A reflection on BHM by Inyang Udosen

A beautiful perspective on the importance of Black History Month contributed by Inyang Udosen, Technical Manager at Miller Insurance Services.

“Black History Month serves as an important reminder that we are yet to see the contributions and considerations of Afro-Caribbean Brits equally integrated into all aspects of our culture and society.  The festival for me has been important in creating a platform for the community to share and hear stories which speak to our own distinct experience and identity, and how these experiences are foundational elements in the construct of modern Britain and modern Britishness. The history of the Afro-Caribbean diaspora is rich, it is complex, and it is riven with atrocities, which to this day remain painful and frankly unresolved, as we have seen recently with the insulting furore over statues of slavers.  BHM, whilst a joyous festival, also seeks to address the pain within our society by raising awareness and through education, and will hopefully continue to do so until such time that that both - awareness and education - are part of the mainstay of national discourse in the UK.

BLM is both a cry of anguish and ferocious demand for equality not seen since the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. It has shocked and astounded people across the globe in its vitality, and with its articulation.  It is angry, it is political and it is humanitarian. It emerged around the same time as the Me Too movement and the international response to Covid19, and has held its own with a distinct identity and purpose – not even having its significance reduced when juxtaposed with the urgency of climate change. It is indeed, another existential fight for survival, albeit for a single community.  It has created a platform and security for those of us who want to declare this is not right, this cannot go on, and I don’t want to pretend it is anymore.  And it has allies. Real allies from without the community who recognise the injustice, how they can perpetuate it and how they can benefit from it.  And those allies too are saying enough. No more.

BLM has power and sustainability because it is an inclusive movement for justice and has been adopted in multiple spheres of society, from the activist driven street campaigns, to the ERG driven corporate campaigns and vitally in the public life whereby some progressive politicians have finally stopped telling minority communities what they think they need to hear and have started instead to listen to what they are saying.

The future is bright and bold for BLM as it evolves organically into more aspects of our society and takes up the mantle of delivering change in areas hitherto untouched by race equality activism, and it is vital that it succeeds.”