#0055 Self-Advocacy Matters

Hey Loved One,

I was humbled on Friday. I worked alongside the amazing team at the Royal Albert Hall to install The Ascension Years, a collection of rarely seen images taken by photographer and documentarian Tee Max.

Some of you might have read my piece How One Ask Ended at the Royal Albert Hall: How I took a voice note and turned it into a legacy moment on a global stage from a few weeks ago. Having RAH back the exhibition was already a huge achievement. But to discover it's the first exhibition of all Black, Hip Hop and R&B musicians at the venue actually moved me to tears.

It is a continued manifestation of what my work has been since I started TGRG's talent division in 2019: to be a force for artists and be a part of building their legacy.

This exhibition is unprecedented and has been since I brokered a version of it to appear at Black Cultural Archives two years ago. Interestingly, very few featured—from Beyoncé to Usher—have ever appeared at the venue itself.

As the works went up and we started to see people visibly admire and ask questions, two reactions stood out to me.

One of the young white men installing became introduced to the artists for the first time. "Forgive me," he said, "I grew up in Devon, so we never saw this."

Another mature Black man, in his sixties, browsed through the images and recognised a few choice faces. He then asked, "Is it Black History Month already?"

The two stories illustrate that the exhibition goes way further than pictures in a frame. It already captures the legacy of some of the biggest artists in the world: Nas, Method Man, Biggie, Toni Braxton. But it also continues to introduce them to new audiences.

And it shows how we've been conditioned by institutional and systemic erasure to think we’re only allowed to see ourselves during certain times of the year.

And no matter how you feel about Black History Month, how fatigued you may be by it, Ghanaian-born activist Akyaaba Addai-Sebo had to make an intentional effort to make it happen.

As I've discussed a lot over the last couple of weeks, we tend to devalue the things that seem to be the "norm" because we don't remember a time where they didn’t exist and had to be fought for.

For me and my business, TGRG, building this opportunity was already a massive achievement. But seeing our brand and co-producer credit on the intro card was such a deep moment of acknowledgement, such a representation of self-advocacy and such a win.

I've worked in our community for years with some of the biggest and most recognisably Black brands and organisations. I've been there when they were a whisper of an idea and worked to help lay foundations. In some spaces, evidence of my presence still exists, where people now take selfies to remember their visits to the place.

But my focus has always been on the work and elevating people, never on myself. Contribution always felt like the reward and I would know that I did the work.

But you know what? I never leveraged those positions to serve me. Because one: I thought there was something valiant in being humble. And two: honestly, I never advocated for myself because I always believed I came second to "the cause" at the time.

I've finally learnt there's no honour in investing the best of your skills in others without leveraging something for yourself. Because people will take the best of you, if you're lucky extend a thank you, and then go on to continue to build on your contribution.

I do this work because I believe in the people and organisations I work with. I want them to succeed.

However, I'm now realising that another's success doesn't have to come at my sacrifice or my detriment. Nor does it mean I should allow myself to be left behind.

So if you're in London, come see it. It’s free and open until 3rd July at one of the world's most iconic venues.

As I walked the halls after the finished hang, I sighed and shook my head as I viewed the pictures. A RAH team member saw me and said, "You alright? Why the sighing and head shaking?"

I told him I was overwhelmed. I was seeing the culmination of eight months' worth of work.

He said, "Oh, congratulations darling."

Yeah, Juanita. You did this. You won.

Until next time,