Reclaiming the narratives: our blackness, our heritage
This Black History Month, RGU's Dr Gbenga Oluyemi shares his views on his Black heritage as well as the riots that took place across our nation earlier this year.
The riots – not protests as many would want us to believe – by the far-right group that gripped our nations, mostly in England and Northern Ireland, in July and August of this year, was a wakeup call to the radical sociocultural changes that are sweeping across the length and breadth of the country. The riots were targeted at the ethnic minority groups including the black minority groups and were without any shadow of doubts fuelled by the deeply rooted sentiments on immigration and deliberate misrepresentation of the economic status, sociopolitical outlook and religious beliefs of the group. One thing that I struggled to understand though was the new-found boldness of this group that gave them the impetus and the confidence to come out of hiding and bring their warped ideology and rather distasteful activities into the sacred consciousness of the public. This however is not the point for this discourse; it is a story for another day.
The riots particularly brought to the fore yet again the loud narrative from a section of the society that subtly but aggressively promotes the notion that black ethnic groups are of no value to their communities and their nations. For me, the message these self-righteous groups are indirectly passing across is that the blackness that defines us (Black people) as a people is of no value and is nothing to be proud of. Of course, we know this is not true!
Black minority groups in the UK and elsewhere in the world have no reason to feel inferior or worthless. The sacred incontrovertible truth is that black people all over the world have contributed immensely to the socioeconomic and sociopolitical development and advancement of their communities and nations. They have contributed in no small measure to the rapid advancement our world has experienced in science, engineering, medicine, art and other fields of human endeavour. We as black people should rise up and work cooperatively and collaboratively with the majority like-minded people (White, Arab, Asian, mixed, or of whatever ethnic extraction) in our nations to silence the voices that promote hate and division and amplify the voices that promote and celebrate the diversity that defines our communities and our nations. Only then can we change the direction and colouration of the current narratives and correct the distortion of our history and the existential threat that these false narratives present.
I call on all black people the world over to promote, elevate and dignify their blackness. It is something we all should be proud of! It is our identity, our heritage; let us embrace it while holding our heads high. It is time we reclaimed the narrative!
