51Âþ»­

As we hold events for Black History Month, 51Âþ»­ academic Professor Momodou Sallah explains why it is important we all get involved in understanding our past to ensure we can create a better future…

A lot of people think history remains in the past and has nothing to do with the present and what is happening to us now. That is not the case.

Black History Month is a time for reflection for everyone because it is important to look at our past behaviours and how that interacts with the present, to help inform how things can be made better now and in the future.

For many of us, racism is our constant reality. It is something we live with daily and it influences who we are and how the world interacts with us and how we, in turn, interact with the world.

Before the murder of George Floyd in 2020, a lot of people did not understand this. His tragic case pushed the issue right into the public’s face.

The Black Lives Matter movement and taking the knee became another way of bringing these issues to the mainstream and we started having important conversations about them.

But we also acknowledged how the past showed these struggles had been with us for centuries, through slavery, Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement, South Africa, the British Empire… and that what happened then can help us stop racism happening now.

A week ago, I was out with a couple of colleagues for a meal and we were talking about our life experiences. I explained a few of mine and they asked ‘how do you deal with this?’

I said I have to find a way of being a better person. Sometimes I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. But I have to find a way to stay humane.

The issues of race and discrimination are all around us. 

Did you know it was only in 2015 that every worker in the UK stopped paying taxes to help the Government compensate slave owners for losses made when freeing slaves during the emancipation of the 1830s.

And that we are only really now starting to understand the relationship between what was the British Empire and the rest of the world, and how Britain has continued to profit from its past.

In UK academia, just one per cent of professors are Black; this is a microcosm and depicts the extent of how racial discrimination is so deeply engrained. It tells a story in itself. The lack of opportunities, attainment and promotion are there for all to see. Different treatment is real. Discrimination is real.

During my presentation next week for 51Âþ»­ Black History Month, I will look at racist issues as a microcosm of all the discriminations that we face. It is important to acknowledge that there are lot of ways to discriminate – through racism, sexism, homophobia and so on - and that many, many people have to deal with it and are hurt by it every day.

I will present a video, commissioned by Cosmopolitan Arts and funded by the Arts Council, of a performance I wrote and co-directed which looks at race and my experiences in Leicester, using a poem I wrote in 2018 called Tribal Dance from my book The Dictator and the Heretic. 

In the performance, I say that for racism to survive it must evolve and change shape. It is as regimented as a platoon of soldiers and as unpredictable as the British weather. 

So, after watching the performance, we will start a conversation to decide what we do next and how we beat racism.

Black History Month is giving all of us the opportunity to open a dialogue and explore what it is that makes people hurt and how prepared we are to make things better. 

So please do look at the Black History Month diary and join the conversation at 51Âþ»­ during October, and beyond.

That way we can better understand all of our pasts and see how we can all play a part in making a better future.

Professor Momodou Sallah is 51Âþ»­'s Director of the Centre for Academic Innovation.

To find out more about 51Âþ»­ Black History Month Events click here