White English Minority in England?

I read Twining's blog (a black police officer in England) and noticed comments by a woman who complained about being a white person in England and feeling that she was being displaced in the country of her birth - where she felt she should have more rights than the 'minorities'. She used the Notting Hill Carnival to illustrate how black people were able to visibly celebrate their culture yet white people weren't able to do that. She felt in a minority.

I suddenly had an urge to discover more about the festivities in England which were part of the white culture and look at how and where they conducted these celebrations. Most of the festivities found took place in rural communities and had been established over some time. Some of them their origins were obscure but it didn't matter; this somehow mattered not a jot to the enjoyment of the activities.

Here are just some of the festivities which, to me, celebrate the English-ness of England:

The Gloucestershire Cheese Rolling Festival may see very odd to some. Over 40,000 spectators watch a 7lb block of cheese being thrown down a steep hill and people (men, in the main) scrambling down the hill as fast as they can - the first to the bottom wins the cheese!
Here is the You Tube video which illustrates this tradition the best...

The Gloucestershire Cheese Rolling Festival 2007

Other festivities are: The Sealed Knot, the Nettle Eating Contest, the Pearly King Harvest Festival, Tar Barrels in Northumberland (yes, another one!), the Great Yorkshire Show, Heddington & Stockley Steam Rally & Country Fair and not forgetting Morris Dancers appearing all over the country. These are just a few of the hundreds of 'English' celebrations occurring each year without being defined as 'celebrating English culture' - it just is.

The Notting Hill Carnival arose out of extreme oppression by the English people to the newly arrived, predominantly Caribbean people, and is enjoyed by people from all over the world. It is an example of people transcending race and just having fun for a couple of days. It is English as it has arisen from experiences in England. It is a positive part of the culture which should be applauded, not derided, considering its origins. All races take part. There are food stalls selling food from Brazil, China, France, Jamaica, Africa and many other cultural cuisines. A broad range of music, dancing, merriment, colourful floats and costumes. You go and enjoy yourself or don't attend at all. Just like the cheese-rolling competitions.

England is changing because all regions of the world experience change - it is part of the evolution of humans. There are more benefits than negatives to new fresh immigrants going into countries like the UK and the USA. If you listen to the tat-media they would have you believe otherwise.
England and Britain has a long way to go with regards to race. Ignorance, unfortunately, will be with us for a long time to come

The Speech by Barack Obama

Barack Obama - 'A More Perfect Union'- Philadelphia, 18 March 2008

I thought I would spend some time digesting this speech and all its probable implications. So in case you missed it in its entirety...

One thing I can say about Barack Obama was his speech touched a raw nerve for a lot of people. Not only in the USA but around the world. Friends of mine, blog writers, newspapers columnists realised, or rather, hoped that a turning point had arrived. The genie was being taken out of the bottle - for some there was pain and for others, none.

Where Do We Go From Here?

I have been having a bit of a ding-dong with a group of African-American women on the net who seem so obsessed by race. Having been there I can honestly say it is not the healthiest route that black people can take. Of course, I don't understand everything about the American culture, nor can I really understand what it must be like to live in a society where you are defined by your race and gender so overtly as in the US.

But...I know that the way to make changes within any society is to make changes within yourself first. Attacking those who you deem to be attacking you may be the way to go until things calm down. I want black people to get smarter in terms of asking some questions before we dive in fists flying: What? Why? Where? When? Which? and How?

If we strategise, mobilise, cogitate, support, and educate with a cool head those changes which are necessary will materialise quicker than we think. Although that is not to say if someone is being physically attacked by ignorant people based on the victim's race that we should stand idly by and let it happen. No. Again whilst dealing with any issue or problem we should still keep a cool head.Whilst trying to move a woman out of a dangerous situation we should still keep a cool head. Whilst wiping dog shit off the mat - posted as a 'loving' gift from the local non-vocal racist neighbour' we should still keep a cool head. We should be cool.

Because only those who make a stand and think will succeed. Why waste energy raising your blood pressure, damaging your vital organs and enabling others to set your agenda and then nothing changes?

I now know that people are sheep and they think what they have been taught to think - hence religions. People are primarily sheep. If you go along to a meeting where everyone is having a 'love fest', basically there to be told how wonderful they are and you are the sole dissenting voice - see how many will support you, even though you are raising issues which are difficult and especially if you are focusing on the bigger picture. Answer: Very few.

It takes guts to go amongst a group of people and mention things they don't want to hear. It takes guts to draw people to the fact that race and racial differences are stupid.

Since the civil rights movement, how much has really changed? Has racism disappeared? Have black women's values been raised amongst societies, especially within black American culture? Not when you see Lil Kim, Beyonce and the like promoting and profiteering from the 'black woman sexual animal' stereotypes. Not when the images that young people of any race see are of black hip-hop artists 'bitching down' black women and flaunting the proceeds through 'bling'. These images are pumped into their brains on a daily basis.

Attacking me for raising my hand and saying 'hang on a minute' or 'what's the big deal?' isn't the answer. The answer lies within us. If you have children you have a responsibility to think about the kind of the world you want to raise them in.

Maybe you should consider how polarised your own life is. How do you talk about other people? Do you have friends who are a natural normal part of your life who happen to be of another 'race'? Do you have people who happen to be gay or bisexual in your life - or have you dismissed them because of some biblical text telling you 'it's against God's law'? Honestly ask yourself the question: Am I sheep? An open mind is just that - open.

Your children weren't/aren't born stupid - they may become that way by adults pushing them away from critical reasoning - away from analysing situations and reaching logical conclusions and also relating to people as people. They are a product of you.

Living your life by example is a good start. The great thing is you don't have to agree with me for me to have a dialogue with you. You don't have to agree with me for you to be my dearest friend. In fact, some of my friends are hardcore theists and I love them regardless. I see and understand their experiences and we share our views without heat and anger. Maybe you could try some of that today and tomorrow.

'Emancipate Yourself from Mental Slavery...'

How important is the issue of 'race'?
Why do we differentiate each other as a 'race'? Although the title of my blog states I am 'black' and a woman it still gives me pause for thought. Does it matter what my so-called racial background is? I would like to think not, but for the majority of people it does. It matters because humans prefer to take the easiest route and use the reptilian part of our brain, rather than focus on the individual, the person behind the persona.
It is now given as fact that homo sapiens arose out of the region of the world now known as Africa. Moving up the landmass, travelling in a bid to explore and find pastures new. As they moved from hot to cooler climes they needed less protection from the sun and hence the skin shed the eumelanin.
All my skin colour tells you about me is my ancestors lived closer to the sun, needed more protection from the sun which in a 'white' person would result in more frequent melanomas. Period. That's it. Superficially speaking, that is. It doesn't tell you much.

I previously worked in an environment (99% white) where a colleague asked me a rhetorical question:
'Isn't it awful for black women? Black men, all they want to do is have babies and don't work, isn't it?'
How do you think I responded to that?

I will explore this subject a bit further as this blog expands but your thoughts on this are welcomed.

Although I do not follow or believe in any religion the words of Haile Selassie are poignant:

"That until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally
and permanently discredited and abandoned: That until there are no longer first-class
and second class citizens of any nation; That until the color of a man's skin is of no more
significance than the color of his eyes; That until the basic human rights are equally
guaranteed to all without regard to race; That until that day, the dream of lasting peace
and world citizenship and the rule of international morality will remain but a fleeting
illusion, to be pursued but never attained."