Reflections on Black History Month

I hosted the SU’s Black History Month Roundtable discussion on Standing Firm in Power and Pride. I got to chair a wonderful discussion with current Oxford students and alumni about their experiences at Oxford. From this I learned that sometimes being a Black student in Oxford can come with a pressure or burden to be a representative for your community. However, this isn't always a burden, sometimes it's a privilege. As President for Undergraduates at the SU, I feel a great privilege to represent all Undergraduates at the University, but I am especially honoured to represent marginalised students like me in the best ways that I can.  

Over this month I met one of my favourite historians, Hakim Adi, the first ever Black Professor of History in the UK. His lecture, delivered by the University’s Equality and Diversity Unit, opened my eyes even further to how distortions and eurocentric narratives in history can shape our perception of diversity in British history, and more broadly around the world. He shed light on the presence of Black people in this country from the Cheddar Man till present day - showing that our island story has always been a diverse one.  

Seun Sowunmi (pictured right) at a Black History Month exhibition

The SU x Bodleian Archive Show and Tell scratched all the itches in my historian brain. I got to see so many snippets of Black contributions to history such as sheet music, letters from Ellen Craft, and jigsaw puzzles. The materials that spoke to me the most were the photographs of Black students from Oxford in the 60s taken by Helen Muspratt as I could see myself in them - achieving despite any societal limitations. I also got to see selfies taken in the 80s in my hometown - Birmingham - they revealed the richness and joy found in Handsworth at the time and more broadly in Black history as its not solely a history of deficit and struggle.  

In the SU more broadly we attended the EDI Roundtable facilitated by the Chief Diversity Officer Tim Soutphommasane. One thing that stood out to me in Iyiola Solanke’s presentation was that instances of racism and discrimination are not just the actions of a few individuals, they are systemic. Listening to the EDI Roundtable prompted me to think more about the structural issues that underpin racism. The most effective solution to these systemic issues is systemic change, because it addresses these structures that promote biases and enable discriminatory behaviour. In my capacity as President for Undergraduates, this motivates me to get involved with efforts to tackle this such as the University's Race Equality Strategy. Moreover, an element that spoke to me was the importance of the existing support for marginalised students and this needing to be more embedded through; continuous improvement of financial support, ensuring there are academic and non-academic staff that look like them, inclusive curriculums and a cultural shift in Oxford."