Meet the Woman Determined to Spotlight the UK’s Overlooked Ethnic Minority Champions
CIC sat down for a chat with Ngozi Okure, the founder of They Did I Can Too, to hear more about her mission to bring inspiring figures – both past and present – out of the shadows, celebrate their achievements, and inspire others from similar backgrounds.
They Did I Can Too Founder, Ngozi Okorie
The seed for the idea that became They Did I Can Too – a platform showcasing the important historical contributions of ethnic minority individuals in the UK – was first planted when founder Ngozi Okure was walking down Queens Road in Peckham. “I saw this grayscale sign, an old photograph – and it was of someone called Dr. Harold Moody who used to live on Queens Road,” she says.
“I THINK THERE’S ALWAYS THE QUESTION AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE OF, ‘HOW DO I GET TO THIS POSITION?’ AND HEARING THOSE QUESTIONS, WE WANTED TO PUT SOMETHING OUT THERE FOR THE YOUNGER PEOPLE WHO WANT TO HEAR, NOT NECESSARILY EVEN FROM
SOMEBODY WHO’S ACHIEVED GREAT HEIGHTS OR GOT TO THAT PEDESTAL, BUT MORE JUST – HOW DID THIS PERSON GET TO THAT NEXT STAGE?”
Her interest was piqued – wanting to know more, she went home and began researching. “I did the old Google search,” she smiles, “and it was really fascinating! He came from Jamaica to the UK in the early 1900s and had done such fantastic work for the community – he was a doctor, he was also the founder of the League of Coloured People which was, in effect, Britain’s first civil rights organisation. And I just found it really strange that I didn't hear about him at school.”
Learning about Dr. Harold Moody got her wondering about how many other impressive historical figures from ethnic minority backgrounds may have also been left to slip into obscurity through passive omission. “I was going on this mission of wanting to find out about these individuals, and just collecting this information,” she explains. “And I decided I wanted to put it out there! So the website was born from really just wanting to highlight these individuals, who we call champions – and whether it's on a local level, country level, international level, they are all champions as far as we’re concerned!”
For Ngozi, who was born, raised and educated in the UK, only finding out about these individuals as an adult also highlighted the importance of representation for young people - many of whom are starting to think about what they want to do with their lives, and looking around for role models they can relate to.
“I think there's always the question among young people of, ‘how do I get to this position?’ or ‘how did they get to that position?’” she says. “And hearing those questions, we wanted to put something out there for the younger people who want to hear, not necessarily even from somebody who’s achieved great heights or got to that pedestal, but more just – how did this person get to that next stage?”
This gave her the idea of interviewing some of the individuals from minority ethnic backgrounds who are at that ‘next stage’, across a number of different professions, and platforming them and their career journeys on the website too. “Something that was interesting, that came up a lot in these interviews, was how they actually overcame certain situations and obstacles,” she says. “As somebody who is from a minority ethnic background, it's not always so common to see people who look like you. So finding out how individuals who are in those situations or those environments coped is really helpful.”
As a solo founder dedicated to getting these stories out to a wider audience, Ngozi says that the help she received from CIC member Disha Vashwani – who partnered with her to create a social media strategy and templates for They Did I Can Too – was really helpful. “We worked well together, because previously, I was very much focused on the website,” she says. “But in our discussions it became more apparent to me that because of the environment that we’re in and the importance of social media, focusing on that aspect is really important.”
She appreciated the chance, she says, to take a step back, consider the vision, and look at the bigger picture. “As a solo entrepreneur, sometimes you can be so caught up in what’s happening day to day,” she explains. “Working with Creative Impact Club, and Disha, gives me an opportunity to be more expansive with what's needed and what I could be looking at. Having other ideas and perspectives, and having that support, because it can be a bitoverwhelming when it's just one person.”
Considering the future, she smiles before adding, “it means that I can focus on moving forward on a strategic level, in terms of the bigger picture rather than the smaller details.”
They Did I Can Too showcases the historical contributions made by Black, Asian and Mixed Race individuals here in the UK, many of whom we are not taught about or made aware of in mainstream education: acknowledging the Champions who are far too often overlooked in mainstream UK history classes.
Website: https://www.theydidicantoo.org
Instagram: @theydidicantoo