Assembly Speaker, 18 October
Ayo Akinwolere
In Monday's sixth form assembly, we were lucky enough to have a talk from Ayo Akinwolere. Ayo is an award-winning broadcaster and world record holding swimmer. Ayo has a very interesting story that resonated with many people in the sixth form. Ayo’s main focus of the talk was to try and get everyone to understand that other people’s stories matter and to understand who we all as individuals are in our very diverse and multicultural Britain.
Ayo came to the UK at the age of 8 from Nigeria, he was born to a doctor and a nurse and and his grandad was a very high profile and respected leader of the Methodist church in Nigeria. At age 7, when Ayo and his family were sleeping they woke up to the sound of crashing, 6 men holding machetes were ransacking their house. Ayo’s father had to plead for his life and luckily they were spared, however, the robbers took all their possessions and in doing so all their memories and their livelihood.
In December 1990, which was one of the coldest winters the UK had seen for years, Ayo and his family arrived in Birmingham. Ayo had been given an idea of Britain from what the colonies were told, however, the expectation was different from reality. Firstly, it was the first time they had seen snow and they didn’t expect it to be so cold, and, most disappointingly, he and his family were often victims of racial abuse. Ayo started primary school at St Mary’s and made friends by drawing pictures for his classmates as it was a way for him to integrate quickly. However, he quickly learned that Britain wasn’t all that it seemed, he was often made fun of because he ‘didn’t look like’ the majority of his peers and he was mercilessly teased about his surname, being called ‘Akinmalaria’ in place of Akinwolere. His parents brought their first home in Birmingham without realising it was in the most racist area of Birmingham; when they first moved in the national front spray painted on their door.
As he grew up Ayo realized that no one was really interested in who he was or what his ‘story’ was, primarily because it wasn't perceived as part of the British story, despite the fact that Nigeria had been a British colony for many years. Ayo soon learnt that their life in Nigeria didn’t matter in the UK and that he was going to have to build another story for himself. In secondary school, Ayo made friends by playing football and trying hard to fit in as he realised it was easier to be white British than Nigerian British as almost everyone in Birmingham was either white or Irish
But once he left school Ayo decided it was going to be his chance to rewrite his story. His first job was working as a presenter on Blue Peter, he was the first-ever black male presenter and he felt very proud to be representing the many young people who felt unrepresented. During his time at Blue Peter Ayo was nominated for 2 baftas, skydived over California, got his racing license and became a world record swimmer. He changed the history of swimming for black people as black people are 3 times less likely to swim than their white counterparts. Ayo learnt to swim at 28 as it wasn't part of his family growing up, he told his producers this and they collectively decided it would be a challenge for him to swim across the deepest stretch of ocean, the Mariana Trench, in the pacific ocean which at its shallowest point is 11 miles deep and 8km across. He learnt to swim in 10 weeks and then swam across the stretch in 3 hours. He told us that as a Blue Peter presenter there is always the expectation that you can't fail and he felt a weight on his shoulders, especially in terms of representing young black people and to show them that everything is possible. On the day of the challenge, the swell was 30 feet high and, despite his fear, he looked into a mirror and told himself he could do it and he was also spurred along by letters and messages from people showing support and encouraging him to complete the challenge. Ayo did the swim and set a world record.
After achieving this title he decided to continue his work and set up a swim challenge to encourage other people to learn to swim which focused on combating the fear of swimming. He organised a diverse group of people of different ages and ethnicities and reworked the way swimming is taught.. Eight of the people in this group then joined him in the Great North Swim. This swim challenge was a new concept that had never been seen in the swimming world before so Ayo took the idea to Speedo who gave him 10 thousand pounds to help fund the project to help more people. Ayo’s message was that he believed in himself and overcame the obstacles even when things didn't always go to plan.
Ayo now works for channel 4, the premier league and Europa league. He became the first ever black rugby host, and worked on it for 3 years. He wanted to present rugby in a way that had never been done before, and showed us a very funny clip; his aim was to make rugby coverage more entertaining and to hopefully bring in a new audience. He said that there are still barriers in terms of being black in the media - when he pitched doing a documentary series he was told ‘There’s already Reggie Yates’ - but ultimately he believed in himself and his story and he saw value in it which meant doors were opened. His main message throughout the talk was you have to value your own story but also those that aren’t like yours and open doors for others who don't look like you and believe and value their stories as much as they value yours.
The talk was then opened up to questions:
‘Have people been less biased to your [Ayo] in the industry as he found his place?’
His answer was that some people do what they have to do to keep their jobs, but lots are striving to do better. The industry is evolving now recognising they need more people of colour to represent the diverse audience. He says it is no coincidence that he was asked to host the rugby and has been asked to present by CBS in America. He believes he now has the power to start changing the way the industry works and bridge the divide. He has been doing it for many years now and therefore has earned his place and won awards so he’s trying to get the most out of it in terms of having more black people working in the industry.
How can you make an active effort to be diverse?
Ayo said that you can work with companies that are trying to be more culturally aware and understand what a multi ethnic workplace should look like, without unsaid biases. Organisations need to be diverse so other groups and ethnicities can bring ideas to the table and work collectively on improving the opportunities for and the representation of young black people. There were many many more questions and a number of students approached Ayo at the end of the assembly to carry on the discussion.
Before he left he looked around the room and told us that diverse communities like Camden School for Girls are not as common out in the real world and that we should all think about what we as individuals could do to open doors to others and increase diversity.
It was a compelling and thought-provoking talk!