#Shanice Mears

[spacemanheavy]

Reflecting on My Experience #BlackLivesMatter

It’s tiring. Almost every day seeing another black person being harassed by police, falsely imprisoned, or killed, and then thinking that it could’ve easily been me instead. I’ve had 2 encounters with the police. The first time, I wasn’t doing anything wrong but I wouldn’t let them catch me either. The second time, they stalked me on my way home because they didn’t think I lived in the neighbourhood I was living in at the time. There was an ex-police officer living opposite us, they checked with him and he confirmed my family was living there.

I’ve spent most of my life so far in the east of England in Colchester, Ipswich, and Norwich. The racism out here doesn’t surprise me. Since primary school, I have learned to expect it and adjust accordingly not just because of how racism can be unpredictable and covert but because if I retaliate, I’ll be the one blamed for being aggressive. I’ve experienced racist teachers, who try and set you up to fail in life. They don’t challenge you or even care enough to help you. Even other students, who they themselves don’t know the history of words like N*gger, but think it’s entertaining to repeat. I’ve been ridiculed, isolated, and ignored because I am Black. More recently, when I’m now trying to find employment, most people are awesome but I expect some form of racism because certain individuals are so used to a tainted way of thinking that they themselves don’t even know when they’re being racist. Promoting our Afronaut event has also opened my eyes to racist behavior in the local nightlife scene. it’s been a challenging experience to see how some of these venues and their customers treat us and our customers.

As someone who is aiming to operate in the creative sector, where the number of hired Black people seem to be decreasing on top of already being quite low, won’t be easy. Over the years I’ve been to numerous interviews in various cities, and I still haven’t been able to get the job I’ve been hoping for within the creative industry. Nothing has happened for me for years, so now I’m doing my masters in Digital Marketing to elevate my chances of getting a decent job. The jobs that I have had have required me to use some design skills, but not to their full potential.

In an open letter from the Adland, they acknowledged that more should be done to improve the number of Black people working within the sector and the challenges surrounding this issue.

"inequality is so ingrained within the fabric of society and our sector, this is a problem we need to take action on together to affect change."  -- Adland

However, the trust Black people have allocated to these creative agencies is and has always been low. There are plenty of creatives who despite having all the talents in multiple disciplines and possessing the ability to learn quickly in this ever evolving creative sector, feel like that wont get hired because they are Black. And when they do get hired they are more in awe of the fact that they made it this far whilst being black instead of it being about their hard work and talent.

"A mindset of "Thank God they picked me" – not because they fear they aren’t good enough, but because they fear being black would have set them back initially."  -- Shanice Mears

It’s not all bad. Despite this, we don’t give up. We are freelancers and individuals who have curated multiple creative outlets for Black people to express ourselves. I do my best to support other Black owned businesses, and I hope to continue to grow my client list to reflect that as well. Shanice Mears gets straight to the point with the importance of seeing company policy, actionable hiring methods (and the team doing it), retention schemes, and gender and Black, Asian and minority-ethnic pay-gap figures from agencies occupying the creative sector. It’s not enough to acknowledge to challenges we face. Details need to be provided on how steps are being made in the fight against racism and inequality within the creative space.

George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Eric Garner, Sandra Bland, Philando Castile, Trayvon Martin, and Michael Brown are amongst the countless lives that have been subject to police brutality and racism in an unjust and cruel system built on slavery. I wish all my Black people well, I hope we all succeed and find justice where we can, I hope that we continue to support each other and push one another to achieve great things. I hope we also don’t forget to address our physical and mental health issues to ensure that the following generations are aware and take action accordingly.

#StayActive #BlackLivesMatter

#BlackLivesMatter #black lives matter #George Floyd #Ahmaud Arbery #Breonna Taylor #Eric Garner #Sandra Bland #Philando Castile #Trayvon Martin #Michael Brown #Stay Active #Shanice Mears #inequality #racism #creative industry #creative sector

[bradfordzone]

Bradford divers Evie Webb and Holly Waxman have recently returned from the British Diving National Cup in Plymouth which finished on Sunday February 5. The event showcased the best of British diving talent as the focus switches to the start of qualifications for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

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L-R Holly Waxman (City of Bradford Esprit), Emily Martin, Lois Toulson

L-R Lois Toulson, Holly Waxman, Emily McArthur, Shanice Lobb

The competition has in the past featured the best divers in the country including Olympic Medallists such as Tom Daley, Dan Goodfellow, Jack Laugher and Chris Mears. The prestigious event is used as a qualifier for the World Cup and multiple senior and junior international events.

Both girls dive for the City of Bradford Esprit Club which works closely with Bradford Council’s Bradford Aquatics Competitive Diving Training Scheme.

They put in fantastic performances all week competing with the best divers in the country. Evie took part in both the Women’s One and Three Metre Springboard Events and performed well placing 10th in the one metre event and 9th in the three metre, narrowly missing out by 1.95 points.

Holly aged 14 stole the show with a blinding performance in the Women’s Open Platform Event, where she showcased advanced 10 metre dives often performed by senior athletes.

She wowed everyone by placing 4th overall and was ranked 2nd top Junior diver in the country! A very impressive feat bearing in mind she was the youngest diver in the event. To top those achievements she also managed to rank higher than Rio Olympian Lois Toulson.

Coun Sarah Ferriby, Bradford Council Executive Member For Environment, Sport and Culture Said: “This was a great week all round for the City of Bradford Esprit Diving Club and we are pleased to support these athletes. They each achieved something to be very proud of. If they keep progressing at this rate they have some very exciting prospects for the future.”

Head Coach at the City of Bradford Esprit Diving Club, Joe Meszaros, said “Both girls have done brilliantly this week, especially as they are still relatively new to this level of competition. The achievements shown by these athletes is outstanding and I feel extremely proud to be a part of their development. The girls have definitely made an impact and I look forward to seeing them excel even further.”

Both girls along with the rest of the team will now focus their attention towards their next event the City of Leeds Diving G-Star Championships taking place in Leeds in March.

Bradford Council’s Sports and Leisure Service are offering week long courses throughout the February half term at Shipley Pool for anyone wanting to learn how to dive. All abilities are welcome. Contact 01274 437162 to book a place or for more information.

Divers at the City of Bradford Esprit Diving Club train and are coached by Bradford Council’s Bradford Aquatics and this partnership has, year on year, produced diving champions at all levels in the Junior National Championships.

Bradford divers wow at national cup Bradford divers Evie Webb and Holly Waxman have recently returned from the British Diving National Cup in Plymouth which finished on Sunday February 5.

#british diving national cup #evie webb #holly waxman