SELF LOVE AS A REVOLUTIONARY ACT

Recently I attended a panel discussion hosted by Seyi Newell of My Tribe London. The company is all about empowering young black women personally and professionally, and they provide very relevant services and events to achieve this aim. Self Love As A Revolutionary Act was the second time they created a safe space for black women to be, and the first time I was exposed to their respectable work. I found out about the discussion through the social media of Nubian Nights Out, who I wrote about last week. This affirms the effectiveness of word of mouth as a marketing tool, even online. Now I'm using it and continuing the chain reaction to spread what I learnt at the event, according to seven themes:

SELF LOVE IS

respecting and caring about yourself physically and spiritually, which differs for everyone and can only be defined by you - like self respect. Self love is a constant action. The panellist Samantha Clarke really enforced this message that is no doubt meaningful in her career as a Happiness Consultant and Changemaker. She emphasised that self love must be incorporated into your daily life to be effective. As black women, to whom My Tribe's event was tailored, this is extremely important because of the burdens we bear, often for the sake of others before ourselves. There is a lot of negativity associated with selfishness, but this is counteractive when you have self-healing to get on with. This event assured me that it is okay to take time out from people and work on treating myself better, moment to moment and day to day, until it is just how I function.

ENERGY
surrounds us and we must be mindful of that. Who is around you and the vibes they carry are of utmost importance for your spiritual state. Samantha Clarke and Gaylene Gould, who was also on the panel, concurred that if someone makes you feel uncomfortable or is not beneficial for your progression in any way, you've got to be able to move on from them. Being able to say 'no' can be a strong act of self love. Be aware and selective of the energy you create, for example what you speak, and the energy you attract, in terms of people and opportunities. You've got to be able to detach from your environment and connect with yourself. As an audience member said, it is challenging in our metropolitan environment, but find your centre. In my opinion, for black people in general, this entails relearning an African sense of spirituality.

MENTAL HEALTH

has a huge impact on the black community. Gaylene Gould taught me that we have very high rates of schizophrenia. Throughout the discussion black women opened up tearfully and confidently about their personal struggles, for instance with eating disorders, anxiety and depression. My Tribe has to be commended for giving us this space to be vulnerable and receive love in return. The event alerted me to the prevalence and power of sisterhood amongst black women. We find a solace in each other that doesn't exist anywhere else but deep within ourselves. However we each have to improve our communication of our feelings so that this sisterhood can be more wholesome. It can be painful to articulate your emotions in a society that doesn't want to acknowledge them. This is where physical activity can become helpful. Kelechi Okafor, an Actress and Personal Trainer, highlighted the importance of keeping active. This definitely has a correlation with your mental state. Kelechi also advised that everybody practices GZF Therapy: Give Zero Fucks when you piss people off by loving yourself.

STEREOTYPES

are understandably ubiquitous in a world as huge as ours.This is mad worrying considering how drenched in ignorance they are though. Common views become harmful when they only allow one narrative to reign for a particular identity; they water down the vast individuality that is undoubtedly attached to it. Exhibit A is the 'strong black woman' trope. Hm. During the discussion, contrasting views were expressed in regards to it, although it was unanimous that strength needs to be redefined by and for black women. Inherently we are a loving kind I believe, so we must make space for this love to thrive inside us, and then externalise. It was said that we are 'very resilient because we've had to be'. Somehow society disregarded our struggle and painted black women as aggressive and angry, which is very possibly a (deliberate) misunderstanding of our situation. Nevertheless, we are sensible and know that not everybody is the same, so black women must love ourselves - whether we fit or do not fit stereotypes which will never encompass our glory anyway.

STRENGTH
as a concept is due a makeover regarding black women, like I said. This is probably a process that will take a couple generations to get moving, which would be a strength in itself to achieve. There's hella unlearning to be done, de- and re-constructing our mentalities, because that's where a lot of our strength is. In the mind. (Physically we are very badman too though, don't get it twisted.) Freddie, the Confidence Coach and Blogger on My Tribe's panel, said 'the only best friend you're guaranteed for your whole life is yourself'. To me this means

• lean on yourself and don't seek validation from no one else
• accept guidance from other people but understand that you know your needs best
• hold yourself as highly as you do others; you are just as valuable as anyone in your life

CULTURE

MEDIA

STORYTIME SUNDAY: QUEEN BILIKISU SUNGBO

About 1,000 years ago in Nigeria, there was a Yoruba queen called Bilikisu Sungbo. She was clear-headed enough to find a sensible way to safeguard her kingdom. Some say it came under attack by animals trained by her enemies, but this is only speculation as to why Bilikisu Sungbo constructed a 12ft thick and 70ft tall wall around the place she ruled called Eredo, which was even larger than London. Mark Simpson, the director of Black History Studies, decided to use his creative licence to write a children's story about Bilikisu's achievement. It is called 'The Great and Mighty Wall'.

In about two hours one time under the Mediterranean sun, he penned the story that it took the illustrator Panyin nine months to complete. Her elaborate and colourful creations really complement Mark's rhyming story. Their combined artistry was executed well enough for even an adult to be interested in the book and learn something new. It is almost guaranteed that you will as well, because many African stories such as this are not passed on or as popular as they should be. This is a crucial part of the cultural neglect that Africans in the diaspora are experiencing; we have limited characters to connect to and are barely represented in the medias and cultures we consume everyday. Exactly this issue inspired Mark to create this children's book, for there is a wealth of empowering information which is not made accessible to kids. In the future, Mark Simpson hopes to make cartoon feature films about African history for young people.

I found out this beautiful information by attending a book reading by Black History Studies with my little brother. He didn't want to go at first but I took him to this very local library because learning is constant, school holidays or nah. In the end he heard an inspiring tale about the positive power of an African woman. This is an image that stereotypes and tropes in society can prevent people from accepting or acknowledging sometimes. The physical experience of 'The Great and Mighty Wall' included music composed by Mark Simpson and his booming voice as he read his book, its images projected for all to admire on the wall behind him.

A good few kids turned up and BHS was very organised, by providing packs of word searches and colouring activities for them to consolidate and expand their knowledge on Nigerian culture. These are available online for free so you might feel to do and share them yourself. As well as that, it is important to financially support a cause like this. So buy this book for your little cousins and read it to them just for £6. Get to know this story of a black queen and let them treasure it too and tell their friends about her. It's so important that everybody remembers to educate the young bucks outside of school. Everything starts at home.

NNO PRESENTED: WHO TAUGHT YOU?

Nubian Nights Out is a collective of artistic and intelligent black women. Their passion about the representation and situation of black people brought them together in December 2014. They focus on creating comfortable real life spaces and experiences for black people, who en masse can be more visibly active online. For their first art exhibition, presented in a lovely little space on Battersea Park Road, NNO venerated the diverse beauty of black women. Across eight walls was spread astounding photography by Kimberley Williams and mixed media pieces by Passions Ink - the guest artist from New York. This information alone indicates the brilliance of this first event by NNO: it was a creative conversation between some of Africa's diasporic children. Such communication is imperative to the progress of black people globally.

NNO commendably curated a homely gallery experience. You walked in to be smiled at by the friendly front-of-house team, to whom you paid £3. Ticket prices generally exclude working class people from culturally enriching events, so NNO are evidently inclusive in that sense. From loud speakers boomed beautiful Afrobeat music. It pleasurably complimented the enchantment of all the black art above your head and beneath your feet. You picked a fruit juice from a pillar in the middle and probably forgot to finish it, as you drank in the splendour on the walls instead. Even more welcoming than these material things was the presence of the artists and the Nubies. They approached you to talk about your thoughts, really encouraging a stimulating experience.

The art everybody responded so well to is worthy of great praise. On the first floor, illuminated by a wealth of natural light, were the grand photos of Kimberley Williams. It was a much-needed multifaceted display of black women. In one picture you could simultaneously see sorrow, strength and sexiness. Right next to it could be a more playful photo, or a regal one. The variety of auras and colours matched the vast range of blackness you could see. All kinds of skin tones, body and hair types, ages and cultures. It was amazing. The Black British community is made up of people from countries all over the world, and I salute Kimberley Williams for showing this properly and respectfully.

Passions Ink had all his art downstairs. His work was refreshing. It was very clear to me that he regards black woman as goddesses, which we are. This positivity exists physically in the creator himself, Vin. He was really encouraging to whoever he spoke to, spreading creative vibes and love and light. I looked at his work and wanted to turn every object and surface I saw into a colourful version of everything in me that I want to express. However some of Vin's work did have very powerful political messages. There were striking images of a black woman strangled and bound by an American flag. Vin shot them in Virginia, where the first group of African people arrived in America as slaves. It was silencing, bringing a meditative energy to the exhibition.

Generally, NNO created a beautiful and safe space where many moods could coexist. I felt at ease at Who Taught You. I felt pride and anger and peace; my black is glorious and the world has tried to hide and suppress its light yet I am still here. Strong.

This collective is part of a new movement that is definitely rising up in London. There is no name for it right now, but at the forefront of it is young people. Black people. We're rising, and I will document it on this blog.

A-COLD-WALL* x HARVEY NICHOLS

Samuel Ross is a young-Black-British-man. He designs and makes very fresh garments. I mention his identity as it is very crucial to understanding his work, and thus appreciating it to the point of support. Support, for an artist, is probably the most heart-warming token, Again, this is necessary to mention as I speak about the "hustle" of this young black man, as he calls it. What is the stereotype of such a character? Is it not aggressive and reckless to the point of destruction? Criminality? Yeah I thought so. Now what's amazing about Samuel is that he counters such a common perception, yet does not neglect the roots of it. Man is a creator with substance and pure energy.

Via his brand A-COLD-WALL*, Samuel pays homage to the working-class environment which produced him. It is not conventionally a beautiful or appealing place, but a raw reality. ACW* uses this as a foundation to emphasise recognising your heritage, as opposed to supporting someone else's story without knowing your own. This vibrant and throbbing vision is presented subtly in ACW* pieces, which are often coloured in tastefully bland greys and beiges. Intellectually, this contrast mimics the inspiration behind the brand. The muted palette of a typical working class environment in Britain, like my own, is the basis of the mood of ACW*. The tones and textures of council flats and factories have been artfully captured in their collections, which resonates with cultured ghetto yutes like me. We can appreciate Samuel's effort as he dyes and paints and tapers his pieces manually, in ode to the working-class people, the labourers he's repping. So we will pay that £95 for his t-shirts so he can make his profit and survive for us in this industry. Such a connection between clothes and consumers keeps a company like this relevant.

The latest ACW* collection PUBLIC-FORM was exhibited in the high-end department store Harvey Nichols from 23rd-26th July 2015. It was absolutely iconic. A pop-up exhibition. On the opening night, a video was playing in silence on a small white wall, just above the clothes on a railing. As people browsed PUBLIC-FORM there, their silhouettes broke up the projection. Samuel himself edited the overlaid archive footage of white British industrial workers from back in the day, with recent recordings of ethnic models shooting the ACW* campaigns. This powerful statement asserted the presence of black people in a space where we are marginalised. It was reinforced physically by the very event that was happening.

As the video played and people socialised, the DJ Mr Wize was doing bits in his corner. I'm telling you to imagine a black guy with long locsstyled suavely wiling out to bangers with his bredrins in HARVEY NICHOLS, but it really happened fam. He brought an energy from the streets to a store where stoic customers could only wander what the hell was going on. JME, Travis Scott, Kendrick Lamar all booming as they escalated through this place that oozes their aura of wealth.

The clothes are hung delicately on rails in carpeted areas. There are gold signs saying don't teef or you'll get lock up and the security guards are hella stylish! Such an irregular shopping experience was opened up to what I assume is not a familiar audience to that store, due to A-COLD-WALL*. The team, including Ace Harper and Mr Wize, must be applauded for bringing high fashion and streetwear closer, just as Harvey Nichols must be commended for supporting such a movement. This collaboration suggests that the noise London's youth has been making lately is being listened to.

In February this year, Ryan Hawaii and Jai Eleven held a roadblock pop up shop then staged a flash guerrilla giveaway a week later at Selfridges - another London department store. Both events were culturally significant. They raised awareness of what adolescent anger and creativity can manifest as in this city, which got heralded by heroes as influential as the designer Virgil Abloh. A-COLD-WALL* takes this further by uniquely including the rest of Britain in this movement, which can very easily be concentrated in the capital. Surely this stems from Samuel Ross's own broad experience of Britain from South London to Leeds and more. These important moments for subculture in the UK are cumulating. There's more to come, and that should motivate you to contribute what you can to this dawning day of the creative.