It is only within the last few years that I have felt comfortable with talking about the issues my community faces. Being black although it is something I am well beyond proud of is something that large parts of the world have always had a huge problem with. I don’t think there will ever be an adequate explanation for why people feel this way about us. But what I have become completely perplexed by is the surge of candidates who aren’t black. These individuals make it their mission to discuss our plight and advocate for what they consider to be our needs despite never walking a day in our shoes. I don’t want anyone to think I am the kind of person that believes that if we don’t share the same skin tone you can’t be a part of any discussions related to us or our history, but it becomes infuriating when those of us who have lived experience are drowned out by the spectators whose platform has been afforded to them through the privilege their hue offers them.
The post for this week is inspired entirely by the spiral we could call the downfall of YouTuber Murad Murali. His content centered not only on societal injustice, but on the struggles of black women in particular. However in the last couple of months he has been exposed for allegedly not only having unpalatable sexual preferences but this being geared to the degrading of black people. Unfortunately Murad is not the only individual who has masqueraded as a champion for the black community. Influencers such as James Charles, and Elle Darby have marketed themselves to be in support of ethnic minorities through the products they sold or promoted. Despite your efforts to re-brand, the internet serves as that everlasting receipt nobody wants to receive. It will bring back all your torrid memories no matter how far you’ve progressed.
As a result of repeated incidents such as these, I am compelled to ask: why do we allow others to represent us when we have more than enough to say on the matter?e mindful not to put the blame on the oppressed because as we are all aware that those who are marginalised have a mountain of hurdles to get over just to be considered as credible. And content creators such as Topical Juice, Kelechi Okafor and Guh Deh Phillip have dedicated their careers to speaking out on black issues without the level of recognition they deserve and continue to do so with their chest despite being shunned from rooms they are entitled to dominate. But when I look at the Jewish and Asian communities I wonder why they haven’t got anyone else but themselves at the forefront of their lobbying groups?
As it has become more acceptable to discuss the race and equality issues borne out of this countries history I have noticed the more people have felt obliged to speak out about it either with the means to forge solidarity, or bandwagonists searching for their next pop-culture topic to fast track traffic to their platforms. I am aware that in order for us to truly tackle this issue at it’s core will involve a multi-cultural approach including involvement from all sides but it has to be led by those who are subjected to the persecution as nobody knows the issues better than those facing them.
What I am trying to say is we need to do better at protecting ourselves and what we own as a community. There are too many stories of our ideas, thoughts and looks being stolen by those who have used comaradery or manipulation to convince us that they are a helping hand. Saying this, we as a community need to see each other as partners and not competition. The crabs in a barrel mentality will only rob us of what we deserve; not only do we need to support those in power, we also need to educate ourselves to maintain what we have gained; otherwise, we will only hand it back to those that have not worked for it.
