Listening and Learning in Black History Month
In October, across the UK, we celebrated Black History Month. For Co-op this was an opportunity to take time to reflect on the diverse histories and achievements of Black people, and their extraordinary contributions to society, even in the face of long-standing challenges and injustices. In our latest article, The Federation team gives you a brief overview of some of our takeaways from a valuable month of listening and learning.
Co-op RISE Webinars
Following Co-op’s Commitment to Racial Equality and Inclusion, throughout the month, the RISE network organised a programme of incredible speakers, discussions and webinar sessions for all Co-op employees to attend, on topics on everything from Black history, to Anti-racism and Allyship, to the adverse effect of COVID-19 on Black communities.
In a session with powerful speaker and anti-racism educator Abi Adamson, she explained more on institutional racism and the power of language, starting with a capital B. Abi discussed the first simple step in making your language inclusive involves capitalising the B in Black. A lower-case B doesn’t do Black people’s contribution to society justice, including all they have endured and yet still they rise, she said. It harks back to white people choosing to categorise Black people as they like, not even using salutations like Mr and Mrs. Abi also pointed out the problems with the term BAME, an ongoing discussion amongst many educators. BAME (Black and Minority Ethnic) is an acronym that homogenises all non-white experiences together, indicating that white is the default and anything else is other. This Westernised approach lumps whole cultures and nuanced struggles together under one title, but we know there are many more intersections within different people’s experiences. Abi moved onto discussing intersectionality and how people experience different layers of oppression based on their identities. A gay, disabled Black man has a completely different struggle to a Black single-mum. Highlighting these intersections shows that equality cannot be achieved through one single action, but multifaceted changes to suit different experiences.
[Whilst Abi states her difficulties with the term BAME, unfortunately at present there is no other reflective alternative. Therefore in discussion in the rest of this article, and in Abi’s other sessions, the term BAME has been used.]
In another of Abi’s sessions she went on to speak about how structural racism has worsened the effects of the pandemic on Black communities. In a very powerful hour she discussed how BAME individuals haven’t been given the protection necessary during this global crisis, and as a result Black people are 1.9x more likely to die than white people. This could be down to a number of reasons. BAME individuals are more likely to be key workers (some of whom have had shocking struggles to secure adequate PPE in this period), or live in compromised areas or housing conditions, or are less likely to go to the doctors, where their concerns are routinely taken less seriously — unsurprising when you learn the way Western medicine assumes Black patients feel less pain. In a shocking statistic Abi revealed that 90% more fines have gone to people of colour than would have been proportionate for each police force to issue based on regional demographics. Pairing this with recent statistics on how nearly half of all BAME UK households are living in poverty makes for a bleak picture.
Thanking Abi for her excellent words, we moved onto one of the final sessions in this series for Co-op. We were joined by psychology professor, ex-NBA basketball legend and self-professed Star Wars nerd John Amaechi to discuss how we can move forward from knowledge and focus on practical solutions to being anti-racist and an ally to the Black community. John’s session was filled with strong and emotional stories of injustice, including many Co-op colleagues sharing their experiences of racism. Together colleagues discussed the struggles Black and other people of colour face on a daily basis, including fear of going to the gym at 5am in a hoodie, saving money to buy a nice car only to be pulled over, or simply the dread of going on holiday and passing through an airport with non-white skin. John also showed us the heartbreaking doll test film, where Black children identified themselves with a black doll, yet still chose this black doll as ‘bad’, ‘ugly’ or ‘naughty’.
Anti-racism and meaningful allyship is more important than ever, with a member of the Federation team commenting that “it made me more determined than ever to do everything I can to be an ally and actively anti-racist, even and especially when I find the conflict personally challenging.”
“If you’re tired of talking about race only 21 weeks after George Floyd’s death, then you’re probably part of the problem.”
John went on to discuss creating meaningful relationships with others — how we should think about the qualities we admire, respect and engage with and strive to seek those out in others. Never dismiss an opportunity that someone who may seem different to you might have these qualities; there’s always areas for common ground. John went on to point out the Tardis, Yoda and lightsaber models in the background of his shot, and how we might not expect him to be such a geek for science fiction. Quite a few of us came out of the woodwork with that particular revelation!
Anti-racism is a learning journey. In the moments where we get things wrong and screw up, we can analyse why, and instead of burying or forgetting, embrace them, and get close to them so we can learn. John’s session was fantastic for holding our feet to the fire on the commitments we’ve made. It’s uncomfortable territory, but as John said in the session we have to ‘embrace the wince’.
Black Heroes
In addition to their incredible line-up of sessions, everyday throughout the month, the RISE network introduced us to a Black Hero, and encouraged us to seek our own heroes. These heroes and their stories helped colleagues learn more about Black achievements, and understand the challenges that Black people have had to overcome.
In the first week we were introduced to Black Heroes who have been overlooked throughout history, raising the question of what aspects of society has been appropriated from Black culture, and sadly not been rightfully accredited.
We heard about prolific 1920s visionary filmmaker Oscar Micheaux, the original influence for Betty Boop jazz singer Esther Jones and Bass Reeves, a law enforcer and Wild West legend, and the likely inspiration for the Lone Ranger. Week Two began to look at The Windrush Generation and Windrush incident, learning about Notting Hill Carnival founder Claudia Jones, radical author Malorie Blackman and RAF Air Technician Lilian Bader amongst a few.
Week Three rolled in, with seven Black Heroes who made their mark fighting racial injustices and systemic racism against Black people. This section included some stellar names, like Bayard Rustin, a gay civil rights activist in the 60s, actor Chadwick Boseman, Stormzy and his scholarship scheme and publishing company, and of course, Marcus Rashford and his amazing work to tackle food poverty with FareShare — a cause that is very close to our heart at Co-op.
Week Four detailed Black educators. Highlights included Reni Eddo-Lodge author of ‘Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race’, ever-eloquent speaker and rapper Akala, AIDS and Gay liberation activist Marsha P. Johnson and race and gender identity activist and model Munroe Bergdorf. Finally the last few days of October concerned Black Talent, celebrating the achievements of some amazing individuals, with cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, F1 driver Lewis Hamilton and British sprinter Dina Asher-Smith.
We really enjoyed getting to know these Black Heroes further, and hope this brief summary has highlighted a fair few new people you can enjoy learning about too.
This month has been an important period of learning and listening for The Federation and the wider Co-op, not only to the history and challenges of our Black colleagues, family and friends, but the meaningful actions we can build on to move forward to a more equitable society for all. Echoing Co-op CEO Steve Murrells words, the hard work starts now on delivering these commitments. We thank Abi Adamson, John Amaechi, Inclusive Employers, the Co-op RISE network and the Diversity & Inclusion team who brought the external speakers and inspirational speakers to bring BHM to new heights.
Written by Mimi Dearing
