Simon Owoade: ‘Black History Month has to be more than slavery’

Simon Owoade is the writer of The Curse of Being Black in Britain, an examination of his opinions and experiences of racism working for HM Revenue and Customs and the prison service. Catch a Vibe mwet up with the writer / motivational speaker to disccuss Black History Month and what it means to be black today.

Catch a Vibe: Can you give a brief summary of what The Curse of Being Black in Britain is about?
Simon Owoade: It’s about the negativity; everything that is negative, that is attached to, or surrounds a black person in the UK. Things like underachievement, over representation in the criminal justice system, being more likely to be stopped and searched, the problem of knife and gun crime, the lack of positive male role models, dysfunctional families and aggressive behaviour that is sometimes attached to being a black person are what I see as the curse of being black in Britain.

CAV: The Curse of Being Black in Britain is based mainly on your personal experiences. Was the book difficult to write?
Simon Owoade: I wouldn’t say I found it difficult to write about them. Actually writing was kind of a therapy for me. I went through such an unpleasant experience, with the bullying at work it got to the point that waking up in the morning and just thinking that I have to go to work with these people was a really depressing experience, in Customs and even more so in the prison service before I resigned. When I started writing I didn’t plan at that time to publish anything; I just began to write my experiences – day in day out.

CAV: What do you think of Black History Month?
Simon Owoade: I think it should continue, but I do think there are a lot of things that need to change – it shouldn’t just become a routine. We must see things happening that make it worthwhile. For example I’ve heard young people say: ‘You know what I’m sick and tired of this Black History Month, all I hear them talk about is slavery.’ At an Afro-Caribbean Conference last year one of the main issues we talked about was slavery. But Black History Month has to be more than that. We should be talking about where we are now and what we are aspiring to achieve. I wouldn’t say that we need to stop celebrating Black History Month but our focus needs to change.

CAV: What do you think is positive about being black in Britain today?
Simon Owoade: There are many things that are positive, young black people are doing well in many areas of human endeavour but it’s just not highlighted. We do have the problem of knife and gun crime and all that but it is a limited amount of people who are involved in that There is a lot of positivity in our culture; we have a culture that says that you should be your brother’s keeper for example: A culture that we brought from Africa and the Caribbean – that communal spirit of caring for other people. I think we still have that even though it has been undermined.

CAV: Your new book is called Be inspired: You can fulfil your dream. Who inspires you?
Simon Owoade: Obama of course is an inspiration to people all over the world and to me. I also look up to Alexander Amosu, a successful and accomplished black entrepreneur in the UK who started from the grassroots and worked hard to achieve success and is a millionaire now. My older brother is an inspiration to me because we share a lot in common. He encourages me especially when I’m down, or have had a bad experience. I go back home to my brother and speak about it and he encourages me. He’s been a great inspiration and motivation for me to carry on.

CAV: Which role do you prefer: being a motivational speaker or an author?
Simon Owoade: I find it difficult to say at this time since I am doing both. I didn’t get any training to be a motivational speaker. I didn’t get any formal training to be a writer even though I have a degree in English but I didn’t go to any school to learn how to write. When I speak people see I’m passionate about the issues that I comment. I am very interested to see how people will feel about the issues I’ve raised in the book since they are based on my personal experiences I know there will be areas where people agree and where they will not agree.

Simon Owoade’s latest book Be Inspired, You Can Fufill Your Dream will be out soon

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