MY LIFE, MY BLACK HISTORY MONTH

By Dr. Ezinne Amamasi-Nnadi.

As I watched my father leave for his flight back to Nigeria, with my heart pounding as I held back the tears, I remember his words of comfort to me, “I know it is tough for you now, but don’t give up, you will be fine”. I have always admired and trusted my father and I knew in my heart that he was telling me the truth. My father, a medical doctor himself, who studied in Germany in the 1960s knew and understood all my fears and worries.

More than 10 years later, I can look back and say “Yes, I did overcome and I am fine”. It was quite hard fitting into the system at first, as everything was different. English was one subject I had never had to study, but I felt  I was good at it. So when I first joined the NHS, and vomit became ‘sick’, and fever became ‘temperature’, it became clear to me that I had to learn the same English spoken by many on the streets of Britain. I also had to learn new driving rules- right hand drive, double yellow lines etc. to pass both the written and practical driving tests.

I could go on and on about the numerous things that I had to learn and deal with, but the biggest and best lesson to learn from was motherhood. I remember holding my daughter in my arms for the first time and being filled with so much emotion that I just wept. Two years on, I had a set of twin boys, and now, I am excited to say, the fourth child is on the way. At times, it has not been easy being a mum, wife and career woman, but I have managed to juggle all three.

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Of course, there have been times when I have doubted myself and my abilities, and I have not been without my share of disappointments. For me, however, the most important thing has been to learn from every experience. Some of my setbacks have been due to the colour of my skin or the way my voice sounds. Sometimes it has been due to not preparing well and other times it just simply wasn’t my time. All my experiences have made me wiser and have definitely helped to mould me into the person I am today.

Both myself and my husband are now doctors in the NHS and, similarly to so many Black people before us, our journeys have not been all plain sailing. We have experienced the same pain, prejudice and upsetting issues, but also the same laughter, joy, and success. It also gives all of us comfort to see others, such as Lewis Hamilton and Pat McGrath, not just beat the same odds as we did, but break down further barriers. As the first and only black athlete in Formula 1, Lewis has been open about his struggles in the sport as a person of colour yet, despite these challenges, he continues to smash records, being listed as the greatest driver in the history of Formula 1 and one of the most influential people globally by Time magazine. As a black woman who was brought up by her mother, Pat has now become one of the most influential people in an industry dominated by whites,  being labelled the most influential make-up artist in the world by Vogue magazine.

In Britain, Black people represent resilience and doggedness. As we celebrate Black History Month, we pay tribute to Black people past, present and future, who despite many obstacles continue to strive for what is right, continue to work hard and never give up. But as Black people it is important to mention and appreciate our friends and comrades from other ethnic groups who have in one way or another stood with us, both through the recent outpouring of support during the Black Lives Matter protests, and also during the current Pandemic, where they have joined us in calling for investigations into why BAME have been so disproportionately affected by Covid 19.

REVAMPING ADULT SOCIAL CARE

By Grace Thompson

From the Government’s difficulty supporting care homes during the peak of cases adequately, to testing shortages to the wraparound care that many adults will now need as a result of having had severe Covid, adult social care has rarely been more prominently in view than it has been during the current crisis.

I can still clearly remember a conversation I had with a portfolio holder for adult social care in my hometown several years ago. He told me that the future of adult social care in the UK simply wasn’t sustainable if it carried on in its current structure. It was the immediate aftermath of the austerity years, and funding in all areas was scarce. His opinion was that the future of adult social care lay in a balance between having care homes for those who really needed them, and fighting for those who wanted to stay at home to have in-home care provided by an increased number of well-funded community nurse teams.

I have been reflecting on this conversation in recent weeks and I see that his words were true. Adult social care has barely had time to breathe from the austerity years before being swamped under the raging waters of Covid. But what happens next? Structures must be rebuilt and revamped before the next health crisis comes along. This time, we cannot do nothing. It will certainly take more than producing a new green badge and flashing it around on politicians’ lapels during BBC Breakfast interviews.

Live-in healthcare is associated with better mental health outcomes, reduced hospital ‘bed-blocking’ and less physical falls. The last two benefits save the NHS millions a year in hip operations and overnight hospital stays. On a human level, live-in healthcare also means that families and neighbourhoods can stay together longer and enjoy some of the last years they may have together.

For some, obviously, there will come a time when living at home is no longer an option. For those for whom it is an option, however, we should be enabling this as much as possible, particularly as we know that the population is living longer. By 2050, the number of adults aged 60 or over will double. A strong package of support would need to be in place in our country to help with the additional costs of community nursing and occupational adjustments to houses. We already know that adapting a house for an older person to stay at home costs around £6,000, compared with a cost per year of about £26,000 for residential care.

A shift in our world’s usual patterns has caused positive change already. Workplaces are seeing productivity improvement from being more flexible with their employees and increased home working. Air pollution improved in many cities as a result of less traffic on the roads. Whilst we abhor the cause of these changes, we can embrace them if the changes themselves lead to our world being a better place, not only for our children, but also for our elderly and physically vulnerable.

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Read more articles by Grace Thompson

BUILD, BUILD, BUILD – FOR WHO?

HUMANITY ON SCREEN

Further Reading Recommended by Grace

Housing in Later Life by Age UK

Choosing between staying at home or moving by PMC

CLIMATE ACTION - TO INSPIRE OR TO BLAME THAT IS THE QUESTION

By Abigail Isherwood

“Every time you spend money, you're casting a vote for the kind of world you want.” - Anna Lappe

This quote occasionally pops up on social media with the intention of inspiring us. But recently, some members of the climate activism community have been highlighting how it overly emphasises the individual, thus shifting responsibility and blame away from the world’s largest businesses and companies. Blame often emerges when talking about responsibility, and we sometimes think of them as the same. But trying to figure out where blame lies, as well as where responsibility lies, is a huge and complex discussion. On a personal level, adding the narrative of blame into discussions of climate action can be quite paralysing, so, instead of empowering us to act, we will often switch off, or at worst get defensive.

There is a debate in the literature between two powerhouse women, Iris Marion Young and Martha Nussbaum, about responsibility and blame. Young argues that blame is unhelpful when talking about responsibility for structural injustices. She thinks blame focuses on individual countries, people, or businesses, instead of looking at the whole structure. Blame, she argues, makes people defensive, which is an unhelpful and counterproductive response when trying to tackle the injustice. Nussbaum however thinks differently. She believes that if we use blame well, it can be a strong motivator and can lead us to important and sincere self-reflection. For Nussbaum, blame can be a powerful and useful tool for inspiring important and necessary action. The key takeaway here is that both Young and Nussbaum are seeking ways to inspire action in the face of structural injustice, i.e. action inspiring responsibility.

Perhaps the answer to how we can best use our responsibility for the climate crisis is to embrace it when it empowers us and ignore that which leaves us feeling paralysed. Some of us may find the emphasis on individual spending habits empowering and action-inspiring. Others may be skeptical and would prefer to use their energy to hold large corporations to account. Some will find talking about blame paralysing, whereas others may find it a powerful driving force. Using our responsibility well could just be about discovering what we, as individuals, find action inspiring.

Or maybe we can change that.

So, if we feel paralysed, we could feel all that fear, grief, hopelessness, or numbness, but then take the time to reflect, learn, meditate, connect with others, cry, do whatever it is we need to do, and eventually turn that paralysis into action. We can be intentional, we can be reflective, we can build support networks and communities that help us transform our fear and numbness into action. So that whether we find ourselves feeling empowered or paralysed, both instances lead to an opportunity to do something about it. It’s not a case of embracing the empowering and discarding the paralysing, but instead figuring out how to do our best in both situations.

So whether we feel blamed, inspired, paralysed, or empowered, let’s embrace the opportunity that the responsibility for the climate crisis offers. Let's be intentional in our reaction to responsibility, and start viewing responsibility as an invitation to act.

Abigail Isherwood

Abigail Isherwood

Further Reading

Nussbaum, M. (2009). ‘Iris Young’s last thoughts on responsibility for global justice’, in Ferguson A. and Nagel, M. (eds) Dancing with Iris: The Philosophy of Iris Marion Young. New York; Oxford University Press, 133-145.

Young, I. (2006a). Responsibility and global justice: a social connection model. Social Philosophy and Policy. Cambridge University Press, 23 (1), 102-130.