I created a new YouTube show, called the ‘UK African News Update Channel’, which features news articles that will be of interest primarily to Africans, both those in the UK diaspora and those scattered around the world. As an African-born migrant, I intend to use the channel as a public sphere for Africans in the UK diaspora to share their stories and express their feelings, hopes and fears related to political, social and economic issues and the “diaspora”. “. ‘. The newsletter also explores and celebrates the achievements of Africans in the UK.
I launched the channel due to my belief that the increasing permanence of the African population in the UK and their remarkable achievements is, more often than not, a milestone to celebrate. However, I believe that minorities in the media are still underrepresented overall and disproportionately represented in stories of immigration, terrorism, and crime, leading to these groups being stigmatized and associated with bad images or narratives.
In particular, the stories of black Africans are rarely included in the narrative, and typically appear in the media only during October’s Black History Month. I think part of the problem is that the media industry is not yet diverse enough. For example, in Birmingham, where I live, almost 45 percent are non-white, but almost the entire industry here, including the media industry, is still dominated by white people, especially at the top. That’s why I strongly felt the need to launch my YouTube channel: I think black people should tell their own stories.
The late Ethiopian-born journalist Behailu Shiferaw Mihirete noted that “the diaspora is a complicated state. In their adopted homes, diasporas are referred to as immigrants, a term that often provokes a sense of discomfort. In their original homes, they are seen as runaways who want the best of both worlds: the first to trace their roots when it’s convenient and exotic, but also the first to pack up and leave when the going gets tough.”
It is in this context that I am producing the soon to be launched UK African news newsletter and studio talk show ‘Tales of the African Diaspora’, to discuss the personal dilemmas, challenges and achievements of modern ones. Africans of the day who have broken barriers and made significant contributions globally and to public life in the UK.
The ‘in conversation’ series will show in particular the enormous contribution of African immigrants to their adopted home through their skills and how they have contributed to economic growth in Britain. The channel will also celebrate wonderful role models in our African communities.
In his 2018 scholarly article, ‘Diasporas: History and Historiography‘, Mohammed Bashir Salau noted that UK African descendants who emigrated from their “homelands” were, and continue to be, powerful factors in many African cultures outside their “homelands”, as well as in many other civilizations outside of Africa.
According to the National Portrait Gallery, the presence of Africans in England dates back to at least the Roman period, when African soldiers serving as part of the Roman army were stationed at Hadrian’s Wall during the 2nd century AD Septimus Severus, a Roman emperor who was born in what is now Libya, spent his last three years in Britain before dying in York.
In Tudor times, African men and women were found at the English royal courts and African ladies served at the Scottish court in 1513. For example, John Blanke was a black African trumpeter at the court of Henry VIII. And, of course, many people of African descent emigrated from their “homelands” due to pre-20th century Muslim or Asian trade and the Atlantic slave trade, as well as globalization after 1980.
