Is Russell T. Davies Woke?

Freema Agyeman

In this article, Russell T. Davies states that what others call diversity he calls an open door. 

The term "woke" originated from African American communities.  The meaning of "woke" is to treat groups of people and members of those groups - including African Americans - who have been oppressed, marginalised, exploited and disrespected with respect and equality of opportunity.  It is closely related to diversity and inclusion. 

I agree with Storm Huntley and Dr. Who actress Varada Sethu about this - woke can only be a good thing.  Why should wokeness be a problem?  It's only a problem for those who have a problem with diversity and inclusion.  

Lincoln, in his Gettysburg Address, described the U.S. as a nation "conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal".  The fact that he said this in the middle of a war which was essentially about slavery and abolition is a stark contrast to those words.  

 

 

Ncuti Gatwa

However, and I've said this before in various forums, anybody who is anti-woke is anti-Black, anti-women, anti-gay, anti-Latino and anti-any oppressed and/or marginalised group.  

So, is Russell T. Davies woke?  Let's look at his record.  

He wrote two brilliant dramas about gay life - Queer as Folk and, more recently, It's a Sin.  He, again brilliantly, revived Dr. Who and created two new spinoffs, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures.  

According to my (fading) memory, in Dr. Who, he put Black people in Dickensian London (they were there, but we very rarely see them), on the moon, in Victorian Scotland, and many other places including distant planets.  Lots of these episodes and series included Black/African Caribbean, Asian and gay characters.  Plus he gave us great storylines and great acting, which have not always been on offer from Dr. Who. 

David Tennant's Doctor had, at one time, a Black companion, Freema Agyeman as Martha Jones.  And, of course, we now have Ncuti Gatwa as a Black Doctor.  

Davies also gave us a Christmas episode featuring Kylie Minogue which was not woke, just fun.  

When Jodie Whittaker hit the headlines as the first female Doctor, this attracted a huge amount of disapproval and even outrage.  Why?  I understand the same thing happened when the brilliant (there's that word again) re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica featured a female pilot, Katee Sackhoff as Starbuck.  

That reaction is what is called "misogyny".  

Jodie Whittaker's previous role as a nurse impersonating a doctor in Trust Me was much more far-fetched.  

In case you were wondering, I am a huge sci-fi buff.  Always have been.  Deal with it.  

Woke is a good thing.  And yes, Russell T. Davies is woke.  

 

A Little More about NVC and Me

I have already talked a little about my personal journey in A Little about NVC and Me and Why I Am Committed to Nonviolence.  

I started to explore Nonviolent Communication (NVC) around 2003, and it had a profound effect on me.  

Go here for the Blogging Carnival for Nonviolence 2019.   And go here for information on how you can submit your blog post. If you have ever given empathy to, or received empathy from, someone, at home or at work, or in any context, please blog about it and share your experiences with the world. 

As I have said before, Violence Begins at Home.  I grew up in a family in which I experienced an enormous amount of verbal violence on a daily basis, as well as some physical violence.  My mother was (and is) severely mentally  ill, and never received any treatment for her condition, which was, and remains, undiagnosed.  

I was subjected to constant, daily bullying and undermining for many years.  Nobody helped me or supported me, apart from my piano teacher, who was very kind.  But other than her, the people around me gave me the message that I did not matter.  I did not count.  My feelings and needs did not count. 

I carried these internal messages for many years.  When we receive the same messages repeatedly - be they positive or negative messages - we internalise them.  That is the way the human mind works.  And, as we live in a racist society, we are subjected to daily negative, racist messages, and we internalise them.  This is why we experience so much self-hatred, and why we find it so difficult to work together and to trust each other.  

I am unravelling my self-hatred and replacing it with self-love, but I still have work to do in this area.  Of all the methods I use, and share with my students, NVC has had the most profound effect on me.  NVC is based on EMPATHY. 

As I said in Why I Am Committed to Nonviolence, our self-talk continues to affect us.  

Children and young people who are exposed to violence in the home are more likely to become involved with violence outside the home.  And, as part of the legacy of slavery, our families often use violence - both physical and verbal violence.  I am sure my mother was profoundly affected by the racism she experienced on a daily basis when she was a young person. 

Of course, violence affects every community.  But my community - the global African community - is my priority.  

In order to address the violence affecting the young people in our communities, we, as adults, first need to address our own patterns of behaviour - including our self-talk. 

The violence affecting our young people has to stop.  This has to stop.  If you agree, comment "Yes!" below.  

Please share this with your networks.  And please submit your blog post to the Blogging Carnival for Nonviolence 2019.  

 

Wealth-Building for Black Folks

Black Wealth Matters

The purpose of the books and ebooks I have written and published, and many of the blogs I have posted, is to help you to achieve your goals.  If you want to build wealth, pay attention!  This is the stuff they don't want us to know! 

Many of the resources I have posted are specifically for Black folks, i.e. people of African heritage.  Plus I have other resources for everyone - including people of African heritage.  

I am listing a few of my wealth-building resources below.  When I say you can learn how to achieve any goal, I really do mean ANY goal.  We each have a strong connection to the universe.  We need to get out of our own way!  These are resources to help us build successful, prosperous Black families and communities. 

I am committed to helping Black people to achieve our highest potential.  This is part of my commitment to global prosperity and global peace.  

I am a member of the global Black community.  If you are on the African continent or in the Diaspora -  wherever you are in the world - I am speaking to you right now.  If you are a parent, teacher or educator, if you are a business owner, pay attention!  This is the stuff they don't want us to know! 

What are you doing to build wealth - for yourself, for your family and for your community?  Please comment below.  

Please share this blog post with anyone who can benefit from it. 

Here's to your success!  

Achieving Success, with your 3-Step Success Formula

How to Get Clear, Precise Answers 

How to Get the Results You Want 

Black Success Audios 

Nurture Success 

Go here for a FREE, no-obligation consultation. 

Increase in Gun and Knife Crime

London Metropolitan Police 2018

If you have been reading and listening to my blog posts, you know that my work is about solutions. 

As I am sure you know, there has been an increase in violent crime, including knife crime and gun crime, in London. Black communities have been dealing with this crisis for many years.  

What is the response to this from the police?   

Sara Thornton, chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, has said that there needs to be an increase in stop-and-search, and The Metropolitan Police are planning to do just that.  

 

As we know, the stop-and-search is deployed overwhelmingly against Black African-Caribbean people, particularly young Black African-Caribbean men.

Given that British prisons are already disproportionately incarcerating Black people, something is definitely wrong here. Several things, actually.

The police conducting their stop-and-search incidents are finding larger numbers of weapons.

http://www.itv.com/news/2018-04-07/london-knife-crime-met-police/

This would suggest that stop-and-search is not working. Stop-and-search is not preventing young people from carrying knives. The ethos has been described as making young people more afraid of being arrested than they are of carrying knives. Given most young Black men are aware that the police may kill them with impunity, and this has happened numerous times, making them more afraid of police is a tall order.

What needs to happen is for young people become confident in their ability to reduce or prevent violet crime without needing to carry weapons. Our young people need to become skilled in methods such as NVC (Nonviolent Communication) that can PREVENT violent incidents and PREVENT situations escalating into violence.

By the time a young person starts carrying a knife, ostensibly for protection, the situation is out of control. We need to PREVENT young peoplle believing they need to carry guns in order to protect themselves,as they know other people who are carrying weapons.

For more about this, see  Children and Knife Crime.

See also: Which Children Are More Likely to Bring Weapons to School? 

Please share this with your networks, and please leave your comments below.  Thanks.  

Black Lives Matter: Finding Peace with the Higher Self

Protestors in Brixton following U.S.police killings

Listen below for this post.

I am posting this in the aftermath of a week that saw two African American men killed by the police, and a number of police officers in Dallas killed by snipers.

Here in Britain, where 590 Black people have been killed by the police, the perpetrators are not even arrested, charged or brought to trial.




We need to find solutions that are going to work for ourselves, for our families and for our communities.

Protesters in Brixton following the U.S. police killings

We want to live in peace.  We want our children to live in peace and we want to prosper.  Violence is not a solution.

Listen below.  Please share this with your networks and please leave your comments below.  Thanks.




Black Women Sue Johnson & Johnson over Ovarian Cancer 

For more about the Higher Self, see:

How to Get Clear, Precise Answers

Your Inner Wisdom 

We Need Solutions That Work 

Go here for the Blogging Carnival for Nonviolence and interviews with NVC authors.

Healing Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome

enslaved African men in chains

Click here to download my new ebook, Why We Need to Heal.  

I am re-purposing this blog post.  Several years ago, Dr. DeGruy Leary gave a lecture in London on Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome.  She has said the same things I have been saying for many years.

We must heal the past. We must heal the internalised racism and oppression, i.e. self-hatred, that has been passed down within Black families for many generations since the enslavement of African people by Europeans began.

This is why I do the work I do. See my book, Success Strategies for Black People, for positive cultural reinforcement for Black parents and families - for all of us. 

This is why I compiled Black Success Stories and the More Black Success ebooks.  For more about this, see: Remember Your Greatness.   

For more information on the healing of people of African heritage, click here to download Why We Need to Heal. 

 

Arrests in Eric Garner Protest, London

76 people were arrested yesterday in a "die-in" protest outside Westfield Shopping Centre in London.  They were protesting about the outcome of the Eric Garner enquiry.  Yes, a police officer has killed a Black person and got away with it - yet again. Click here to read more. 

Check out my blog post:  We Need Solutions that Work. 

People in London are aware that this impacts on us - this issue affects Black communities on both sides of the Atlantic.

Which Children Are Most Likely to Bring Weapons to School?

Is Your Child at Risk of Knife Crime?

I saw this blog recently:  Do You Know Which Students Are Most Likely to Bring Weapons to School? 

It's the children who are being bullied, or at risk of being buillied - the ones who feel they have to defend themselves - who are most likely to take a knife or gun to school.  

This is true in the UK as well.  They discussed this on The Wright Stuff a couple of weeks ago.  And I know someone in London whose son was running away from a bully, who ended up being arrested and imprisoned on a "joint enterprise" charge.  This is just one way our Black youth are filling up the prisons.  One more way the criminal justice system targerts our communities.  

We MUST help our young people find nonviolent solutions to these problems.  If you have read my book Success Strategies for Black People, you know that Nonviolent Communication (NVC) can help to turn situations around - including situations of extreme violence.  

If your child is at risk of becoming involved with violence, knife crime, gun crime or other risky situations, you need to learn NVC.  This can make a huge difference and may even save your child's life.  

To find out more about NVC, and for more NVC resources, click here to download my new ebook Affirmations for Parents. 

 

Obama's Future Direction - Addressing the Needs of Black Communities

Does President Obama's political leadership need to change direction? I think so.

This blog is very interesting:  Dr. Boyce Watkins is arguing that Ben Jealous of the NAACP and Rev. Al Sharpton should no longer be invited to the White House.   He accuses them of "simply repeating the agenda of the Obama Administration and pretending that it is the same as the [B]lack agenda". 

African American communities have particular needs and, although the President's policies, such as the healthcare shake-up, have often benefited people of African heritage, some feel that he has not done enough to support Black people.  

Black voters overwhelmingly supported the President's re-election.  Is it time for him to give something back?  

Is President Obama doing enough for Black people?  Please leave your comments below.