Celebrating Black Heroes and Sheroes

In some African traditions, the griot held the story of				grandparents were born in the Caribbean and were
the local people - the village, family or clan. The griot				brought up to think of Britain as the Mother Country
pulled together the strands of the story which				often find themselves searching for their identity. In the
represented the various people who took part in it.				'70s, many turned to Rastafarianism. These days,
Kept these strands and held them safe. Savored				some of them, having rejected the dominant culture,
them, treasured them. Wove them together to form a				turn to gun violence and gang violence as a means of
cloth, a whole that blended the assorted colors and				seeking a positive identity as strong Black men and
shadings into a pattern which told the story of the				women. Others overidentify with the dominant culture
people.				and seek to fit in with, and be accepted by, white
The people then heard their story. Their tongues sang				society, so unaware are they of their heritage.
it. Their feet danced it. Their hips swayed it. Their				In addition, our ignorance affects the way we deal with
hands drummed it. Their fingers carved it. The stories				the racism we experience. When we are not aware
of their ancestors, treasured, remembered, shared, and				of our heritage, we are not as resourceful as we
preserved for future generations.				might otherwise be in our responses to racism.
I was very fortunate in that my African American				We don't strive to be all we can be. Instead, we settle
mother taught me from an early age to be proud of				for being second-, third- or fourth-best. We don't take
my heritage. When she told me about the experience				life-changing or world-changing decision, we leave it to
of enslavement, she told it from the perspective of				someone else to make things better, and we hope
those who had resisted and survived that				things don't get too much worse. How often have you
enslavement. So I was encouraged to think of slavery				complained to your friends and family about your noisy
and resistance as one and the same - a person who				neighbors, or your Council Tax bill, or moaned to
was enslaved resisted that enslavement as a matter				someone at the bus stop about how late the bus is?
of course. She told me stories of Harriet Tubman and				Have you taken this complaint any further?
Sojourner Truth that still inspire and inform me, nearly				And this is a problem that affects white people as
40 years later.				much as Black. When one section of society is failing
In Afrika, under colonization, people were also often cut				to live up to its full potential, all of society suffers - we
off from their heritage and even forced to speak				see increased rates of crime, we have to pay to
European languages. Under an education system				police and imprison criminals, we live in fear of being
which left them unable to locate their home villages,				robbed or attacked. And the person who could have
and unable to speak with members of their own				discovered the next cure for cancer may be
families, they could not communicate their experience				sweeping the floor of the local supermarket or sitting in
to their own communities. And they were taught to				a prison cell right now.
believe they were superior to the 'backwards' people				Conscious Black adults have to take responsibility for
of the rural villages, and encouraged to adopt				turning this destructive tide, this tide of toxic, negative
European religious practices, modes of behavior and				thoughts, beliefs and attitudes.
so forth. However, they often have a stronger sense				Celebrating Black heroes and sheroes allows us to
of their heritage than we, in the diaspora, may have.				decide for ourselves what images will inhabit our minds.
During the time of enslavement, African people were				The more we celebrate our Black heroes and
not allowed to tell our own stories. We were not				sheroes, and share their stories with one another and
allowed to speak our own languages, or even to name				with the wider society, the more we can enjoy our
our own children. Our stories were stolen from us, and				true heritage as African people.
rewritten in distorted forms. These distortions were				Many African people, such as Harriet Jacobs, author
then used to define and control us.				of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, having escaped
But still, African people told their stories. They				from enslavement in North America, published their
whispered them. They lovingly sewed their babies'				stories, often as a way of supporting themselves
names into their blankets. They told the stories of their				financially. Some, like Frederick Douglass and Sojourner
homes, although much has been forgotten. Their				Truth, also gave speaking tours relating their
fingers remembered. They baked them into breads				experience of oppression to a wider audience. These
and cakes, stirred them into soups and stews and rice.				speakers were important participants and leaders in
Plaited them into their children's hair. And planted them				the abolition movement of the United States. Many of
in their gardens.				their speeches and narratives still exist, inspiring us as
They made up their own words and their own				to how our ancestors used their strength, ingenuity and
languages. Creole. Patois. Gullah. They made new art				courage to survive.
forms, new musical forms - jazz, blues, reggae, rhythm				Caribbean slave narratives are not as numerous,
and blues, gospel. Although much had been forgotten,				although it is entirely likely that many more
stolen, lost, rewritten or distorted, still much remained.				as-yet-undiscovered narratives lie languishing in libraries,
In the African diaspora, we have been brainwashed				universities, and people's attics. In Britain, our stories
for hundreds of years to believe that we are inferior to				were often not recorded. Many British dealers held
other races. During and after enslavement, our				onto material in order to sell it to American collectors.
forebears were told that they were fit only for laboring				The late Len Garrison, founder of the Black Cultural
and for serving their white masters, who were				Archives in Brixton, showed total commitment to
stronger, more intelligent and more able than they				building a monument in celebration of the presence of
were.				Black people in Britain. He told me:
Today, we see these stereotypes being perpetuated,				In the late '60s and the '70s, when I was talking about
in slightly altered but still clearly recognizable forms. In				this collection, I went round to some of the museums
screen roles, including TV and film as well as adverts,				to ask them if they had any material relating to Black
we often see Black men portrayed as criminals or				history, and they would say, "Yes, people are coming
gangsters - tough, hard and violent. We rarely see				to us with materials". I remember the Museum of
Black men and women being portrayed as loving				Labour History said, "But we don't collect it ' we just
husbands and wives, and parents, in stable homes and				told them that we don't know anybody who's collecting
relationships, or doing jobs such as bankers, teachers				it", and so nothing was being collected. You would
or other figures of authority.				imagine that labour history related to Black people as it
We have swallowed the distortions, the changes to				did for whites. But they hadn't collected it.
our stories. And all too often, we have believed them.				He took the initiative to seek out Black memorabilia
Jak Dodd created the Nubian Jak board game				whenever and wherever he could find it. He told me,
because of this syndrome. He said to me:				"I used to cut out articles in newspapers. I would just
"I worked as a social worker with a lot of young Black				collect them. But eventually, I began to build up the
men and women. I noticed that a lot of them had a				collection by going to antiques shops, to Portobello
very negative self-image. If you asked most of them				Road and to second-hand shops."
how they would describe themselves or see				When Afrikan people celebrate our heroes and
themselves, or who they would identify with, they didn't				sheroes, we take control - we take charge of how
have a lot of Black role models in Britain.... So they				we see ourselves and each other. The more we
would identify with African American achievers and				know about our ancestry and our heritage, the more
Jamaican gun culture. We all want to have strong role				we are empowered by this knowledge. This changes
models that we can identify with."				our entire attitude and our behaviour. We are no longer
This brainwashing is often subtle, but it is very				at the mercy of the negativity with which we are
powerful. All too often, we are not aware of its effect				constantly being bombarded. And we have the
on us. Our negativity about ourselves and each other				opportunity to pass down our positive images and
limits the kinds of opportunities we attract. It creates a				attitudes to our children. And when white people
sense of helplessness which often leads to aggression				celebrate Black heroes and sheroes, they reap the
on our part as we strike out in frustration at the				rewards of living in a multiracial society.
limitations imposed on our lives.				African people are good at everything - architecture,
These negative images have a profound effect on our				astronomy, astrophysics, and that's just the 'A's. We
psyches - our conscious and unconscious minds. It				are scientists, teachers, explorers, educators,
becomes nearly inevitable that, in the face of this				philanthropists, healers.
overwhelming disadvantage, we develop an inferiority				Black people are heroes and sheroes. We are
complex. This negative attitude Black people often				successes. We each have our own Black success
have about ourselves and each other gets passed				stories to tell. The more we share them with each
down from parent to child, and from generation to				other, the more we create an energy of love and
generation.				positivity which surrounds us and which affects our
As the journalist Henry Bonsu said to me,				lives. It helps us to attract and connect with the
"If you have no sense of your foundation, you're				abundance of the universe. It affects the kinds of
skeletal, you can't do anything. This is what's happened.				opportunities we attract, and it helps determine how
And you have no sense of shame about anything.				we respond to these opportunities.
Nothing is beneath you. There should be codes of				We need to take responsibility for our lives and the
behaviour. It should be un-Black to mug and rob				lives of our children and others in our community. We
somebody. It should be un-Black to attack your				need to take control of our negative thought
teacher. Because you've always had discipline. You've				processes and do whatever we need to do in order
always had balance. But unfortunately, it's become				to turn them around. Then we can experience the
very Black to do these things for a certain group of				bright and glorious abundance of the universe to which
children. They think that's what being Black is, about				we are entitled, and which is our birthright. And the
being rough and tough."				whole of British society will benefit from our continued
We can see the effects of this brainwashing on				successes.
modern African British youth. Those whose parents or

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Celebrating Black Heroes and Sheroes