Why we are building the lives our Ancestors deserved

I feel like that word ancestors carries so much weight. Whether it’s family stories of grandparents or distant aunts and uncles. When we look through photo albums and see those who have a same smile or eyes. Seeing this evidence of your bloodline brings a sense of belonging. It also raises questions about your fore-parents, how did they work? Did they have a sense of humour? What were their goals or dreams?

The blocks to our foreparents dreams

Alot of us come from families where we saw our parents work tirelessly to give us a better life. Seeing our parents working two jobs and going without luxuries like holidays was common for alot of us. While money wasn’t free flowing, neither was choice and opportunities. The low paid jobs, in factories or cleaning were often the only ways our parents could earn a living. What about the Black people who migrated to the western world with a solid career path or qualifications? Were things easier for them? Sometimes they were fortunate to find work at the right level but many engineers and school teachers came to the western world and were only allowed to work in menial roles. Their skills and experience being ignored meant they couldn’t follow their dreams to build the lives they wanted.

Exploring our ancestors pain

Whenever I see pictures or hear stories about my grandparents and distant aunts and uncles I think about their paths. The obstacles they overcame; finding work, feeding their children in the face of poverty and difficulties. I remain proud of my slave ancestors who had their culture stripped from them and were treated like animals. The Black women whose bodies were not their own and the men who were not allowed to be men – all repeatedly dehumanised. They worked in the hot sun, without their basic human rights being acknowledged. While I think about their pain and how much it must have taken for them to survive, I am forever grateful to them.

Our Black skin. Our pride

The pride we have in wearing our Black skin can never be measured. While our colour is a symbol of the struggle we come from, for me it’s also a reminder of how we continue to succeed despite this adversity. I’m not trying to sugar coat this. Alot of us are still battling racism at work and in wider society. Pushing for equality and at times exhausted that after all these years we still have to say the words: “Black Lives Matter”.

While we still struggle at times and push for better, we can look back and know our we follow in the path of our ancestors. Standing on their shoulders and knowing without their strength we could not do any of what we do today. The world is tough at times and our journey continues, but we can continue knowing that we are building, growing and fulfilling our ancestors dreams.

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