Opinion: Connect, create and celebrate all year round, not just Black History Mo

Since moving to Aberdeen in 2017, with its international connections, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting people from so many different backgrounds, nationalities and cultures. We’re all citizens at a local and global level. Being global citizens encompasses our collective responsibilities to people and planet; social justice actions we can all take to create fairer communities that enable everyone to thrive. To acknowledge all of that, this year’s Black History Month theme at Robert Gordon University, is ‘celebrating our diverse communities; Global Citizens at RGU and beyond. 

If we are to address local ambitions of sustainable communities, and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of reduced inequalities (goal 10), we need to work collectively. I’m delighted therefore to see local organisations: Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Council, RGU, University of Aberdeen, NESCOL, Grampian police, NHS Grampian, Grampian Reginal Equality Council, and many others coming together through a shared goal and plenty of passion, to form an Anti-racist Roundtable.

Taking a long hard look at their practices, policies, and diversity data, to identify where they can do better. Now more than ever, with widening inequalities coming to the fore during the pandemic, geo-political human suffering, and local inequality data, we need to take action and it’s wonderful to see the Roundtable members, planning future collaborative work.

To be meaningful, BHM efforts for race equity, need to go beyond the Month of October. I use a framework of 3Cs – ‘Connect, Create, Celebrate’ – this encourages us to connect with diverse communities, create inclusive practices, and my favourite C – celebrate – to celebrate our individual and global identities, all year round. In my role as an equality champion, and as a person of mixed heritage, I always advocate through a lens of positivity and celebrating diversity, but let us not shy away from, or be in denial of, the very real fact that on our doorstep there are still those who face challenges and barriers, and that bias and discrimination still exist.

As the Persian poet Shirazi said in his poem ‘Bani Adam’ (meaning sons of Adam or humankind) which decorates the walls of the United Nations Building in New York: ‘Human beings are members of a whole, in creation of one essence and soul, If one member is afflicted by pain, other members uneasy will remain.’

BHM therefore is an opportunity for each of us to reflect on what we can do, from educating ourselves on microaggressions, inclusive language, to engaging in cultural conversations. At a community level, this could be reaching out to our diverse peers, friends, neighbours, and creating safe spaces to have honest conversations and co-create measures to bridge inequality gaps.

In our workplaces, we can support the efforts of equality champions, be active allies, offer to mentor a colleague by taking the first step to building welcoming relationships. We can foster representative leadership through enabling diverse talent pipelines. We can be more inclusive with who we invite to the table, who is heard and offered opportunities. Do we always have the same faces in our projects or teams, or could we be more intentional in widening our circle and empowering the lesser heard voices to succeed?

Across education, we can ensure our curricula are diverse, with a global perspective, nurture respect and compassion and honour past and present Black trailblazers.

I have been humbled by colleagues and students who have kindly and bravely shared their lived experiences so together we can raise awareness. I urge everyone to consider what they can do within ‘connect, create, celebrate’ however big, small or tiny! Every effort matters. As the poet Rumi said, ‘drop by drop becomes an ocean’ and helps create equity for all, and for everyone to feel a sense of belonging and wellbeing.

By Leila Neshat Mokadem, Senior Lecturer in the School of Pharmacy and Life Sciences and Staff Equality Champion at Robert Gordon University

This thought leadership was originally placed in the Press & Journal.