‘Many challenges black women face in UK’

We started in 2018, and we are now the backbone of cultural activities. We don't only sell the business, but we also sell the African culture.

What exactly are these barriers against black women in the UK?

One of the major barriers is the accent. The way we speak as Africans is an issue. There is a name they labelled us with; they call us aggressive African women. They don't trust us. They believe we are liars, especially we Nigerians. I have three barriers.

One, as a black woman;  second, as an African woman and third, as a Nigerian. The bank will not trust you, the community group will not trust you, and business premises will not want to support you. Maybe because we are passionate about anything that we do, just like others, we have our own way of speaking. We have this thing about us Africans that when we believe in a thing, we are passionate about it.

Another barrier we Africans have is the inability to understand the system. The system is very complex. If you want to go into business, you have to meet up with a whole lot of policies. Then the issue of mentorship is difficult. You hardly get somebody as a role model who will mentor you. You hardly get partnership or collaboration. If they draw you out as a partner, they want to take advantage of your creativity. You will never shine. Then the education system is not favourable to us. We spend a lot of time helping our children because if you are not there, social services will step in and your children will be taken away.

Another thing is that the pay is way too low. We do all the menial, frontline jobs, and those jobs take away our time from being there for our children, and before you know it, some of our children get into crime, drugs and other vices.  Then they put them in prison, and because we want to work to sustain them, we look for a job. If you choose not to work, you will remain poor. We also have these inadequate housing situations. Some of us are staying in social housing. We have many barriers.

How long have you been in the UK?

23 years going to 24

What has changed?

Since I started doing my role, more people are beginning to see the black woman differently. It just took one person to say that black women are not like this or that. I have proven it over the years. I was honoured when the queen gave me an award for outstanding contributions to community work. It just took one person to be consistent to say I believe that I am a change maker and I want to make that change, and over the years, I have done it consistently. In my borough, I set up the Nigerian community, and I have helped other small African Nigerians groups to set up their organisations, and we have now started speaking with one voice because collectively we make change. That is the only change that I have seen over the years. And I get them involved in politics. It is for one thing to say that I am a community advocate; if you are not involved in politics, no policy will change. They say if you are not at the dinner, you are the dinner.

What did you do that got the attention of the queen to give you an award?

From setting up organisations, speaking up for black parents and engaging in community service.

I have three autistic children. Raising awareness of this can be very challenging for our families and the barrier it creates for our children. Making sure that they tailor activities that meet their needs. Sometimes, the need of a white child is not the need of a black child. I was a parent school governor. I helped them to shape school policy to accommodate parents. To listen to parents more. I belong to different sector stakeholders' meetings. I am on the metropolitan police board as an adviser to people in my local community. I have worked in different voluntary sectors. In the health sector, I worked alongside the NHS in helping them to shape policies, helping in health awareness, so that the health system would meet the needs of black women. When I had my baby, I faced discrimination, so I understand. I had my baby, I had complications, and they were saying to me that it was normal. They later found out that I had real complications, and I had to go for surgery to correct that. If the NHS were culturally inclusive, it would understand some things about African women. Our babies are always big. But they will allow you to push till you damage your pelvis instead of doing a caesarean operation.

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What do you hope to achieve at the end of the day?

I want to see a change in policy where the voice of a woman counts. I say to people that a confident mother gives birth to a confident child. They should have the confidence to be able to adequately represent their homes. If the man is not there and something happens in the house, she will attend to the situation before the man comes. I want to see a change in the system where women are involved in economic development. We see them trade in the markets, creating awareness, bringing money to their homes, but how does that influence policy? I want banks to see women in business as something to support. I also want to see a situation where a lot of our entrepreneurs are being given credit, have credit facilities, and that is what has made Europe have a big economy. It is very key.

How do you encourage women to go into politics in Nigeria?

It is about education, and that is what I have done over the years in the UK; even Nigerians who have left for Europe are not joining politics. They are not even voting. But over the years, some of them who have seen me have been wondering how I have managed to scale through these barriers. In this case, there is no barrier; you just have to get involved. The political parties have to do a lot, not only calling women when it is time to vote, but educate them on how the administration works, how the three tiers of government work. Local politics is key. That is where they need to start from – local politics, because I started from local politics, and you have the opportunity to learn. You need to know who your councillor is, your chairman and their roles. Small pressure groups need to be teaching politics, too. Fortunately, politics does not have an age limit. If you are a woman, join politics because every decision they make will affect you. If women from the grassroots are in the political system, we will not have the problems we are having.

What do you do?

I am also the CEO of Black Females Entrepreneur Greenwich and the founder of Life Lucy Isiah Female Entrepreneur (LIFFE). I am based in the UK, where I run community projects, set up an organizations that support black women, African Women in Business.

I create platforms for buying and selling, and also use any community space as a pop-up market to generate income for black women. We are a group of women who have a collective interest in African craft. It was after three years of setting up organisations that we started introducing to other African women who provide services, but the initial thought was to support indigenous African craft.