For 19 days I posted about inspiring Black people to my colleagues every morning at 7:30am. I felt like the only one at the party. Then I asked a simple question, and what came back changed how I see the people I work with.
I am personally looking to change the current levels of underrepresented Black professionals in the tech industry, particularly in leadership. You cannot be what you cannot see, and I want to be a role model, especially to my two little Black boys who look up to me.
Some home truths; I have never celebrated Black History Month in the UK, even though it started way back in 1989, and I have been in the UK since 2002. I cannot remember a time when it was something I actively celebrated. It’s not like Halloween, openly celebrated by all; Black History Month has always felt like an under the radar thing. I wanted this year to be different.
Recent events had highlighted the fight for racial equality and the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement. What better time to bring BHM into the mainstream?
Being in lockdown, it was important I celebrated Black History Month not just with friends and family, but with the team at JH too. So for 31 days straight, I shared inspiring Black people with my work colleagues on the company’s Slack channel; their history, stories, books, movies and videos.
At first it was easy; I knew most of the Black American historical figures that get posted every year. But I felt I could go deeper, so I focused on finding people whose stories are not in the mainstream, looking across the UK, Africa, the Caribbean and the US, from different eras past and present.
I learnt a lot, but there was a point where I felt self-conscious about posting at 7:30am every day. Most of my colleagues are white, and some of these figures and events were brand new to them. By day 19 I felt like that one person in church singing the praise hymn too loud. I don’t like that guy.
So I asked everyone a simple question:
“Today marks day 19 of Black History Month. Though I think I have been celebrating this with everyone, I do feel like I am the only guy at the party. So here’s the challenge: from tomorrow until the end of Black History Month, I would appreciate it if you could find time to join in by highlighting someone Black who has inspired you. That is all.”
It’s incredible how things work when you show vulnerability. The responses I got gave me one of the best feelings I have ever had working at any company.
I felt like I was truly celebrating alongside everyone who took the time to share the Black people who inspired them. It was all digital, but the feelings that came over me could not have been more real.
It caused a shift in my mindset. It was no longer about me as the only Black person pushing a message; everyone I worked with had Black people they wanted to celebrate too. I was in awe of the stories they shared, and I learnt so much more because of it. I don’t think words can truly express how it made me feel; it made me appreciate my colleagues more and see them as genuinely like-minded people.
That gave me the boost to carry on. It also made me realise how lucky I am to work where I work. As a Black person, knowing that my colleagues see other Black people as inspirational means I can relax more, rather than constantly being mindful of how I am perceived or feeling the need to overcompensate. I can just be me.
Here is my list of inspiring Black people and stories, along with the ones contributed by my colleagues at JH. Hope you find this as educational as I did:
The Black Ladies of NASA, depicted in the book ‘Hidden Figures’. See also “Mercury 13” about the female pilots who fought to be considered for the space program.
Born Sarah Breedlove in 1867, Walker was one of the first African American female millionaires in the United States; a businesswoman and philanthropist who built her empire from nothing.
An iconic author whose essays, novels and poems gave the world a lens on race, sexuality and religion that placed him decades ahead of his time. As a gay Black man in the 1950s and 60s, Baldwin’s writing remains as relevant today as when it was published.
At the age of six, Ruby Bridges became the first African American student to integrate an elementary school in the American South, advancing the cause of civil rights in November 1960.
South African anti-apartheid activist and founder of the Black Consciousness Movement. Biko was at the forefront of grassroots resistance during the late 1960s and 70s, and died in police custody in 1977 at the age of 30.
At nine she could neither read nor write. By thirteen, after meeting a missionary who taught her chess, she had become an international champion. Mutesi has represented Uganda at four Women’s Chess Olympiads and is the subject of the 2016 film Queen of Katwe.
One of the Central Park Five, wrongfully convicted in 1989 and exonerated in 2002 after spending 14 years in prison. Wise now travels the US as an advocate for criminal justice reform.
Founder of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, born in 1931 in the segregated South. Abandoned by his father and raised in poverty, Ailey found refuge in the church and in writing, and went on to build one of the world’s most celebrated dance companies.
The first, and to date only, Black woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Sociologist, historian, civil rights activist and author. Du Bois wrote with precision on the Black experience, including this: “One ever feels his two-ness; an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.”
Gay liberation activist and one of the most prominent figures in the 1969 Stonewall uprising. An outspoken advocate for LGBTQ+ rights whose courage helped change the world.
British actor born in Islington to Nigerian parents, given up to a white foster family in Essex at six weeks old. He went on to become a successful actor, director and former fashion model.
British broadcaster, writer and racial justice campaigner from Trinidad. One of the Mangrove Nine, who in 1970 marched to protest police raids on a Notting Hill restaurant; he later organised a 20,000-strong Black People’s Day of Action in 1981.
Born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1882, Moody came to the UK to study medicine at King’s College London and finished top of his class. Refused work because of his colour, he opened his own practice in Peckham in 1913.
After World War II, the British government encouraged mass immigration from the Caribbean to fill labour shortages, granting citizenship under the British Nationality Act 1948. The Windrush Generation answered that call and helped build modern Britain, only to be shamefully betrayed decades later by the country they had given so much to.
British cellist and winner of the 2016 BBC Young Musician award; the first Black musician to win the competition since its launch in 1978.
American singer-songwriter best known for her 1975 single “Lovin’ You” and her extraordinary five-octave coloratura soprano range. Widely referred to as the “Queen of the whistle register”.
Emperor of the Mali Empire in the 14th century and widely described as the wealthiest individual of the Middle Ages. His 1324 pilgrimage to Mecca, during which he distributed so much gold it caused inflation across North Africa and the Middle East, remains one of history’s most extraordinary stories.
Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974, who steered his country into the mainstream of post-World War II African politics. He brought Ethiopia into the League of Nations and the United Nations and made Addis Ababa the centre of the Organisation of African Unity.
British filmmaker and the first Black director to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, for 12 Years a Slave in 2013. His Small Axe anthology series brought stories of the West Indian community in Britain to a global audience.
Born into slavery in 1761, Dido Elizabeth Belle became a British heiress and a member of the Lindsay family of Evelix. Her remarkable life was the basis for the 2013 film Belle.
American painter known for collage-style composite portraits that challenge the way we see identity and the human face.
Artist, activist and storyteller whose vibrant, provocative work spans painting, quilting and writing. Her quilts, which she could roll up and carry anywhere without relying on anyone else, were a statement of independence as much as they were art.
The first Black members of parliament in the modern era, elected in 1987.
Mother of Stephen Lawrence, the Black British teenager murdered in a racist attack in South East London in 1993. Doreen Lawrence’s tireless campaigning led to landmark reforms of the police service and the foundation of the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust. She was made a Life Peer in 2013.
Former CIA Deputy Director of Intelligence and 32-year veteran of the Intelligence Community. Also the author of Rebels at Work: A Handbook for Leading Change from Within.
British entrepreneur and founder of SB.TV, the online platform that helped launch the careers of Ed Sheeran, Jessie J and many others. Born in Luton in 1990.
Born in Jamaica, Louise Da-Cocodia came to Britain in 1955 to train as a nurse as part of a government overseas recruitment drive to staff the newly formed NHS. Despite facing racism from colleagues and patients, she qualified as a Staff Registered Nurse in 1958 and went on to have a 31-year nursing career.
Jamaican political activist, publisher and orator; founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and one of the most influential Black nationalist and Pan-Africanist thinkers of the 20th century. His ideas, known as Garveyism, continue to resonate today.
British rapper, journalist, author, activist and poet from Kentish Town, London. Winner of Best Hip Hop Act at the 2006 MOBO Awards and a regular on the Powerlist of the 100 most influential Black British people in the UK. His book Natives is essential reading.
South African anti-apartheid revolutionary who served 27 years in prison before becoming his country’s first democratically elected Black President in 1994. His presidency focused on dismantling apartheid and fostering racial reconciliation; a symbol of dignity, perseverance and forgiveness the world will not soon forget.
American astrophysicist, planetary scientist, author and science communicator.
American R&B musician and activist who, as a Black man, engaged directly with members of the Ku Klux Klan and convinced many to leave and denounce the organisation.
The first African American woman to be promoted to principal ballerina, paving the way for greater diversity in classical ballet.
Ghanaian-British architect best known for designing the National Museum of African American Arts and Culture in Washington DC. In 2020 he was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal; the first Black recipient in the award’s 173-year history.
Community worker and civil rights campaigner who in 1963 led a boycott of the Bristol Omnibus Company, which refused to employ Black or Asian drivers or conductors. A pivotal figure in the British civil rights movement.
“A legendary poet who not only inspires my writing but also makes me a better human, overall.” Emtithal Mahmoud speaks up for refugees and shares her story of childhood in a war-torn country. She continues to blow my mind with her talent.
Six-time NBA champion and widely regarded as the greatest basketball player of all time. Now the principal owner of the Charlotte Hornets.
African-American artist known for her work in assemblage. A visual storyteller and accomplished printmaker whose work explores the realities of Black oppression and the mysticism of symbols through everyday found objects.
The first Black actor to win an Emmy, Tony and Oscar for acting roles, rising from a troubled upbringing to become one of the most decorated performers of her generation.
