Seventy Years of Struggle and Achievement

Prof Meena Upadhyaya OBE obtained her PhD from Cardiff University and completed a fellowship with the Royal College of Pathologists (RCPath). She is a Fellow and Council member for the Learned Society of Wales and the Royal College of Pathologists. She is an avid advocate for promoting equality, diversity, community cohesion, and integration. She is the founder and Chair of the Ethnic Minority Welsh Women Achievement Association (EMWWAA) and the Ethnic Minority Women in Welsh Healthcare (EMWWH).Prof Chris Weedon has taught in the UK and Germany and currently teaches at Cardiff University since 1984. In 2010 she announced £4m funding for a project on multiculturalism at Cardiff University that would fund four PhD students, and the research would look at the challenges to culture for both white and black citizens.Kirsten Lavine is an author, editor, teacher and oral historian originally from Canada. For over twenty years, she has worked extensively on a variety of oral and local history projects and publications throughout the UK. A keen traveller and a passionate supporter of wildlife, Kirsten currently divides her time between Canada and the UK.

• Introduction 1Voice for the voiceless 5Raise Your Gaze – Uzo Iwobi 7Speaker for the Voiceless – Hilary Brown 13Existing, Resisting and Thriving – Shavanah Taj 18Crafting Independence – Martha Holman 24Compassionate Courage – Maria Mesa 30The Power Within – Susan Cousins 35From Pain to Power – Rachel McDonald 41Inspiring Change – Samsunear Ali 46Joyful Giving – Poranee James 51A Place of Refuge – Chetna Sinha 56Selfbelief 59Future Potentials – Meena Upadhyaya 61Learning Curves – Chantal Patel 68Game Changing – Gaynor Legall 73Spirited Storytelling – Chandrika Joshi 78Promises from the Heart – Indu Deglurkar 83Healthy Living – Kamila Hawthorne 89Pioneering Public Health Genomics – Layla Jader 94The Way to the Future – Loren Henry 98Landing on her Feet – Kiran Ratna 103The Call of Music – Sarita Pawar 109Inspiring others 113Soulful Resonance – Patti Flynn 115Delivering Justice – Justna Muhith 120Enacting Positive Change – Rocio Cifuentes 125Life Flow – Madhvi Dalal 130Positive Educational Exchange – Christina Roy 136Shining a Light on Culture – Wai Fong Lee 141Supportive Strength – Wanjiku NgothoMbugua 145Giving Life – Vernesta Cyril 150Gifts of Learning – Grace Kerry 153Joyful Harmony – Sunita Menon 158Forging one’s path 163The Culture of Creativity – Leanne Rahman 165Vocalising Strength – Humie Webbe 171Music from the Heart – Banani Sinha Ray 177The Challenge of Equality – Aliya Mohammed 182Youthful Engagement – Alka Ahuja 188In the Spirit of Learning – Norma Glass 193A World of Healthy Diversity – Diana De 197Portuguese Flavours – Iolanda Banu Viegas 203Strength in Diversity – Abi Lasebikan 207Developing care – Versha Sood 211List of judges 215About Nazma Ali 221

When twenty-three-year-old Uzo Iwobi arrived in Swansea from Mbano, Nigeria, armed with a law degree and eager to forge a career in her field, she was told by a Job Centre officer that local law firms would never employ her because she was black. An example of racism from the fifties or early sixties? No, this was 1992, a quarter of a century after the UK’s first Race Relations Act. Yet – as many of these stories demonstrate – you can’t keep a good woman down. Today, Iwobi is a solicitor specialising in equalities law, with an impressive CV that includes Welsh Government adviser on equalities. Iwobi is also one of forty black and ethnic minority women achievers who feature in this landmark book, each of whom has made a significant contribution to Welsh life.With vocations as diverse as their cultural backgrounds, the collection includes an educational psychologist, a trade union leader, a dentist and storyteller, the CEO of a race equality organisation, lawyers and teachers, doctors and nurses, singers and dancers, community leaders and social workers. Some arrived here as immigrants from Africa, the Far East, South America or the Indian sub-continent. While others – born in Wales or elsewhere in the UK – represent the second or third generation of the African-Caribbean diaspora. Two are the children of refugees, from Chile and Uganda respectively. Some are of mixed-race heritage, reflecting the cultural diversity of Wales (and the UK). To this white reviewer, the women’s lived experiences of racism – either subtle, overt, or downright vicious – can make disturbing reading. (Although I suspect few BAME readers would be surprised.) Yet the obstacles they faced, and overcame, make their stories all the more remarkable.‘I had to work twice as hard, if not more, to be recognised,’ says Meena Upadhyaya, a professor in medical genetics. Originally from India, Upadhyaya came to Britain with her husband when in her twenties. ‘I had no ambitions whatsoever,’ she says, ‘and thought I would follow the footsteps of my older sisters who were very proud to be housewives.’In 2008, almost forty years after coming to the UK, Meena was shortlisted for the Welsh Woman of the Year award. During the ceremony, her surprise at seeing so few women from an Asian background led to a light-bulb moment; there should also be an awards ceremony for Welsh women of Asian origin, she decided. When this idea was later broadened to include all BAME women in Wales, the Ethnic Minority Welsh Women Achievement Award (EMWWAA) was born. The women in this book are all recipients of, or were shortlisted for, this award.BAME communities – and BAME women in particular – are far too often overlooked. It is pleasing, then, to see so many remarkable BAME women marked and celebrated. And this gloriously glossy coffee-table book has done them proud. Packed with beautiful photographs and fascinating (mostly first-person) life stories, it makes an enduring tribute to a group of truly inspiring women. It is a book to be cherished.