (1964–67)
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Professor Brenda E. Stevenson
In early October the University announced the appointment of Brenda E. Stevenson, currently Nickoll Family Endowed Professor of History at UCLA, to the Hillary Rodham Clinton Chair of Women’s History.
The new position will enhance Oxford’s existing work in women’s history by producing new, pioneering research in intersectional women’s history. Her role will include leading the new Women, Gender and Queer history course within the Master’s history programme, and heading the Faculty’s Centre for Gender, Identity and Subjectivity.
A world leading historian of race, slavery, gender, family and conflict. Professor Stevenson’s many published works sensitively explore how intersectionality impacts social change. For example her book ‘The contested murder of Latasha Harlins: Justice, Gender and the Origins of the LA Riots,’ raised awareness of the 15-year old as the female Rodney King and society’s general lack of value for Black women. The text documents the 15-year old’s murder at the hands of a Korean shopkeeper, and how it contributed to the 1992 race riots, which proceeded King’s barbaric beating at the hands of police. The book inspired the new Netflix documentary A Love Song for Latasha.
She said: ‘Because we live in a patriarchal society we will always focus on the actions and victimisation of males. Even now, people will say the ‘Rodney King riots’, but when we talk, along with them they’ll admit, ‘Latasha Harlins, of course.’
Professor Stevenson will take-up her new position in Autumn 2021. Find out more about her here.
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Dr Hindolo George-Williams BEng MSc
Postdoctoral researcher, Department of Engineering
Postdoctoral researcher Dr Hindolo George-Williams is using his expertise to create reliable power solutions and improve lives in his home country of Sierra Leone.
‘I have experienced what the lack of access to electricity can do to one’s quality of life,’ he says. ‘For me, contributing to increasing energy access and building sustainable and reliable energy systems in Sierra Leone has always been a dream’.
He’s working to achieve that dream through his research in the Energy and Power Group, in the Department of Engineering. His research interests include improving the risk, maintenance, and performance of complex systems, including offshore oil platforms and nuclear power stations. His primary focus, however, is power systems.
Dr George-Williams characterises his research as taking a “holistic view” of the energy sector in Sierra Leone. He develops social science and technical frameworks that will increase access to electricity and improve the efficiency and reliability of the way energy services are delivered and utilized in the country.
His career journey to date has seen him working directly on maintaining diesel generators and commercial fuel dispensing sites, as well as graduating with his PhD from the University of Liverpool. Despite always having a natural interest in energy engineering, he says it was not always a career goal: ‘Coming from a Catholic background, I wanted to become a Priest.’
Find out more about Dr George-Williams here:
https://eng.ox.ac.uk/case-studies/bringing-reliable-power-to-sierra-leone/
https://eng.ox.ac.uk/case-studies/bringing-reliable-power-to-sierra-leone/
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James Nepaulsingh
Solicitor, Keble College (1999)
‘To me this photo is my definition of Black Excellence. It’s an old photo of my dad and me at Buckingham Palace (1994) when he got an OBE for Services to Education. He was the longest-serving member of the Schools Examination and Assessment Council and he was in charge of signing off on all of the school Modern Language exams in England. The body reported directly to the Minister of Education.
‘Both of my parents are from Trinidad and this was in the late 80s/early 90s when there were hardly any black people in positions of power in the UK (we were the only black people at Buckingham Palace that day).
‘There are some great debates now about whether we should replace Empire in Order of the British Empire with Excellence.’
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Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem
General Secretary of the seventh Pan-African congress (PAC), activist (St Peter’s College 1983)
Dr Abdul-Raheem was an intellectual and an activist who worked tirelessly for the causes he supported, of which the greatest by far was the African unity. Prior to joining Oxford, he pursued a degree in Political Science at Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria. In 1983, he won a Rhodes scholarship to St Peter’s College, where he pursued a DPhil in Political Science. While at Oxford he served as the President of the University’s African Society, and was a key figure in the anti-apartheid movement. Never afraid of speaking truth to power, Tajudeen was committed to African liberation, and more broadly to social justice, irrespective of the racial, gendered, ethnic or geographic origins of those affected.
In 1994, he served as the general secretary of the seventh Pan-African congress (PAC), which was held in Kampala. He was also actively involved in speaking against the political crisis in Nigeria during General Sani Abacha’s regime, helping to found the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), which is still running today. He embarked on a career as a journalist, writing extensively for newspapers and journals across Africa, and publishing a book entitled Pan-Africanism: Politics, Economy and Social Change in the Twenty-first Century. More prominent were his weekly Pan-African ‘Thursday Postcards’, which were published through Justice Africa, a London-based organization that he helped found in 1999. Tajudeen tragically died in a car crash on route to visiting Rwanda, as part of his continuing pan-African efforts. He died on 25 May, which is marked internationally as Africa day.
Nominated by Professor Patricia Daley, Professor of the Human Geography of Africa , Helen Morag Fellow and Tutor at Jesus College
58
Effie Armah-Tetteh
Second year student, studying Classics (Literae Humaniores) at Corpus Christi College and VP of the Oxford African Caribbean Society
‘As a young black woman, who has grown up in white spaces both academically and socially, black history month for me is a dedicated time in which I feel seen and the achievements of my community are both recognised and respected.
‘It is a time for celebration as much as it is for reflection; it is a constant reminder that we as young black people must keep doing our best and working our hardest in honour of those who have paved the way for us, in a plethora of fields and by limitless means — despite the limitations placed upon us. We do this in hopes that our efforts may too be celebrated, every October, every year.’
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Lady Kofoworola Aina Ademola (née Moore)
St Hugh’s College (1931) and author
Kofoworola Ademola was the first black African woman to achieve a degree at Oxford. She arrived at Oxford University in 1932 to study English at St Hugh’s College, and determined to pursue a teaching career.
She is also known for writing a first-hand account about her experiences in Britain, which appeared in colonial expert Margery Perham’s 1936 edited collection, Ten Africans.
She arrived at St Hugh’s College in 1932 to study English and pursue a teaching career. Initially homesick and dismayed at being the only African female at Oxford, she encountered some ignorant attitudes in the UK and found comments about her ‘amazing cleverness’ and being regarded as a ‘curio’ or some weird specimen of Nature’s product, ‘exceedingly irritating’ and ‘more exasperating than the more acute form of colour-prejudice.’
Lady Ademola, as she would become, achieved her degree at St Hugh’s in 1935. She lived a fascinating life, as a lifelong advocate for women’s education and social reform. She went on went on to become an important figure in the education sector and women’s organisations, such as the Red Cross, which led her to becoming a Member of the Order of the British Empire. navigated a male-dominated world to maintain and promote her identity, and fundamentally her passion for empowering and enriching the lives of girls and young women through education.
Once she had settled into student life she became active in a range of student societies, and developed a cosmopolitan circle of friends from the UK, Europe, Asia and the Caribbean (for example the Barbadian lawyer Hugh Springer and Merze Tate, the first).
Moore is just one of many other colonial students whose experiences need to be uncovered in order for the complex histories of race, gender and colonialism at the University of Oxford to be fully understood.
Find out more about Lady Ademola in the Women in Oxford’s History podcast series:
https://womenofoxford.wordpress.com/2016/06/25/kofoworola-moore/
http://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/women-oxfords-history-kofoworola-moore
Nominated by St Hugh’s College and JC Niala, a doctoral student studying anthropology at St Catherine’s College
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OUP Africa Pulse: The passion and power of African classics, Oxford University Press South Africa
Africa Pulse is a wonderful series from OUP South Africa set to enthral avid readers with English translations of some of the best-known African literary classics, including Stitching a Whirlwind: An anthology of Southern African poems and translations and S.E.K Mqhayi’s The Lawsuit of the Twins. All the books in the series are available in the Bodleian Library.
In this video, the translators involved with the project, talk about their experience working on the series, and what people can expect from these riveting reads.
An event was held to launch the project at Oxford in February, just before Covid-19 turned life upside down.
Nominated by Professor Peter McDonald, Professor of English and Related Literature; Fellow of St Hugh’s College
55
James H. Cone
Author and founder of the Black liberation theology movement
‘James H. Cone is my hero. He essentially invented the academic scholarly version of Black liberation theology.
‘His books ‘Black Theology and Black power’ in 1969, and then followed it up with ‘Black Theology of Liberation changed my life, and are still the two seminal works to read to study Black theology. Ok, some would say you have to read Anthony Reddie’s work too — but I would never put myself in the same category as him.
‘One of the highlights of my life is not only that I got to meet him several times before he died in 2018 aged 78, but that before he died he choose me as one of 10 people worldwide, he wanted to endorse his memoir, which was published posthumously. When I received the letter from his publisher I just burst into tears. An amazing full circle moment for me.
‘Really, the truth is, every month should be Black History Month. But you know something, if that isn’t the case, at least for a month — if nothing else — it puts the focus on the importance of our presence and our contribution to this country and the world, both as individuals and as communities. It makes people aware of the contributions, stories and valuable insights that we have made to culture. Specifically when talking about Great Britain, I think what makes Britain great, is us.’
Nominated by Professor Anthony G Reddie, Director of the Oxford Centre for Religion and Culture, Fellow of Regent’s Park College
54
Ngoni Mugwisi
Second year doctoral Rhodes Scholar, studying electrical engineering at Trinity College
Ngoni’s research focuses on efficient power conversation in local areas.
Experiences from his childhood in Zimbabwe of ‘consistent blackouts that punctuated my days in many cases forcing me to study by candlelight’, fuelled a deep-seated desire to address the lack of electricity for lighting, heating and other household activities, and eventually drew him to a career in electrical engineering.
His current work involves the electro-thermal modelling and design of power electronic converters, which are particularly important for designing energy grids with local power capability, such as microgrids.
Of his chosen career, Ngoni says: ‘Electricity enables success in human endeavors such as healthcare delivery, education, infrastructure development, transportation, information technology, mining and industrial activity. I feel that my work as an electrical engineer has the potential to contribute in important ways to these sectors in the developing world.’
Born in Zimbabwe, Ngoni studied at Arizona State University before winning the highly competitive Rhodes scholarship. His opportunities have fuelled a passion for helping others to realise their own academic potential, and he is involved in STEM outreach work, which included a two-week visit to Japan. He said: ‘My experience has shown me that people dream and aspire within the bounds of their lived experiences. I do STEM outreach to help expand those boundaries for students everywhere, especially the marginalized.’
Find out more about Ngoni here:
https://eng.ox.ac.uk/case-studies/ngoni-mugwisi/
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Conrad Kunadu
Final year politics, philosophy and economics student at Trinity College
‘As an aspirational black student, I’ve spent my entire life attempting to defy stereotypes. Growing up, it was clear to me how unusual and ‘un-black’ others found the level of my ambitions. In also having few black role models around me, it often felt very difficult to feel like I can fit in whilst aiming high.
‘However, Black History Month has always been my opportunity to discover how truly impressive and pervasive black excellence has always been. From the well-told stories of Martin Luther King and Mary Seacole to underappreciated black role models such as Ignatius Sancho and William Cuffay, my eyes were opened to the fact that blackness and achievement are not contradictory in the slightest. History is full of exceptional black individuals who managed to make invaluable contributions to society often in spite of egregious racism. Black History Month showed me that black excellence isn’t a rarity, and that in my own pursuits, I’d have plenty of giants’ shoulders to stand on.
‘Though long-overdue, it’s excellent that Oxford is finally recognising many of the exceptional contributions that black individuals have made throughout history. It’s a small, but valuable, step forwards in the long fight for racial justice.’
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W. E. B. Du Bois
Sociologist and author
‘An anti-racist perspective would explain that ‘Black excellence’ is precisely the same as ‘excellence’ writ broadly.
‘The noted American sociologist, W. E. B. Du Bois, for example, critiqued the kind of ‘uplift ideology’ that separated some Black people as ‘excellent’ or exceptional from those ‘Other’ (‘normal’) black people. This is also something that Ibram X. Kendi has written about in his book, Stamped from the Beginning.’
Nominated by Dr Amber Murrey, Associate Professor in Human Geography, Fellow and Tutor at Mansfield College
51
Abby Ajayi
Screenwriter and producer, Wadham College
Although she studied Law at Oxford, Abby always had ambitions to write. She reviewed films for the Cherwell student newspaper and edited a college magazine during her time at the University.
After graduating, she focused her energies on pursuing her goals, contacting every production company in the Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook and setting herself strict completion deadlines — not even allowing herself to have a shower until she had written 15 letters.
It is safe to say that her hard work and perseverance paid off. She was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study screenwriting in New York, and began her career in the UK writing on television series that include EastEnders, Hollyoaks and Casualty. She has gone on to write on the American TV series How to Get Away with Murder and is a writer and Supervising Producer on the upcoming Shonda Rhimes-created Inventing Anna.
In 2016, Abby was selected by BAFTA Los Angeles as one of its Newcomers to watch, and featured by the Hollywood Reporter in a profile of 62 Black female screenwriters.
Find out more about Abby’s work here:
https://m.imdb.com/name/nm2184926/
https://deadline.com/2020/10/abby-ajayi-pens-itv-family-drama-riches-set-in-new-york-london-1234597894/
Nominated by Jasmine Richards, Founder and Director of STORYMIX, (Lady Margaret Hall, 1999)
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Techish, a podcast by Abadesi Osunsade and Michael Berhane
‘I have been listening regularly for over a year at this point, and they have really been tackling and discussing little known issues regarding diversity in the tech world. Not only are their discussions interesting and thought-provoking, they are also inspirational, offering real advice on working in the tech world from a Black or Brown perspective, offering their experiences. Michael even has a website called POCIT jobs ( People of Colour in Tech) which connects people directly to opportunities.
‘They have both inspired me and encouraged me through the podcast, and at their live event which I was fortunate enough to take part in. I think that is what Black excellence means — not only being incredible and tenacious and succeeding in your own field, but being willing and gracious enough to offer your help to others. I know for sure that I’m not the only one that they have inspired — I can only imagine the impact they have had on young black people. I think it’s important to remember the people who are blazing the trail now , for the benefit of those in the future.’
Nominated by Sanaa Asim, Head of Diversity and Inclusion in the Oxford Artificial Intelligence society ( OXAI), 4th year student of German and Arabic at St Hilda’s College
Compiled by Lanisha Butterfield
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