Diahanne’s Daily Tributes: Final Day Black History Month

Today is the last day of Black History Month. I say that with a heavy heart because I have always enjoyed having an entire month to immerse myself in black literature, icons, facts and events.

Before I end my Daily Tributes, I’d like to leave you with a parting thought: in order for us to succeed and make progress as a global community, Black History Month must be more than just a month, it must be a lifestyle.

I believe if we fill our homes with literature (I was privileged to have a black literature bookshelf in my childhood home, its impact on my psyche was immeasurable), actively patronise and support exhibitions and plays we will see progress in our children’s development. To be blunt, we must cease to complain about the lack of black history etc in the curriculum and fill the gaps ourselves. Balance out our children’s formative influences with some of our own.

I am a true believer in Orwell’s saying that “The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.” Via a concerted, conscious and creative effort to educate our children that we shall combat the low self-esteem that our children are often displaying as a result of being disconnected from their culture.

I would like to close Black History Month with a short tribute to my mum who was, and still is my anchor. It was my mum who told me that my black skin and heritage made me beautiful despite what people told me. She instilled in me self-esteem, self-confidence and self-love; some of the greatest gifts a child can ever be bestowed. It was she who always taught me about my ancestors and legacy. When she passed away she showed me the true meaning of legacy through the great many people who attended her funeral and spoke about the positive impact she had on their lives. I am so very proud to stand on her shoulders.

On the topic of legacy I’d like to leave you with one of my own personal favourite quotes:

I believe the words of our wise have a real tangible effect on our perspectives. My advice is that when someone moves you with their words, note them down, absorb them and let them have actual applied meaning in your life. And also, please do send me some of your own as I am always seeking inspiration. Use the hashtag #blackhistorymatters to send me a few of your own (and any interesting facts or tributes) and let’s keep the spirit of Black History Month alive all year round.

#Rhineydailyshouts
#blackhistorymatters
#sendingtheelevatorbackdown
#standingontheshouldersofgreatness

Diahanne’s Daily Tributes: Day 30 Black History Month

Definition of a Miracle

I consider Maya Angelou, Coretta Scott-King and Michele Obama to be incredibly inspirational. However, this month I wanted to take time to pay tribute to our lesser known icons; our unsung heroes who have made strides just with Less publicity. I have had the pleasure of meeting this incredible young lady and I had to include before BHM is over. Her name is Farida Bedwei.

Known as ‘the teenager who defeated her disability through technology’, Bedwei was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at the age of one  (Cerebral palsy is an incurable neurological disorder that affects body movement and muscle coordination but does not interfere with the ability to learn) and as an adult steadfastly refused to let her disability affect her career.

Bedwei’s most pioneering work is in the development of a cloud software platform that is being used by 130 micro-finance companies globally. These companies issue loans to their customers by sending a code to their mobile phones via text message. That code can then be exchanged for money at any branch, making small loans available immediately.

Today, she is the co-founder and chief technical officer of software company Logiciel.

She is considered one of the most powerful women in financial technology on the continent. In 2013, South Africa’s CEO Magazine named Bedwei the most influential woman in business and government in Africa for the financial sector.

Bedwei speaks publicly on the ways in which technology can transform lives and how she defied the odds to find success.

She is an incredible example of success and achievement and whilst she is acknowledged as an inspiration in the cerebral palsy community, I believe her to be an inspiration to us all.

She has penned a book ‘Definition of a Miracle’ about an eight -year-old girl named Zaara; a child with Cerebral Palsy who finds herself thrust into a society where her disability is misunderstood and stigmatised.

Watch her video ‘What cerebral palsy taught me about life’ here: http://www.msn.com/en-us/video/watch/farida-bedwei-what-cerebral-palsy-taught-me-about-life/vi-AA9dzvf

Join me tomorrow for our final day in Black History Month!

#blackhistorymonth

#rhineysdailyshouts

Diahanne’s Daily Tributes: Day 29 Black History Month

Living Inspirations

With the end of BHM nearing, I’d like to dedicate more time to focus solely on some of our modern day rising stars.

This is an area I cannot emphasise enough. It is all too easy to despair with statistics and news channels constantly churning out information on prison numbers, gang members and academic underachievement. These surveys and reports are fundamental to our progress; they offer guidance on where our young most need our support and guidance. However, we have so many bright young people who are doing amazing things in the world.

The Imafidons are Britain’s smartest family and have become international models of academic achievement.They have been frequently dubbed ‘Britain’s smartest family’ and yet we so rarely read about them.

Dr. Chris Imafidon and Ann Imafidon arrived in London from Edo State in Nigeria, over 30 years ago and their children have broken national records in academia.

Anne-Marie, 23 is multi-lingual. She speaks six languages and graduated from college at just 10. By aged-13, she was the youngest person to pass an A-level in computing. She  attended John Hopkins University in Baltimore and received an MA from Oxford University, all before she had even turned 20 years old.

In 2009, twins Peter and Paula became the youngest students to enter secondary school at aged 6. Their elder sister, Christina, was 11 when she was accepted to study as an undergraduate.

 “Against all odds, I passed my A-Levels with flying colors, started my degree at the University of York at 15. I supported myself all through, working. I wrote my final medical examinations at 21, thus emerging the youngest medical doctor in England,” Ola Orekunrin.

Determined to make a tangible difference in medical practice, Orekunrin decided to set up The Flying Doctors, which is the first air ambulance service in West Africa. The service provides critical care transportation solutions to both the private and public sector by selling yearly air ambulance cover plans to states, companies and individuals.

Please let’s continue to honour our young achievers. They are the future of our diaspora. Whilst they may not be recognised by mainstream media, through research we can make them household names in our own homes. This way, our children will never be short on role models to illuminate their paths and serve as their real life examples.

Join me tomorrow for Day 30 of Diahanne’s Daily Tributes

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Diahanne’s Daily Tributes: Day 28 Black History Month…

‘Every day I saw the most dreadful scenes of misery and cruelty. My miserable companions were often cruelly lashed, and as it were cut to pieces. I saw a slave receive twenty four lashes of the whip for being seen in church on a Sunday instead of going to work.’

As modern black Brits I believe it is hugely important to acknowledge those who worked to pave the way for us. Today I am paying tribute to an unsung hero of the abolition of slavery: Quobna Ottobah Cugoano.

Born in Africa and stolen away by slave-traders as a child, he was The first African to demand total abolition; and he did so from London.

Cugoano was born in 1757 in the village that is today is known as Ajumako in Ghana. At the age of 13, he was kidnapped and sold into slavery. At one point he actually saw the exact cost of his life scrawled on paper: ‘a gun, a piece of cloth, and some lead.’

After several years of enslavement in the West Indies, his master brought him to England where he worked as a  servant in London.

As the abolition of slavery gained momentum, he published a book (with the help of his friend Olaudah Equiano) in 1787 entitled: ‘Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil and Wicked Traffic of the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species’. This was one of the first pieces of writing by a black Briton about slavery, however unlike Oluadah Equiano and Mary Prince, Cugoano chose not to write about his own experience. Instead he focused on religious and philosophical argument.

His writing style was incredibly bold at this time, as he was unafraid to attack the colonisation of America as well as slavery. The book was  widely read, with at least three printings in 1787 and a French translation. In 1791, Cugoano travelled to ‘upwards of fifty places’ in Britain to promote a revised and condensed edition, in which he added his voice and first-hand personal narrative to the campaign against the slave trade.The book was sent to King George III the Prince of Wales along with much of the royal family who remained opposed to abolition of the slave trade.

It may well be the norm now but Cugoano was the first writer in English to argue that enslaved Africans had not only the moral right but also the moral duty to resist slavery. Nothing is known of Cugoano after the release of his book. Yet his contribution to the abolition of slavery and our lives in modern Britain is vast.

“Is it not strange to think, that they who ought to be considered as the most learned and civilized people in the world, that they should carry on a traffic of the most barbarous cruelty and injustice, and that many think slavery, robbery and murder no crime?”

Join me tomorrow for Day 29 of Diahanne’s Daily Tributes

#blackhistorymonth

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Diahanne’s Daily Tributes: Day 27 Black History Month

“Do all you can with what you have, in the time you have, in the place you are.”    

I do not believe that inspiration lies solely in our historical figures. I believe we are surrounded by inspiration everyday and in a myriad of forms. In many cultures children are to be ‘seen and not heard’, but it is my belief that children can inspire us enormously. I have met many young people who have inspired me with their energy, determination and courage. Many of them have inspired me than most adults do!

Nkosi Johnson is one of those children I would have loved to have met. In just 12 short years he impacted the world than most of us do in an entire lifetime. For at just 12, he died as a humanitarian icon.

Born Xolani Nkosi, his mother Nonthlanthla Daphne Nkosi was HIV-infected. Nkosi was admitted to an AIDS care centre in Johannesburg in 1991. His volunteer worker Gail Johnson immediately formed a bond with him and with his mother’s health quickly deteriorating, she agreed that Johnson’s home would be the best place for her son.

She died in 1997 and in the very same year a local primary school opposed Nkosi’s admission because of his illness. He publicly spoke out against the discrimination caused by stigma and immediately he became a key figure in an ongoing South African AIDS awareness campaign. He was considered an AIDS activist and speaker despite his young age.

In July 2000, he bravely stood up to address delegates from all over the world wearing a black suit and sneakers at the World AIDS Conference. His short speech reduced delegates to tears.

He later chided President Thabo Mbeki in front of thousands at the 13th International Aids Conference, for the politician’s ill handling of the epidemic.  Perhaps unable to cope with the raw honesty of this child, President Mbeki left the room half way through Nkosi’s speech.

He was posthumously awarded the International Children’s Peace Price in 2005.

His legacy lives on through Nkosi’s Haven, a care centre in Johannesburg that houses and supports HIV-positive mothers and children.

His legacy lives on. Let’s work to keep it so.

Visit his website here: http://nkosishaven.org/nkosi-johnsons-history/

Join me tomorrow for Day 28 of Diahanne’s Daily Tributes

Diahanne’s Daily Tributes: Day 26 Black History Month

Seeds Of Thought

As a publicist, you might have guessed already that I love a good marketing campaign. Why? Marketing and advertising campaigns are powerful tools. When they are used to raise awareness and effect change, I am in awe of the creativity that goes into making them viral. I have two examples today that are in keeping with the spirit of BHM.

The first is a campaign I came across recently. This year, during American BHM (which is in February)  photographer Marc Bushelle and his wife Janine Harper came up with an idea to teach their daughter about iconic black women of the past and present.

They set about taking photographs of their five-year-old daughter Lily posed as their African American heroines. They had fun playing dress-up, but used the opportunity to educate Lily about each of the women she was paying homage to.

Speaking to NPR.org, Harper said: ‘We hope that by making these associations early, we will instill a strong pride in her that will fortify her against any discrimination she may face in the future.”

It was a brilliantly conceived idea and its success continued way beyond BHM as the photos went viral and they started to accept requests from parents wanting similar pictures of their own children. View their photography campaign  here:

http://m.huffpost.com/uk/entry/6863668

I recently spoke at Leeds university about the issue of inequality in universities. It was a vital event with a huge amount of ground to cover. One of the areas I focused on was my belief that a progressive academic environ should be an absolute reflection of young modern Britain: diverse, accepting, bicultural and  inclusive. It is perhaps the ‘tick-box’ approach to achieving equality, that leads to failures by some universities when it comes to equality. The Americans, I noted, are a few steps ahead of us on this. Matsuda-Lawrence and other members of the Kuumba Singers of Harvard College, cooked up an idea to raise awareness about university equality. 

As part of the campaign, Harvard sophomore Carol Powell, photographed 63 black students holding boards with ‘micro-aggressions’ and racist comments  they have heard on campus. Some opted  to write messages to their peers.

Matsuda-Lawrence said that “I, Too, Am Harvard” is a collective black community project that doesn’t yet reflect that experience of all students of colour.’ The #ItooamHarvard campaign went viral and its impact went from strength to strength with the students writing a play entitled I, Too, Am Harvard. 

http://www.buzzfeed.com/alisonvingiano/21-black-harvard-students-share-their-experiences-through-a#.qbO4Aa60X

 

Let’s continue to work on creative and impacting ways to develop and voice our community concerns and hopes. After all, all it takes is one ‘lightbulb moment’…

Join me tomorrow for Day 27 of Diahanne’s Daily Tributes
#blackhistorymonth

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Diahanne’s Daily Tributes: Day 25 Black History Month…

“So I believe that dreams – day dreams, you know, with your eyes wide open and your brain-machinery whizzing – are likely to lead to the betterment of the world. The imaginative child will become the imaginative man or woman most apt to create, to invent, and therefore to foster civilisation.” L. Frank Baum

 

Continuing on from yesterday’s list of inventors, I’d like to share a few more with you.

1. Dr. Patricia Bath is an American ophthalmologist, inventor and esteemed academic.  Dr. Bath earned a doctorate from Howard University College of Medicine and was the first African-American woman doctor to receive a patent for a medical invention. In 1981, she received a patent for the Laserphaco Probe, which is used to treat cataracts. Dr. Bath’s laser probe made cataract surgery faster, more accurate, and she is credited with saving thousands of people from losing their sight.

 

2. This one is little-known but brilliant: Lonnie Johnson, inventor of The Super Soaker.

Lonnie George Johnson  is an African American inventor and engineer who holds more than 80 patents. Johnson is most known for inventing the Super Soaker water gun, which has ranked within the world’s top 20 best-selling toys every year since it was released. The Super Soaker is a child’s toy, but it is a fine example of an invention with a multimillion-dollar impact. The Super Soaker has so far generated $200 million in annual retail sales. Johnson now uses his fortune to develop energy technology.

3. I’d like to End this weekend with a modern star. Introducing: modern day inventor, Ludwick Marishane. 

At age 21 Ludwick Marishane developed a formula that is used to cleanse without water. DryBath is the same as an antibacterial cleanser, but it’s odourless and forms a biodegradable layer that both cleanses and moisturizes the skin. Because ‘DryBath’ cleanses cheaply and easily it is vital to the billions of people who lack proper access to water and sanitation.

Today, DryBath is available to purchase on the market. Marishane was named the Global Student Entrepreneur of the Year in 2011 by the University of Cape Town in South Africa.

Join me tomorrow for Day 26 of Diahanne’s Daily Tributes

#blackhistorymonth

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Diahanne’s Daily Tributes: Black History Month Day 24

                                                                     Beautiful Minds

As you all know, when the weekend arrives I like to ‘switch things up’ a little by conjuring up interesting lists of facts and snippets of info. Today’s tribute is ‘Inventors’. These particular inventors aren’t usually featured in The Guinness Book of Records or the local pub quiz. Neither are they taught in the modern curriculum, but these are a few that I believe should be in our communal mental ‘Rolodex’.

1. Lewis Latimer (1848 – 1928)

What He Invented: The Carbon Filament For The Light Bulb.

Why It’s Important: Latimer is without a doubt one of the greatest inventors of all time. In 1881, he received a patent for inventing a method of producing carbon filaments, which made the bulbs long-lasting, more efficient and cheaper.

In 1876, he worked with Alexander Graham Bell to draft the drawings required for the patent of Bell’s telephone. He is one of the greatest and most important inventors of all time but he is not a household name.

2. Otis Boykin (1920 -1982)

What He Invented: The Artificial Heart Pacemaker Control Unit.

Why It’s Important: There were variations to the pacemaker before Boykin’s invention but the modern-day pacemaker as we know it simply would not exist without his work.

3. Mildred Kenner and her sister Mary Davidson

What they invented: The sanitary belt, The Walker and the toilet tissue holder.

Why it’s important: Neither of the sisters had any technical education, but that didn’t stop them from inventing the Sanitary Belt in 1956. Three years later, Kenner invented the moisture-resistant pocket for the belt. She suffered with multiple sclerosis, and it was being in a wheelchair which inspired her to invent The Walker and the toilet-tissue holder.

Join me tomorrow for more!

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Diahanne’s Daily Tributes: Day 23 Black History Month

Cry Freedom

 

Following on from Mamphele yesterday, I thought it only fitting to write a tribute to her late husband, Steve Biko.

I often think we are more than aware of African-American leaders, freedom fighters and activists. Yet, what of our African luminaries? When we think of our South African icons, most of us immediately think of Nelson Mandela. Steve Biko is one of those great men who is sometimes forgotten. Biko was one of the most prominent activists in the struggle against the apartheid regime in South Africa and a leader of the Black Consciousness movement. He was murdered in police custody in 1977.

When I paid tribute to Dr Martin Luther King Jnr, I chose not to focus on his assassination. That was due to my belief that so many great people achieve greatness, but the tragedy of their death becomes the focal point of their life. So today, I’m going to focus on the brilliance of Biko’s contribution to the concept of Black Consciousness.

 

Steven Bantu Biko was born in Kingwilliamstown in Cape Province, South Africa. As he detailed extensively in his book, ‘I write what I like’  this highly-educated man carved a theory on how to empower the black community; ‘to pump back life into his empty shell; to infuse him with pride and dignity, to remind him of his complicity in the crime of allowing himself to be misused and therefore letting evil reign supreme in the country of his birth’. This was Steve Biko’s definition of Black Consciousness.

He had an acute skill for the art of awareness-raising. This may be something we take for granted in 2015, but in the 1970’s it was quite a task to promote consciousness and create a national profile. Particularly in apartheid South Africa.

“Part of the approach envisaged in bringing about Black Consciousness has to be directed to the past, to seek to rewrite the history of the black man and to produce in it the heroes who form the core of the African background.” Biko was unafraid to assert that African history had been tailored by white historians to ensure that African children learned to despise their heritage. His theory was that African culture had been reduced to a barbaric and primitive culture by historians in order to promote self-hatred that would result in tribal battles and internecine war. What I appreciate most about Biko’s political drive was that it was based on the notion that ‘a people without a positive history is like a vehicle without an engine’. I was raised on this principle and believe it wholeheartedly.

Black consciousness, according to Biko, sought ‘to show black people the value of their own standards and outlook …to judge themselves according to these standards and not to be fooled by white society who have whitewashed themselves and made white standards the yardstick by which even black people judge each other’. At a student conference held in 1971, Biko made the point that ‘the most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed’.

Steve Biko wanted more than anything, an end to the apartheid regime in South Africa but he did not want a hastily arranged ‘political compromise’. He maintained that only ‘once the various groups within a given community have asserted themselves to the point that mutual respect has to be shown then you have the ingredients for a true and meaningful integration’. The main problem, Biko felt, was that ‘as long as blacks are suffering from inferiority complex – a result of 300 years of deliberate oppression, denigration and derision’ this could not be done. His methods and concepts were wholly pioneering.

When he died he was just 29-years old. He achieved so very much in such a short life that his legacy lives on.

“The first step therefore is to make the black man come to himself; to pump back life into his empty shell; to infuse him with pride and dignity, to remind him of his complicity in the crime of allowing himself to be misused and therefore letting evil reign supreme in the country of his birth”.

This, was Steve Biko’s forward-thinking definition of Black Consciousness.

As well as his book, I thoroughly recommend the biopic ‘Cry Freedom’ starring Denzel Washington as Biko. It is stirring, informative and deeply inspiring.

Join me tomorrow for Day 24 of Diahanne’s Daily Tributes!

#blackhistorymonth

#rhineysdailyshouts

‘The most important success factor is to believe in yourself.’

  
I believe we are truly privileged to be surrounded by so many inspirational people. From the historical figures we have looked at this week to the great young minds and dynamic thinkers we have in the diaspora; we have so much to draw from and be inspired by. 

Recently whilst reading material for S.W.I.M with my team, we came across this remarkable woman. Today I’d like to pay tribute to Mamphela Ramphele. She is arguably South Africa’s most prominent and well-respected public intellectual. 
However, something few people realise about Mamphela is that she is the late great Steve Biko’s widow (someone I intend to write a tribute for before the month is over!) When he died in custody after being brutally beaten by police, she was five months pregnant. She was of course sick with grief, but pledged to continue the fight to end South Africa’s racial segregation.

Ramphele’s parents were teachers who encouraged her to excel academically. She decided to study medicine; a brave decision during South Africa’s apartheid era. She began her studies in 1967 and she received her medical degree in 1972.

Because of her antiapartheid work, Ramphele was detained by the South African government for four and a half months in 1976. The next year she was ‘banned’ (an apartheid-era legal action that was used to suppress organisations and publications and severely restrict the activities of a person) and exiled where she remained until 1984. While there she established a health centre. She also continued her studies, earning a Bachelor of Commerce in administration from the University of South Africa, a postgraduate diploma in tropical health and hygiene and a diploma in public health from the University of the Witwatersrand.

From 2000 to 2004 Ramphele served as a managing director of the World Bank, focusing on human development initiatives. She was the first African to hold that position. Ramphele also served as chairman of or on the boards of several corporations and charitable organisations.

Her work has been so groundbreaking she has since received eighteen honorary degrees. They include a Doctorate at the International Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, The Netherlands, in 1997 and an Doctor of Law from the University of Cambridge in 2001.

Her work in Domestic Violence has been pioneering. An article she penned on the topic entitled: ‘What’s happened to our men?’ on the topic of domestic violence was excellent. 

http://www.sacap.edu.za/blog/counselling/domestic-violence-south-africa-whats-happened-men/

  
If you don’t yet know about Mamphela yet, I recommend some research. She is a living testament to endurance, determination and hard work. 

‘My journey is the journey of a searcher who never gives up dreaming of a better tomorrow.’ 

#blackhistorymonth

#SWIMWithUs

#antiapartheid

#SteveBiko