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It is funny how people often complain about the fact that our story is never accurately covered in the history books. Well the reason why is very simple; the English are telling their side of the story. Just like any argument there is always more than one side but it depends on who is telling it. If we want our story to be heard accurately, then we have to be the ones to tell it; we have to follow our ancestral traditions of passing down our knowledge, stories, history, successes and defeats ourselves. Why on earth do we expect someone else to tell our side of our story, I’ll never know.
On Sunday, my friends and I went on a river cruise from Temple Pier and this is exactly what Black History Walks did, they told our side of our story, before slavery, during and after. We listened, they instructed us to check information on google and we found that the information was there. We were told the story of Billy Blue, initially when we checked Wikipedia it did not mention that he was black, but when we clicked on his name, the page it took us to confirmed he was Jamaican. We also learnt that the first black female British footballer was Emma Clarke in 1895; if you want to know more you need to book the cruise. So although I have never really been comfortable with celebrating Black History once a year; it is a way for the whole Black community to show solidarity; to remember our ancestors whilst acknowledging, celebrating and creating our future stories, history and ancestors. On a personal note, I will continue to celebrate it everyday by following that tradition of always smiling or saying hello to black men, black women, black teenagers and our black children; to show kinship; to give our people the respect we deserve; to let them know we are united and we are one. |
