Why can't Black people find a seat at the table?
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Excuse me I think you are sitting in my seat!
A friend went to an event on the lack of representation for Black women in history. The panel was four white women! My friend asked them the question “Can you not see that you being here, on that platform is the problem?”
There is a difference between standing with me and standing for me. Think of it like this. If a woman is in a restaurant with a man and she says I really don’t know what to order, you’ve been here before, choose me something you know I would like” Fair dos. If the same man sits down takes the menu from the woman without asking and tells her he will be ordering for her, she would be peeved.
You can’t be out there speaking for Black people in the spaces where they are perfectly able to speak for themselves. That is not allyship. That is abuse of your privilege. That is, you occupying spaces. You need to stop that foolishness.
Since George Floyd was murdered, we have seen the rise of the ally. There were a lot of people who for a long time wanted to do so much better, wanted to speak up, but also didn’t want to overstep and now the opportunity is there for them. There are also a lot of people who for a long time have made all the right noises, but when you pause and consider they have actually done? The answer is a big, fat, nothing.
You see, the rise of the ally has also clearly exposed those who never had any intention of making a difference to anyone other than themselves. Those that wear their Black square as a badge of honour, the ultimate boast. It saves them saying that they have Black friend. They had hoped this would cover them for the rest of their days. But all their pathetic excuses have been stripped away and now they are in the ‘put up or shut up’ arena and it’s not looking good for them.
These are the people who tend to be sitting in my seat. When we go to speak, they are there, out the front, speaking about the Black experience as though they were experts, in fact many say that they are. However, contrary to what academia says having knowledge of something doesn’t make you an expert. But of course, this is what academia tells us all the time. Because this what so much of academia is built on? The belief that knowledge always outranks experience. So, they can produce experts on racism, Black history, Black women, the Caribbean, and Africa who are white and have little to no contact with anyone outside of their white academic privileged circle and hold them up as the all-knowing experts. Doesn’t this just look like white saviourism? This concept that we could not be the experts on our own culture and wellbeing. We need others to tell us how to think and be and what is best for us, following their interpretation of our history!
The solution seems so obvious, and it is not even a new or original thought. Make space.
A common example is people who say, “I would have used a Black illustrator, but, well, there are no Black illustrators.” The thing is we know this is just not true and if it was, then giving more opportunities to white illustrators surely wouldn’t be the answer. You know we can change the word illustrator to almost any trade, position, or role. We have all seen and hear it happen over and over again. This happens everywhere and the solution is always the same.
Make space. Step aside. Be the change.
Reading suggestions:
Dear White Peacemakers by Osheta Moore
This Is Why I Resist: Don't Define My Black Identity by Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu