This is not me. It is a picture of a young protester that I took at a Black Lives Matter demonstration in London in 2016. To me, a British Asian woman, Black History Month is a recognition and celebration of people of African and Caribbean descent, so I personally think it is more appropriate for me to put forward a picture of a black woman.
As the lyrics to the song go “there’s a world waiting for you, yours is a quest that’s just begun” and young, talented black people are teaching the world about the quest for racial justice and how we can change and shape the world around us and beyond.
The BLM movement has inspired , and more importantly, educated me. As a direct result of the BLM movement, Black* members of UNISON formed a Black members self-organised group to discuss key issues facing Black members in the work place and how me can collectively challenge inequality and discrimination in the work place. I am proud to act as co-Black members' officer, along with Samantha Da Costa and Kafayat Mustapha.
I would like to think that like me, the woman in the photo, is proud to be part of a tradition that fights for a more equal and just world.
*Black in this context is an inclusive and political term to describe people in Britain that have suffered colonialism and enslavement in the past and continue to experience racism and is used in place of BME/BAME.