A fitting beginning
The 1st of October marks the start of Black History Month in the UK and the 2023 theme is ‘Saluting Our Sisters’.
As such it felt like the best time to launch a business that is run by women and dedicated to improving the inclusivity culture at work, school, the gym…or wherever it may be. So here we are… Rebel Led Training and Consultancy.
Now part of my passion for inclusivity stems from growing up black in the UK. I am neurodivergent. I am cis female. But I have felt stigmatisation and discrimination significantly more on the grounds of race than any other attribute in my life.
But in spite of having to learn to navigate those circumstances, I’m so so grateful.
I was born in Manchester back in the 80’s but my Jamaican heritage is something I have always been proud of. There’s something about Jamaican culture that encourages you to stand a little taller and to remember that no matter how quiet you may be, there is some boasie energy coursing through your veins that you can unleash as some sort of super power when you need to. You need not rely upon your own confidence because the Jamaican within will somehow ignite and carry you through.
My grandmother left Jamaica in 1961, some 13 years after the Windrush landing but only months before Jamaica claimed her independence from the British Empire. Jamaica at the time was erupting with social and political changes. The devastation of the hurricane some 10 years prior had left my ancestral family of cultivators in a harsh state of being, so my grandmother left her 3 children, all under 5, in the trusted care of her mother in search of a better life.
Even though time had past since the initial wave of Caribbean migration in the 1950’s; she was still met with rhetorics like; ‘no Blacks, no dogs, no Irish’. Like many before her she joined the brigade of Caribbean nurses that fortified the NHS, but had to deal with patience refusing her care, being denied accommodation, but persistently fought to build a life.
This is usually the part of the story where hope springs, the rainbow appears after the storm and you’d imagine the living happily ever after part to kick in, but her story is not a romantic one. The hardships she endured were the kind that I sometimes wish I didn’t know about. The storms she weathered would quieten for a while but always seem to regain strength. She experienced betrayal, abuse and the loss of two children. She experienced deep love, swift loss and an abiding air of melancholy that was only visible to those who could see through the mask she so stubbornly held in place. She has always been a bit of a fashionista and was never afraid to flash a bit of leg. Her hair was always permed, nails were always painted and she used her appearance as a mark of her success.
To many she could be harsh and even quite brutal when giving someone a dressing down. You would only ever get one opportunity to cross her. She has never been particularly forgiving, or sentimental or even very maternal. She is tough, has a wicked sense of humour and has poured love into me since always. But what she has always had is a willingness to survive that I have only ever seen rivalled by one other woman in my lifetime; her daughter- my mother.
Nowadays, as dementia takes hold, my Grandmother’s toughness has melted and a softness resides in her expression. But she still treats me to glimpses of the girl she used to be. On this day when we salute our sisters, choose to salute Ms Inez, my Grandmother. The boasiest that ever was or will be.
#BlackHistoryMonthUK
#SaluteOurSisters
#BlackHistoryMonth2023
#RebelLedReflections
