Double musings of a #badman on the tube on the way to the big house
There were two amazing speeches given at the gig I attended with Mum over the weekend.
The first was from Levi Roots. I’ve interviewed himmany times over the years and I can tell you he is one of the most guarded people I’ve ever encountered. I think it’s because he doesn’t want to live in the past and I get that. But it is his “interesting” past that has made him the successful businessman he is today. “Don’t let anyone put you in a box. Don’t let anyone decide what you are capable of”he bellowed to the audience. He is also a mummy’s boy and got emotional when telling us he had to borrow £20 from his late mother to go to the first Dragon’s Den. She told him to be his true authentic self because that is what made him special. “Lard a Mercy”
Lots of us pretend, we hide and we try to fit in, particularly in the workplace. It took a decade for Bosslady to grow her locks for fear of how it would be perceived, when she worked for the council. It is wearing and not good for your mental health. I tell myself that is why George Floyd died, so that we could live.I was a guest of a high street bank (for BHM) and a speaker said that diversity was letting people in and inclusivity was allowing them to dance. Think about that for a minute and be YOU because you are wonderful.
Then came the Father of the House. A man from whom I’ve learned much about how to conduct myself professionally. Rudolph Walker CBE just turned 84, which makes him older than my mother.
His voice is like thunder and he speaks with the wisdom of a sage. He talked about sailing from Trinidad with aspirations of becoming an actor. He talked about how all the black people were below deck, whilst the whites were above. Immediately I thought of the parallel imagery. That same type of journey would have been made for generations with the transatlantic slave trade. He was embarking on a voyage to the motherland clear in the knowledge that he wasn’t equal.
For some reason, he and a few of the other black performers decided to put on a show and invited the neighbours from upstairs. They came, they loved it and they spent most of the remaining journey downstairs. He is a lover, not a fighter and it was fascinating to hear his way of thinking, his way of surviving. I stand on his shoulders and the respect I have for him is immeasurable.
All that he learned came from the maternal side of his family. He spoke so fondly of them that night I knew, just like me, he just wanted to make his mummy proud.
And he did.
