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Hi everyone, I'm Steph Edusei and this is Black All Year. This week I'd like to bring you an episode from September 2022, so pretty much two years ago, and I want to give you a little bit of context around this episode. First of all, this was at a time when Black All Year was very much based on events, and the podcast was merely the audio from the events.
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This was one of the first times that I changed that up and did a just-for-podcast episode, and it was the first time that I did an episode all by myself. Now on to the real context. You may notice in this that I am very passionate and quite upset, and I want to assure you I am absolutely fine, but this episode was triggered by an event, and I want to describe that event briefly to you.
I was a member of a group and we had a meeting and members of the public observed that meeting. We were discussing as part of that meeting some information that related directly to experiences of global majority people, Black and brown people, and the experiences had got worse. The information was presented and I fully expected other people on the meeting to comment on the fact that these experiences had got worse, and to challenge each other and discuss what we could do to change that, and nobody said anything.
They talked about other issues, but not about this very, very glaring deterioration in people's experiences, and as I sat waiting for somebody to state what was actually the bleeding obvious, I got angrier and angrier. In the end, I had to be the person who spoke up. The reaction wasn't great.
I was, I believe, somewhat gaslit and told about all of the wonderful things that were happening to make experiences better, but despite all of these actions, nothing was improving, and as I say, it was getting worse. I felt like I had been a naughty school child told to be quiet and to stay in my lane. What you're about to hear was recorded a few days later.
Hi, I'm Steph Edusei, and I am the creator and host of Black All Year. Black All Year was created on the back of me being invited to speak a lot at Black History Month events in the UK. I was annoyed because I would be asked to speak about racism and about being a Black leader and a Black female leader during October, but then the rest of the year, it was almost like the subject didn't matter at all, and nobody wanted to talk about it, and I'm sure everybody's seen the flurry of activity that normally happens from companies and organisations around October in the UK, but then the rest of the year, people don't say, or more importantly, do a great deal that makes difference for Black people.
So, I created Black All Year to just emphasise the fact that we're not just Black in October, we are Black all year round, and as I'm recording this, this is actually the very end of September. This is a very different podcast to the ones that normally go out. There are no guests, it's just me, and I expect it will be rather short, which you might be really grateful for, and it will be quite a personal reflection.
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I really wanted to find a way to express some thoughts around representation. So, the first thing I want to say is representation matters. It really matters.
If anybody has seen the videos of the little Black girls who have seen the trailer for The Little Mermaid, and they go, she's brown like me, she's Black, the joy on their face to see a character that they love who looks like them is palpable. So, representation matters. It matters that when I'm in my day job as a senior leader, the people who aspire to that position can see me and know that it's achievable, but also people that don't want to get that position can see me and think there's someone there who I can identify with, somebody who might understand, somebody who might get it.
It's just so important. Representation matters. But when representation is in effect one person in a room or a couple of people in a space with hundreds or thousands, then actually it can become quite damaging.
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I quite often find myself being the only Black person in the room, or perhaps there will be one other person of colour in the room with me, and I will be there amongst hundreds at times. Now that wouldn't matter. I'm used to it, to be honest, and it really wouldn't matter apart from the fact that there is then a huge burden placed upon me and anybody else who's in that position to be the Black person, to be the voice of all Black people, to represent all Black people.
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We are really aware when we're in that position that if an issue comes up that affects the global majority, Black and brown people, then there's a fair chance that if we don't raise it nobody else will. We know that if somebody does or says something that is racist, and I'm going to call it as it is, racist, that quite often if we don't say something no one will. And people will know because they'll squirm, but they won't speak up about it.
When we're in that position we know that we are representing everybody of our ethnicity. And what that then means is that every flaw, every mistake, everything that we say can be construed as representing how all Black people behave, how all Black people speak, how all Black people think. And that's really tough because on top of the whole burden of having to keep yourself safe when you're speaking out, you're also having to be mindful of how you are portraying others.
Others who you don't know, who you will never meet, who you can't possibly represent, and yet that's the position that we are put in. So, representation when it is one person is tough. There are many times when I'm just tired.
I don't want to go to that event. I don't want to do that thing. I want to spend time with the people I love.
But because I know I am going to be the only Black person in the room, I have to go. I have no choice. I have to be there.
If I am going to be true to who I am, I have to represent. And that is really difficult. So, for all of those organisations and companies that are patting themselves on the back because they've got representation in a group or on a board or on a panel, know what it is that you are doing.
Know the burden that you are putting on that tiny minority. And whilst you're feeling good about yourself for having representation, understand just how tough it is and the burden that you are putting on those people. And know that this is free labour that you are getting.
Even if you are paying that person, you are paying that person for their role on that panel, on that board, in that organisation, in that group. You are not paying them for the additional labour that they have to be to be the Black representative. That is free labour that they are giving because they feel it is important that they represent.
So, if you do think that representation matters, think about the type of representation that you have. Because I am sick and I am tired of being the only Black person in the room and having to represent. If anything changes this year, this Black History Month, I want it to be that I can walk into a room of hundreds of people and at least see a handful like me and not be the only one or one of two.
And know that others who don't look like me will step in and will speak out and that I can take a damn rest and don't have to put myself in that unsafe position all the time. So, in the meantime, big girl pants on and I will continue. And I will continue to represent because I see it as my duty and I see it as my responsibility.
And if I can change one mind, then it's been worth the effort. So, representation matters recorded almost two years ago and unfortunately, I don't think a lot has changed in those two years. We're a little over six weeks away from Black History Month in the UK and let's see if after the recent far-right riots which particularly targeted Muslims and people who were ethnically minoritised, let's see if this year we can capture some of the shock, horror and anger that people had against those rioters to actually make some change.
As I said at the beginning in my intro, I am okay. You don't need to worry about me. I was upset when I made that recording and periodically, I do get upset and I get angry and I get tired but I'm fine.
I hope you've got something out of this week's podcast. Please remember to review and to subscribe so that others find this content and that you get to hear about as soon as it's released. Thank you and take care.
