Black History Month

My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humour, and some style”. - Maya Angelou

When reflecting on Black History Month, a quote from Maya Angelou is often brought to the forefront about not merely surviving but thriving. For many in the Black community, this quote is a powerful call to live life in a world that is only willing to offer the bare minimum. Life should never be about survival. However, for many, this is the reality.

This is why celebrating Black History Month in the UK is important as it uplifts and tells the stories of people from the past and celebrates our present and future generations to come and shows that life is not just about survival. While there are still many challenges, new challenges and challenges we’re still dismantling, we hope that what you can take from this post is that Black Voices do matter. That they deserve to thrive as much as anyone else. It’s impossible to do this when limiting these celebrations to one month.

To start, we need to look back to the past and actively listen to the stories shared by the generations before us which enables us to grow and strive for equity.

The importance of hearing stories

To understand Black History Month in its full context, we must first look at the past to have a better understanding of the future. Historically, black history has been closely associated with American history, ignoring the countless black changemakers in the UK who strove for equitable change. The consequence of this is apparent –historical amnesia has kicked in.

The act of deliberately forgetting parts of history like the Windrush scandal and harmful policies in place that harmed many people from across the African and Caribbean diaspora is incredibly harmful, memory is a necessity in understanding where we are going in the future to prevent further acts of aggression taking place.

Historical amnesia prevents the full picture from being told to the wider public This creates a black hole conundrum as so many stories are forgotten and thus left untold – leading to not the full history explored, which minimises the trauma experienced.

Hearing stories from the past also benefits people in the present and the future as it puts procedures in place to prevent tragedies from happening again.

The current present

The present looks brighter, however, there is a constant struggle that has become more apparent in institutions that systemically undervalue black people. Even though this decade has seen the rise of many black leaders, they are still fighting to break the glass barriers. The importance of having an ally to support the cause and breaking glass ceilings can help with the burden of carrying the weight alone. Strong and engaged allies can be an effective tool and powerful voice to help dismantle systemic barriers.?

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Our hope for the future

I want to conclude that celebrating and uplifting black history should not be limited to one month, my hope for the future is that the stories from the past can be shared and the people in present, with the help of allies, can help carry the burden together.

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Bringing it back to Nomo Fintech

The first section of this blog detailed the imperative and rationale behind Black History Month. Here we wanted to delve into Nomo Fintech, we strive to make diversity and inclusion, a business imperative and we understand that challenges to entering Fintech systemically based on the education system presently in the UK which does not allow especially Black Talent to enter this sector given access to education and opportunities.

We are pleased to have done several things to start laying the platform to enable access. Part of this has been an awareness drive internally and externally which details showcasing Black Talent within the Fintech landscape, acknowledging and appreciating the contribution of contributors that have not been previously acknowledged within the wider UK landscape.

Secondly, sharing expertise with a multi-disciplinary grouping of companies that are looking at driving access to the sector. This sector imperative was to look across industries the following vital imperatives:

1.???? What obstacles to access to the market can we jointly address

2.???? What can we as a community do to fast-track and break down barriers

3.???? Mobilizing and opening opportunities within our respective companies

4.???? Giving time and expertise to developing talent

5. Co-creating a platform for developing the next cohort of talent

6.???? Mobilizing support and learning opportunities from supplier networks to support the imperative.

Thirdly, identifying schools where awareness can be shared to have a targeted impact. Here we are enabling a mentorship opportunity for staff internally to give back and also in so doing have grassroots-level exposure to scholars as well as young graduates entering STEM.

Lastly, we actively don’t see Black History Month as a once-off event but a continuous imperative. We acknowledge it is a journey but we have seen the last year as a way of making inroads on building a foundation for success for the future.