Sista’s doing it for themselves!

Mention a networking evening these days to a group of women and you see the cringe factor before the invite even hits the door mat or inbox… we all know why this is… they have a reputation of focusing on one thing – me, myself and I.  Me! Me! Me!

Thankfully, I’d say I’ve broken the mould. On Friday, I gathered a group of women for our quarterly “Woman of Colour Media Group” which was a great success.  Why?  Because we celebrated and recognised the talents of women of colour working in today’s media industry. 

It was an event where women of colour came together to talk about business opportunities, build contacts and referrals, yet it also provided a safe haven for women to talk about their successes as well as vent their frustrations.  It was a group of women (many of which are at the top of their game) together in an atmosphere that was informal, inspirational and informative. 

We got so much from the evening.  You could choose to have a relaxed and stimulating social conversation, use the opportunity to network and increase contacts for business, sit back and be inspired by others, or just enjoy the food.

I always feel so blessed, when sitting with my peers.  As the evening progressed I kept reflecting on the different scope of women in the room; from magazine editors, PR Professionals, entrepreneurs, and the group always has a seat for a young budding media star.    There was no pretence, no faking it!

I have always known that women can come together and mutually encourage.  We can make it a family affair without the need for competition. 

Whilst I’m pleased that the event was such an inspirational evening, I’m also astonished that in 2010, women that look like me are having to organise events like this for us to get recognition for our achievements.  With over 15 years experience in the PR and Marketing field, people of colour still have to fight to get media passes… isn’t black media part of the multi-cultural Britain?  I hope women of colour media group is the start of a change.

I’ve not yet come across an event as unique as this. It’s a shame that my contempories in the industry don’t see the benefit of the talent pool in media that exists in our communities.  That’s the reason I started this event.  To change the way we’re viewed in the media.

Yes, the media industry has taken some steps towards diversity with the introduction of the Diversity Pledge set up by the Cultural Diversity Network. But what does this really mean?  Hopefully, this will ensure that diverse groups are better represented in the areas of broadcasting and media. However, surely these groups must get input and consultation from as much diverse talent as possible, otherwise how will they achieve their diversity targets?  I’d be interested in knowing how accountable these pledges are, or are they just paying us lip service?  No-one around the table on Friday that I’d spoken to had been consulted or surveyed about this pledge, if anything we were seen as a threat.  Just do your own research and see exactly who heads-up the pledge.  We all have a lot to still learn from each other, let’s make sure we get the right people around the table to do it.

The women on Friday came together with a common interest, common goal… we ate, we shared, we laughed, we debated, we encouraged and we inspired.  And I left with my belly full, but that wasn’t down to the food (although it was good) it was down to the positive energy.   All I can a say is the women of colour media group is a true networking event, compared to many of the networking events that I’ve attended.

Who rules the roost?

Now I’m not from an old school generation but I was raised in a manner that saw me on the straight and narrow from an early age. How many of you could tell your mother no! I know I couldn’t. I couldn’t even look to the heavens without hearing that priceless statement, ‘So you think you’re a big woman?’.

In my younger days, Supernanny wouldn’t have been called to sort out those little pickneys who feel they rule the roost. The amount of parents who have called this one lady to sort out their unruly children is ridiculous! Supernanny doesn’t know it all, as I know sitting on the naughty step wasn’t a discplinary procedure in my time. It was straight eye-balling tactics. You know what I’m talking about, the look that would see you stop what you’re doing instantly!

Where has all the discipline gone? Why are there certain parents who have lost their authority within their household?  Maybe it’s due to how the parent was raised during their own childhood, as I know the core morals and values I was raised with will be implemented through to my own children. I think where certain parents have got it all wrong, is that they’re trying to become a friend to their children instead of taking a lead within their parental role. It’s nice when you can relate to your children but there has to be a line drawn somewhere, so boundaries don’t get crossed. Children need to understand that they cannot do what they want. When I see a child like Lucy from Eastenders telling Ian Beale about himself, I have to wonder if she has gone mad!

BBC1 recently showed a programme called Spoilt Rotten, which featured several children who had to have their baby teeth removed as mummy dearest let them rule the roost by allowing them to have  excessive amounts of sweets or sugary products such as Ketchup. Why did it take the extraction of their children’s teeth to stop them from falling into the same routine? These parents don’t realise that what they’re doing can be classified as a form of abuse and in most cases featured on the programme the parents habits didn’t change, as they don’t want to see their children crying hysterically. They obviously didn’t come from the era of ‘You want something to cry for?’.

There was also an example of a five-year-old who weighed 10 stone, couldn’t walk the short distance home from school without a wheelchair, and was eating at least 5/6 meals and snacks per day.  His mother felt that she was not in the wrong for feeding her son, as all food he was given was healthy. Even if this is the case, by overfeeding him excessive amounts of food and not allowing him to enjoy regular excercise (to reduce his weight which is the equivalent to a 17-year-old), could see him develop long-term problems like Diabetes, which costs the NHS about 10 million pound per day.

Let’s look at another factor of why parents need to take control from day one.There are approximately 85,000 prisoners serving jail sentences within the UK, I wonder how many of these people were brought up the old school way. I remember the days when you knew that by doing something wrong there would be a severe consequence. Something so severe that you wouldn’t want to return home, it wasn’t the police you had to be afraid of, it was your parents. Once you stepped through that door, you just knew there would be consequences to face.

I know linking parental authority to criminals may be extreme but in all honesty, many youngsters grow up without any fear of adult authority, regardless of who it is. Maybe the consequences given to young people these days need to impose a stricter element, as evidently jail time and asbos come like a free holiday, as some cells have PS3s and all sorts.

This generation are definitely cut from a different cloth, as children are already doing too many things well ahead of their time. The amount of pretty young girls I come across with layers beyond layers of foundation on, would have been unheard of in my time and to allow these girls to wear make-up in school is totally unacceptable in my opinion. Apart from my modelling background which ensured that make-up had to be applied, outside of this, I was lucky enough to get near to a chap stick let alone a lip stick. How times have changed.

I believe that the Government intervenes too much and prevents the basic authority a parent should have, only to want to put you in prison when the child or young person is out of control. So, I ask WHO RULES YOUR ROOST?

Stereotypical Black Britain

From time to time I watch Eastenders and to be honest, due to the lack of positive images, the producers would have to work harder to gain my attention permanently. Its’ use of token Black people to illustrate an example of Black Britain, is an inaccurate view of the Black community. Evidently, if you are lucky enough to represent a Black character on Eastenders, you must fall into the following categories:- (1) So religious that you disregard one of the ten commandments and commit murder (2) Are always part of a disfunctional family (3) Part of the gun crime culture (4) Drugged-up or thick (5) Just plain loose.

Let’s look at it realistically, why is it that the Black characters always have some sort of issue which is a stereotypical representation, mainly based on what has been elaborated on in the media? Are there no families in the Black community who can show a positive image that can be broadcasted fairly in soaps? I for one, was not raised to sleep around with people who could not tell me my surname (Chelsea), nor did I ever use broken english (slang) that would see our ancestors utterly disgusted. I am ashamed to be associated with this stereotype. Why is it that all young Black characters featured on soaps, have to speak in a way that most viewers would not understand? How dare the BBC continue to portray Black people in this way. If we’re so rubbish, why are there so many strong, confident and ambitious Black people  earning more than our White counterparts?

The only normal Black characters on Eastenders is Libby (who is not full Black anyway!) And how could I forget Gus, the street cleaner who was always unlucky in love, portrayed as thick and behind-the-scenes resented the way that he was treated.  The only professional occupation held by a Black character in Eastenders, was Patrick’s son Anthony Trueman, who didn’t stick around for long…hmmmm I wonder why? (Probably to boring to represent a ‘true’ Black man).

The most recent storyline that comes to mind is the gun crime issue. In all fairness, there was a White member in the so called gang but as per usual, it’s always the Black youngsters who are at the forefront and pulling the trigger. It made a change to see that a girl [Kylie] was the main influence in the gang, as girls in gangs are on the rise. The Government has implemented an initiative to help tackle the causes of why many girls feel the need to roam the streets with their male counterparts, insighting fear and also being a victim within the gang, as many girls are abused sexually and mentally.

Rota’s (Race on the Agenda) Female Voice in Violence, helps to research the serious youth and gang violence against girls and women. Long gone are the days when girls had pigtails and ribbons, and smelt of all things nice, as times have changed to reveal girls who are promiscuous, uneducated, common and armed (well according to Eastenders they are anyway!) and many are also caught up in the hype of postcode murders! So what if I live in Hackney and you live Tottenham, does that mean that I am not entitled to walk in your neighbourhood? Who knows what goes on in the minds of certain young people, it is a tragedy to think that these youths will be our future role models.

It’s funny how the BBC aims to ‘inform, educate and entertain’ and yet Eastenders has not shown that gun grime is not colour-specific. If we look at the lives which have been shattered in cities such as, Birmingham and Manchester, where a life is taken for a life frequently, it shows us that a bullet has no name.  Eastenders need to educate our young people, to help them to make the right decisions in life and show them that using a gun to resolve an issue is never an option.

So much for the BBC and Channel 4 trying to embrace diversity but why must their diverse intentions always have to be based on negative connotations? We continue to have this same discussion and yet where are the Black producers? Diversity has to be the foundation in any organisation , and with this being the case it has to be diverse from the bottom up; not always having to accept that our so called White peers will be making the serious decisions.

So I ask you, do you fall into these stated categories? Can you not string a sentence together without ending it on ‘you get me’? If this is the way we are always going to be portrayed, then we need to show that there is a large proportion of the Black community who did not take the wrong path in life and who can provide the younger generation with better role models than the ones shown on TV. We pay our TV licence every year like dutiful citizens, so why don’t Black people stop watching Eastenders, instead of always complaining about the way we are being seen? We dictate change!

In my observation, it seems that laws are only passed if it has effected a member of the White community. Let’s take Brooke Kinsella (Kelly from Eastenders) as an example. Sadly, Brooke’s 16  year old brother was stabbed to death in June 2008. Brooke and her family successfully campaigned to get the law changed, so that the minimum sentence for knife murder  was raised from 15 years to 25 years. Now let me ask you, how many Black young people have been murdered via knife crime, and yet the law remained the same, providing an injustice to the victim’s family?

The media coverage of white victims, always seem to surpass the coverage attained by Black people. Why is this? Do we not matter? Do we not shed the same blood or need the same support? It’s a wonder to think if we will ever be seen as equals in a country who wants to be perceived as trying to be diverse, and yet we are just not there yet.

Forget about progression, why do we always seem to be standing still? If we cannot educate our young people, how do you expect another community to? We worked so hard to kick racism out of football but, when was the last time to you saw a Black football manager represent a Premier League team?

We are living in a society where it is one step forward and four steps back, a community where many of us are already in the graveyard and in a world where if we do not make a valid contribution, we will remain a mockery.

So what are you waiting for? Without us making positive changes today, we are merely adding to the stereotype and remaining a statistic.

Stand up! Vote! Leave a Legacy!

What are you doing on 6 May? 

Is that date even ringing any bells with you at the moment?  Well, if you have been on a desert island, after months of speculation, the worst kept secret in politics is out.  A General Election has been called on 6 May and the British people will get to decide the next Prime Minister.  It will be interesting to see how over the next few weeks the political parties try to court and seduce us to give them our vote.  But what vote? Are you even registered to vote?

Voting is like a precious commodity, especially for Black and Asian people in this country.  I remember it was not too long ago when Barack Obama was voted in as America’s first African-American President and on that November night in 2008 he spoke of Ann Nixon Cooper who was born just a generation past slavery who previously could not vote for two reasons  – she was black and she was a woman.  Wow! How times have changed, what a legacy to leave, but in this country have they changed enough?

For those that are registered, are the politicians doing enough to win our vote? Our precious vote the civil rights movement fought so long and hard for.  A vote that people died for.  And then there’s the BNP, a party that is like a wolf in sheep’s clothing trying to establish itself as an alternative party of choice or change.  But scratch the surface and not even that deeply, you’ll soon discover a black hole of untruths and bigotry.  Part of me thinks this party should not even be allowed to tout themselves in the public arena, but we do live in a democracy with freedom of speech.  After all, is this not part of what the civil rights movement fought for – equality for all?  This is where I struggle, as a lot of what the BNP does is incite racial tension.  I wonder what would be thought if there was a Black National Party strictly for Black People, promoting issues affecting the black communities.  Not only would it be seen as racist, which it certainly would be!  It would be shut down so quickly before it had time to gather any pace or publicity.  So why has this not happened with the BNP?

The BNP have been very sly in jumping on the sensitive issue of immigration in certain areas, picking up votes here and there and now have a presence and a voice loud enough that they were granted a spot on the BBC’s prestigious Question Time.

I’d like to ask the question – What influence do you have?  As Black voters in the UK can we really change the face of Britain?  According to a recent article in the Guardian on the 24 March the Black and minority vote could determine the outcome of 100 seats in this election.  Seats in areas such as Finchley, Golders Green, Solihull, Crawley, Battersea, Bradford West and Hove are all potential game changers.  Simon Woolley, Operation Black Vote (OBV) Director said “ Never before in British history have our communities been so strategically placed to mobilise to push for an agenda of racial justice”  But this will only happen if we get out there and vote!  How many times do you scream at the TV when you see a report or read an article you don’t like about the BNP? Well if you don’t vote, all you can do is scream in frustration into the abyss because no-one is listening.

We cannot moan and complain about politicians not doing enough in our communities, if when we get the chance to voice our opinion, we do nothing.   Barack Obama was helped on his way to the White House because the turnout of Black voters was at its highest among the minority and young voters in America’s history.  They registered and when the time came they stood in line, some waiting for hours to exercise their right to vote.  What a legacy to leave.

David Cameron wants to give us a hug and be our best mate; Gordon Brown wants us to trust him to lead us into even more debt!  And I’m not sure about the other guy, Nick somebody.  But whoever is your favourite, think long and hard and use your precious vote; your vote can make a difference and change our lives.  This is the one chance we get to have a say.  So say!  Whether or not you think your party of choice will get in or not, your vote can make the difference between winning and losing. 

When I think about the likes of Ann Nixon Cooper and the changes she must have witnessed in her lifetime, maybe not even expecting to see Black people voting let alone a Black President.  She had her say and eventually said ‘Yes we can’.

On his recent visit to the UK in January Al Sharpton said “It disgusts me to see so many people in the United States and South Africa that fought and some died for the right to vote, then you get those in the US and UK that have the right to vote and for no other reason than their own laziness and excuses, they choose not to exercise something that would give education to their kids and healthcare to their mommas.  You are not talking about doing a favour for somebody else; you’re talking about doing a favour for your own salvation.”

This election is too close to call, so what will it produce?  What legacy are you going to leave – one of complacency and excuses or one of action and change?