Undocumented Origins Series: Opportunity
I watched the BBC 4 programme on the moon, a little while ago. I must be honest, although I liked the new perspectives and information the programme offered, what I found most refreshing was the documentary's presenter.
She was a middle aged Black British woman, of Nigerian descent Maggie Aderin-Pocock. I'd heard of her before, but this time, she really grabbed my attention . For people like me, always on the look out for black women whose profession is uncommon, she was far more interesting than the moon.
She was a breath of fresh air, cool calm and collected, she seemed sure of who she was... a scientist.
Seeing her success as a leading woman in a field dominated by middle class, white men, I couldn't help but ask myself one question: what if she and her family had not received the elusive "Indefinite Stay"? What if she had had to go back to Nigeria and focus on building a business rather than a career in academia? What if she was still here, waiting for that visa extension, doing odd jobs in the mean time, just paying bills and surviving. Worst of all, what if she had had to take the notorious route of illigal immigration, the undercover "double life"?
I've met so many men and women who have not achieved their full potential, not because they are not hard working, but because of the one door that remains closed to them: "papers". School trips abroad, university entrance, holiday with friends, professional careers, academic careers... brains, skills and talents curtailed by paperwork, stigmas and assupmtions. Politics and ignorance. "We can't let everybody in!" But those who would be most beneficial to this country... are often marginalised because of the colour of their passport .
This led me to ask myself, (at the end of the documentary about the changing faces of the moon and it's effects on our planet) what if?... What if the presenter had not been granted access to the life of a British Citizen, but most importantly, what if the people on the other side of "citizenship", finally were?
Let's talk about it... #UndocumentedOrigins
This piece is dedicated to those who once aspired to be much more, but had to "make do" to make life happen instead: The LGBT activist, the doctor, the professional footballer, the journalist, the radio presenter, the florist and the Arts Curator. Leine-Marie