I don’t want to be known as the ‘best Black’… I want to be the ‘best’, who happens to be Black.

It’s important to recognise the achievements of being the ‘first’ or the ‘best’, but I do often wonder how often we’re setting up for the next to follow suit.

Being the first in a Black body often doesn’t take into account the historic intergenerational gap of access and intentional suppression that have had to be overcome in the first place.

Similarly, being the best in a predefined separate group doesn’t allow for fair comparison. It doesn’t take into account equity or value added achievements, and can end up being another way of allowing mediocrity to continue to set the bar that many overshoot, but are still not recognised for.

If you are Black identifying, please be loud about when;

💡 identity is important to your achievements (especially when a lot of the unseen aspects of getting there that are not recognised by those who do not share your identity)

💡your identity is being used to tell a narrative of ‘meritocracy’ alone (as this is often used to sell the exceptionalism narrative, that pits Black folk against each ether as progression is finite)

If you don’t share Black identity;

💡consider the line 💭‘identity is important to this story because…’ when speaking about Black achievements.

Now reflect on…

💡What does it reveal about your own notions of achievements? (Internal)

💡What does it inform you about how to even present the story? (Interpersonal)

💡What does it show about the pipeline of similar/relative achievements of others in the space? (Institutional)

💡What does it highlight about who we focus on in our national narratives of achievements and who we exclude? (Structural)