Three years after the murder of George Floyd, his death continues to have an impact both in the United States and internationally. In Ireland, it incited what has been considered a Black-Irish identity movement, spear-headed by the non-profit organization Black and Irish.
Black and Irish recently celebrated its third year anniversary. This multifaceted organization addresses issues of racism in Irish society — advocating for the inclusion and acceptance of Black Irish people. It all began with an Instagram account.
Born in Nigeria and raised in Ireland, Femi Bankole co-founded Black and Irish in 2020 in reaction to the murder of George Floyd. Bankole said he was not surprised by Floyd’s tragic passing because of the frequent news coverage of police brutality in America — what he didn’t expect was the global response that followed.
“It was weird because usually — this is not the first time a Black person died on screen in America. We see it all the time. I don’t know what it was about George Floyd — a mixture of things, I suppose — that kind of sparked everything," Bankole said.
Bankole said he saw “crazy” scenes on the news, from countries all over the world where people were coming together for the respect of Black lives.
“I just remember seeing images of protests — huge protests — in Pakistan and China. One of the Middle Eastern countries that was really war torn — I think it was Palestine — I will never forget that image. I was like, 'Oh my God, they’re being bombed on a regular basis and they still turned up,'” Bankole said.
According to Eric Ehigie, the political coordinator for Black and Irish, Floyd’s death led many people to feel like they finally had permission to speak out about racial discrimination.
“What it represented to the world at the time, was the phenomenon of racism stinging an individual. But the sting, I think, had a colossal impact because people metaphorically interpreted it as a sting against an entire community — domestically, regionally, globally," Ehigie said.
Jacinta Odoemene, the organization’s community outreach coordinator, said racism became a key topic of discussion in Ireland.
“Irish people kind of have that history of being oppressed, so the conversation around Irish people oppressing others in another capacity had never really been had. Does it happen, does it not happen in Ireland? What are Irish people’s views on racism in the Irish context?” Odoemene said.
Ehigie said the conversations that opened up became a liberating moment for Black and mixed-race people in Ireland.
“It was a moment to finally speak to what they had been experiencing and what their parents had been experiencing, and to shift the attention towards racism as it has manifested itself in Ireland and the impact that it has had,” Ehigie said.
The organization’s chief information officer, Pierre Yimbog, said racism in Ireland presents in less extreme ways, using microaggressions as an example. These can be slights, insults, putdowns, exclusionary and offensive behaviors in everyday interactions.
Yimbog said it’s important that people don’t get caught up in comparisons of racial discrimination.
“We don’t want people to be like, ah sure, it’s not as bad as it is in America or over in the U.K. There’s issues here that we have to challenge and deal with and definitely racism is one of them,” Yimbog said.
Trying to make sense of all that was going on is what inspired the creation of Black and Irish. Bankole and some of his friends found themselves — for the first time — sharing with each other the racially charged experiences they had growing up in Ireland.
“We thought, if we felt this elation and relief from that, maybe it would be good for other people to feel the same,” Bankole said.
Just nine days after Floyd’s passing, the Black and Irish Instagram account went live. It stated its mission is to highlight and celebrate the identity of Black Irish people by spreading awareness around the world of the experiences, struggles and successes of the Black Irish community.
Within 2 weeks the account gained over 20,000 followers and posted more than 40 personal stories sent in from Black Irish people.
“It was a really good lightning rod for the Black and mixed-race community within Ireland to talk about our issues, talk about our similar experiences and also celebrate our culture,” Bankole said.
With a growing audience, Black and Irish created a podcast of the same name just a few months later. In addition to personal stories, they also discuss topics such as systemic racism, politics, and representation. Most recently they've been spotlighting the achievements of Black Irish people in various industries.
Bankole said the organization uses storytelling as a means of connecting to the wider Irish society.
“Storytelling is ingrained in Irish culture. If you’re Irish you’re maybe more subjective to react positively to any sort of tale. Being Black and Irish, storytelling itself is intertwined with our identity, and what better modern medium to storytell than podcasting?” Bankole said.
And the storytelling continues to play an important part in all of the work they do.
“It’s kind of like bringing people along on a journey with you, reaching out through empathy rather than preaching at them,” Bankole said.
Today Black and Irish collaborates with schools, workplaces, businesses and other organizations in an effort to effect change and improve diversity and inclusion in society as a whole.
“Ireland is diversifying more and more. We live in a pluralist society where there's different people from various backgrounds coexisting within the one state. And I think in order to ensure peace and stability and progress and forward moving, we have to try and deepen that understanding," Ehigie said.
Black and Irish hopes to form a new concept of what it means to be Irish, one that is cohesive and inclusive to all it's citizens.
Extended Interviews
The following interviews have been edited for length and clarity.
