By Grace Okereke
In March 2020 the UK came to a grinding halt. Seemingly overnight we closed our borders, we stayed in our homes, and we shut ourselves off from “normal” daily interactions. Lockdown had begun and the whole country was affected. Amidst the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, there were other crises occurring that created outrage and highlighted long-standing injustices. Discussions around climate change continued, Brexit was nearing, and the #MeToo movement continued to highlight the sexism and dangers in the workplace women still endured. But the largest discussion centred around the Black Lives Matter movement, with several killings by American police officers of black people in the United States. There was a mountain of emotions being felt by millions of people: uncertainty, hurt, anger, pain, exhaustion, resignation and everything in-between.
During the period between 2020 and 2021 I earned the most money I had ever made in my career up until that point. Let’s be clear, I was not a high earner, but compared to the laughably low income I was making, it jumped up dramatically. Approximately one-third of that income was through, what I consider, buy-in of who I am – a black female in the dance sector. I was experiencing something I had never encountered before – popularity. For the first time, I was being listened to, being asked for advice and being asked to support others. Uprise Rebel was legally formed the year before, but my mission and Uprise’s ethos started seven years previously. By 2020, I had already spent 16 years in arts management and 20 or so years in the dance sector, so I was, and am, a qualified voice in this arena. But up until that point I was used to being invisible and working incredibly hard to be seen; being quietly successful – and I was successful.
A lot of people feel this way, especially when they’re not “the desired” – not the desired style, not the desired aesthetics. However, you are needed occasionally, so you are placed in a box, only to be opened when it’s time to fill a quota. And when that box is opened, there seems to be no issues in infantilising you or making it clear that you won’t reach the standards of the higher echelon that those gatekeepers keep so tightly guarded. That was and still is the reality I operate in, and I would be considered one of the more successful arts managers. But I see it and quietly take note.
I was having a conversation with one of the Uprise Rebel artists and she made a comment that in working as a global majority woman there seems to be a desire to see work from us that leads with our trauma. As if we cannot be humans with a range of emotions, experiences and desires, without making our trauma part of our entertainment.
As a black woman I have learned how to play roles. I learned to suppress my voice, whilst simultaneously trying to speak up, because we know it’s not what you say, but how you say it that matters. But what also matters is who is saying it, as some of us don’t stand a chance of being heard, because we are not “the desired”. Nor are we the ones creating the list of desirables. However, there are times when we will be heard – specifically when there is a crisis at hand, and we happen to fall into the category of the victims of outrage. Then our voices are heard. How long for is unknown, but what is known is that time is limited.
So, whilst I am being listened to, I want to say this:
We are not homogenous peoples with monolithic histories.
We do not all deserve disrespect because you dislike one person from our ethnic group.
We do not all deserve disrespect because you do not like one person from our gender.
We do not deserve to fear for our safety, every single time we leave our homes.
We deserve to be compensated just as much, and at times more, because we work so much harder.
You do not need to go out of your way to make me feel comfortable – you need to go out of your way to curb the behaviours that make me uncomfortable. These two things are not interchangeable.
We deserve to be protected.
We deserve much more than has been “granted” to us so far.
Grace Okereke
Grace Okereke is Founder and Executive Producer of Uprise Rebel and has been in the dance sector for over two decades. Her career has evolved from performer and teacher to manager, with the latter being the predominant role. She founded her own company, Uprise Rebel, which supports Black and Global Majority female choreographers and administrators, as well as developing inclusive audiences. The overarching aim is to challenge the structures and hierarchical archetype currently in place, and to set a new paradigm for the representative faces of the contemporary dance sector.
Outside of her work with Uprise Rebel, she is an independent producer and has worked with organisations including FABRIC, Birmingham International Dance Festival, Horizon Showcase, Diverse City and One Dance UK. She holds a Fellowship with ISPA representing England. www.upriserebel.com