Celebrating Black History Beyond October

Culture should not wait for a calendar. We dive into how to live Black History Month every day through what we wear, cook, say, and teach so identity becomes a steady practice rather than a themed moment. From a colourful Ashoke suit in a boardroom to a pot of jollof shared at work, we unpack the small choices that open big conversations and build real respect.

We talk about food as a bridge, turning a simple “bring and share” into a living classroom where recipes map history and ingredients teach geography. We explore Afro hair with honesty and humour, from shrinkage to protective styles, and how caring for coils in winter is both health and heritage. Fashion becomes reclamation as we pair Ankara with corporate basics, use accessories when dress codes are tight, and explain the pattern stories woven into our fabrics. Along the way, we share family rituals around weddings, the meaning of bride price as honour, and how names like Abiauyua or Ayo carry courage, wealth, and joy into daily life.

We also face hard history with clarity, naming the betrayals that fed slavery while insisting that memory becomes a compass, not a cage. That stance helps us bridge two worlds diaspora life and African roots without apology: speaking clearly while keeping our accents, choosing integrity over erasure, and teaching our kids about contemporary African excellence in business, literature, medicine, and art. If you have felt yourself drifting from your roots, this conversation offers gentle prompts and practical steps to reweave home into your week.

Subscribe, share with someone who needs this reminder, and leave a review telling us one tradition you’re bringing back into your daily life. Your story might be the spark that helps another listener stay rooted.

Chapters

• 0:00 Wearing African Identity With Pride
• 0:47 Subscribe And Support Our Mission
• 2:22 Why Black History Month Matters
• 5:45 Food As Culture And Conversation
• 9:18 Teaching Through Taste In Schools
• 12:15 Hair, Confidence And Care
• 16:20 Afro Fashion Goes Corporate
• 20:25 Heritage, Weddings And Respect
• 23:32 Countering Negative Narratives
• 26:00 Bridging Two Worlds With Integrity

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

In diaspora, many of us have learned to just wear just uh westernized clothes. But you know, the Asian people they still wear their African clothes. So let us support our made in Africa where support them because right now there are good quality of clothes out there that you can even wear to the corporate spaces. I wear it to corporate events, I wear it to work, um, I go to school sometimes, educational places, and I wear my African print. Is the way you combine it? That's what matter. Now I'm not telling you to go and wear Bobani or to work. I don't know how you're going to explain that one, but I'm just saying it is good for us to incorporate our Africaners in what we do. I just want to ask you a favor to subscribe, like, and share to your friends, your neighbor, your colleagues, your family, your friends, and everybody that we love. And I'm really working hard to ensure that I bring useful and valuable information that will help you with your mental and emotional well-being so that you begin to thrive authentically. You know, a lot of us will feel we have to wait until something happens before we become reactive. But with this podcast, I'm trying to give you information that will make you proactive so you don't even have anything to react to in the end because you are looking after yourself properly. So, what are you waiting for? If you have been listening, please like, share, comment on anything that resonates with you. This will help to drive our visibility. And also, if there is any other topic that we have discussed that has been a trigger or that you feel you need support with, please visit www.aseultancy.com. There is a 15-minute free consultation link that you can click on right there and book to speak to one of our consultants. Thank you so much for helping to drive visibility to this platform. And also if you have been listening on Apple, Spotify, Audible, and every other um podcast um platform there. Please follow us and keep sharing. Thank you. Thank you so much. Back to the program now. Welcome back to the Authentic Driving Podcast. So, on today's episode, I am going to be doing this episode in honor of the Black History Month. You all know me. I love my identity as an African. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. So I want us to have a heart to heart talk about how we celebrate Black History Month. What does it even mean? Why do we need to celebrate the Black History Month? And why do we have to wait till October to celebrate the Black History Month? You may say you don't have to wait till October every year to celebrate the Black History Month. However, it is your duty, it is my duty to raise awareness of what it means to be an African. It is our opportunity for us to educate our colleagues, for us to educate, you know, our friends that are not Africans, and it's also an opportunity for us to be celebrated in our schools, in our colleges, in our offices as well, in our business spaces. So this is you know, different days have different celebrations. You have the breast cancer awareness month, you have the um the women's international women's day, you have the different awareness day. So why can't we have the Black History Month as well? So we are going to be talking about how we honor Black History Month. For me, it is quite deep because Black History Month for me is not just about what our ancestors endured. It's not about slave trade for me. It's also for me, it is about how we show up as an African. But this is an opportunity for me to say, I'm an African, I've got integrity, I'm an African, I am talented, I am versatile, I'm an African, I am bold, I am happy, I'm an African, I'm creative, I am productive, I'm an African, I carry value and I bring value. We are not thriving, we can coexist and also do things together if done in the right way. It's about how we use our language, our culture to enrich our everyday life. Black History Month for me is a time where I just want to tell everybody. Like, for example, recently my sister and I were having a discussion and then she was really excited. I said, What is going on? She told me about how she took some African food to work on a Friday. She took some jello fries, some snacks, like um meat pie, puff puff, and things like that. She got an email of appreciation from a colleague telling her that the pastry was beautiful, was delicious, telling her that, oh my goodness, Addy, this is so nice. It made people realize that wow, African delicacy is delicious. And she said she was so happy. It opened up conversations for her to talk about the ingredients, to talk about the recipe, to talk about things in a way. Now, they may have had pastries before, but our African meat pie is different. You know that, and I know that. So that is what we're talking about. What are you doing in your space, or what did you do in your space to showcase or to promote awareness about black history months? Now I'm going to talk about my own journey. I remember when I used to work in the educational setting predominantly, and every October, I will ensure that I incorporate African cooking into the curriculum, and the teacher, thank God, was so in tune with it. She agreed to that. We will make all sorts of things, and my colleagues would just come to my classroom at the end of the day and just be trying different things. I remember we made puff puff puff, we made chin chin, we made um cholof rice, and we made all sorts of things. And I remember one of the child asked me, how come all of your most of your delicacies are repeated? I was like, what do you mean repeated? Was that puff, puff, chin chin, moi, moy? That was when it dawned on me that, oh, I see, that is true, that is so true. That is absolutely true. I said they do that so that you can learn how to pronounce the word properly. So which meal are you taking to work when you organize your bring and share? Are you going to plan a bring and share to work? Whereby people bring food from your customers to give you time to share stories of the recipe, of how it was formulated, it will give you time to talk about the ingredients that we use, how rich it is. It will give you time to talk about why the food is special to you as an African. Even though rice is rice universally, however, the method of preparation transforms it into different cultural delicacies that different people can say this is from Africa, Bahela is from Spain, Risotto is from Italy, and Briani is rice delicacies from the Asian community, whether it be Indian or Pakistani, but you love rice is from the African region. So this is where you tell your story. I don't know what you're doing, but I feel I need to encourage you to talk about us, share our story in a positive light, that people begin to respect us, people begin to understand us because what people do not understand, they tend to demonize it or decommonize it. They don't hold it as something that is of value. It is your responsibility, it is my responsibility to put Africa in the map. Now, what about your hairstyle? How are you styling your hair to you know to portray that Africaness? You might decide to go with the locks like me, you can decide to texturize your hair, you can decide to braid it with different colors, you can decide to cornroll it, you can decide to plot it, you can decide to do banco nut. Whatever you decide to do, even when you have those wings and all of those things on, you can still style it the African way and accessorize it. Use lovely African accessories, whether be in your earring, whether it in your headgear, or maybe in your hands, it is up to you. But bring a bit of Africaness into your air styling or the way you wrap your hair, it is okay. Now, our air journey reflects or shows sometimes where we are at at the minute of our life. There's some people that can't be bothered with their hair. It just shows that at this point they are not in a good place. When you are in a good place, your hair has a way of telling the story. It has a way of telling the story. Now I chose to lock my hair in order for me to embrace my root without any force, without any filter, without fighting with my natural afro hair. Or should I tie up today or should I tie it down? You all know the battles that we face when we have those 4A, 4B, or 4C air, and you're trying to style it. Sometimes the hair will cooperate. Other times it doesn't cooperate. Can you relate? Have you ever struggled with your Afro hair while you're trying to get ready for work and you get tired and you just plait it down and wear a wig instead because you can be bothered with the fighting of your hair? Or have you find it amazing? You've just blue-dry your hair, and then the next day that, oh yeah, the Afro was nice. Yes, let me bring that again. And you'll be taught a lesson by the shrinkage. The air will just go flat on you. So, whatever way, try and make sure you show up telling the stories. I know my hair has opened me up to tell different stories about different L air type that the Africans have. The Afro air is not always the same. You have the 4A, you have the 4B, you have the 4C. Like me, I'm a 4C, it's a little bit coarse, and when you touch it, can be a bit spongy as well. So you have to know how to care for your hair. Now we are in the winter season in the UK. If you live in a diaspora, how do you care for your hair? In order for it to be more malleable for you, in order for it to grow well and be healthy. How are you doing that? Look into hair treatment that will suit your hair, you know, but make sure it's nothing too heavy that will hinder your scalp from growing your hair really fast. If you have any um frontal problem, maybe your hair is receding or is breaking out of the front, try to look for good natural hair material um hair cream that will help your hair to grow. I've noticed that since I've locked my hair, my hair front is better. So because I'm no longer combing, you know, stretching and all texturizing and all of the stuff, so my hairline is even better now. So I'm really, really grateful for that. You need to find out what will make your hair to grow well and be healthy. It doesn't matter the style you decide to go for, as long as your hair is healthy. Our hair as a way of also boosting our confidence as well. Our hair is our crown and our glory. So make sure you embrace your African hair the best way possible for you that will not cost you any stress. Now let's talk about the uh the fashion, Afro fashion. I've noticed a trend recently. The Ashoke. I remember the first time I wore Ashoke was a short boba and then a short wrapper that you tie to your knee. I wore it for my friend's sister's wedding. And I was feeling so uh, I was feeling so good, a proper wedding guest, it was so nice because I didn't want to wear the full Euro and Boba. I didn't know how to tie those two pieces, so this one was well up my straight. However, the new trend now of them using Ashoki to sew like a suit piece and different also. Who would have thought? Who would have thought? I'm sure Mama Nikki Nikkei will be very, very Nikke Davis will be very, very proud of what is going on, and I'm very, very sure that more ladies will have more job in making the ashoke now. Now that it has become trendy, you can make it as a dress, you can make it as um those um combat trousers, you can make it as a suit, you can make it as a dungrist. I saw a dongress one. How are you rocking your African print? Are you waiting for when you have a wedding or a big minister party to rock your African wear? You can wear your African clothes in various ways that it becomes so stylish. You can decide to just wear it like this, or wear a sleeve inside, or wear a jacket on it. It is up to you. You can rock your African print now that they have made African print so nice, in the sense that you can wear it as a suit, you can wear it as a skirt, you can wear it as a corporate wear to work. I normally wear some of my African top to work, so maybe it is the time that you start wearing your African print to work. And if you're saying Sonia, it's too cool to wear African print, wear it in layers. That's what I do. So, no excuse. Wear it in layers, earrings, you can use, you can wear some African earrings, you can accessorize it as well as a bag in different ways, and you can do it. Even some people have it in shoes, in beds, in hair gears, and all of that stuff. It's so important that you begin to, you know, wear these things. It tells a story. Whenever I wear it, they're like, Oh, Sonia, you're always looking so colorful. I bet it's an African print. And I say, Yeah, you guess it right. It is an African print, and it carries so much memory. Sometimes if it's tie and die like this one, I begin to explain to them, you know, I know you guys know about tie and die, but they have meanings to the way we interpret our the way we tie, do our tie and die. Some of them have some cultural meanings to it, some of the patterns represent certain things. And we begin to talk about it like, oh wow, Africa is so rich in culture. Fashion for us is a reclamation, it's a way of saying, I remember when people do our celebrations, like weddings. Like I tell my children, like we have two cultures in my house in my home, the Beni culture and the Yoruba culture. So I tell my daughters, if you're getting married, your husband, I don't care where he's from, he's going to lie down flat on his face, portray in respect to beg for your hand in marriage. I'm like, this is so good. And when it's time for you to change, you're gonna wear two attires. We talk about it. And like, mommy said, Is there any need for that? What's the meaning of the pride price? Is that not like selling me? I said, no, it is not selling you, it is about the honor and the respect because the money is paying, it's not enough that we used to bring you up the expenses, but it is a cultural thing to show that this is a valuable person that I'm taking off your hand and integrating into my family. I will honor her, I will look after her, I will care for her, I will love her, and also show that you have people around you who care. You are not a homeless person, you are not just a wanderer, you came from somewhere, you came from a root. It is your culture in action. And when I begin to show them videos, God bless them in YouTube of weddings, they're like, oh wow, it's so beautiful, it's so nice, it's so it's so good. Now let's come back home. There are people that are making good names for Africa, the Ibukua, the Mama Ungoze. There are loads of them. Okay, there are loads of them. The kosharis man, there are loads of business people, there are loads of the young ones, Shimamanda, there are loads of them that are making waves. We need to talk about them, not allow our children to be polluted with the negativity about Africa that they are suffering. It's not everybody in Africa that is suffering. We know the disparity between the rich and the poor is more, but that is not the full story of Africa. We need to use this opportunity to keep our children rooted in our rich and vibrant culture. They are prince and princesses that are loved and respected. You need to tell them the stories, help them to be rooted. We do all of these things. Be rooted in who we are doesn't mean that we cancel the past, or doesn't mean that we are we bring the grievances of the past to the present. No, it means that we carry the past with honor. Why stand tall in the present? It means that we celebrate our past, we honor it, but we also learn lessons of learn from the past mistake of what happened. How do we be able to penetrate and begin the slave trading? It was betrayal, it was hurt. If we didn't sell ourselves, that slave trade wouldn't have happened. If people were not greedy, that slave trade wouldn't have happened. People were selling their people for the slave trade to start and to become a flourishing business. If we are stuck together, if we are stuck together in loyalty, in truth, and in harmony, that wouldn't have happened. So it's Lenin saying, don't betray people, have integrity, be loyal. We need to talk about how to bridge our two words. We may live in the Western world now, but our root is that we are Africans and we are good people, we are hard-working people, we are smart working people. Talk about the inventions that people have invented in Africa. Speak about it. Speak about our contribution to the global inventions in the world. Doctors that are operating on people and then finish the operation on the baby, put the baby back again. That was a black man that did that. There's a surgeon in America as well. Is a black man that has also done is qualified as someone that can do the, is it the art and other one other major operation? Okay, as that as Africans living in diaspora, we walk in two words. One that has taught us to survive, and other one that has called us to self-identity, self-acceptance. Being rooted means we learn to merge our two words without disrespecting none, but honor both of them, learn from it and build on both of them in order for us to be rooted. Wearing our locks to the board, wearing our African print to meetings, pairing our African teams with their name, with our plain trousers, owning our accent and not trying, as long as our addictions are good, naming our children with names. That's another one again. What is the meaning of your name? You that is listening to me right now, what does it mean? My name is Abiayua Sonia. Abiayua means born into wealth. So what that means, I always tell people, I never ever struggle. Because even when those challenges come financially, I remember who I am. My name is Abiawa. What that means is that the wealth that I needed in my lifetime was already here waiting for me. So if I do experience a bit of a dip, what I do is to reassure myself with the mindset that it's only a matter of time. The abundance will come, and through what I need, God always has a way of providing it for me. Your name speaks for you. What is your name? Sonia also means wisdom, wisdom as well. So I know Abewa is the African one, but your name speaks for you. So learning to you know call call forth your name and say, This is who I am. You know, what is your name? Speak your name. If your name is Ayo, is joy. If your name is um is also wealth, what is your name? If your name is Itoah, it's mercy. Pray with your name. Learn to, you know, just appreciate your name. It is so so good. Use your Africaness to build resistance, to build healing, to build authenticity. It is so important that we do that. So as I have encouraged you to celebrate Black History Month, not just in October, but to remain authentic with who you are. I want to remind you that our roots are not relics. They are living, breeding reminders of strength, artistry, identity. So let us take time to honor it with our fishes. Wear the outfits that makes you feel royal. Cook that meal that reminds you of your grandmother's recipe. Play that song that carried the rhythm of family, abundant time. Touch your hair and remind yourself it is beauty, there is strength in it. It might be hard to manage sometimes, but there is strength in it as you do this. I want you to also remember that if you are able to build your identity in your root, it is who you are authentically. Yeah. It is who you are authentically. It doesn't matter where you are, you will always be an Africa. It is who you are. It doesn't matter if you have another passport, you will always be an African. So rejecting it is not being real. So remember who you are, remember who you are. You have God. And in this life, it has made you to be an African. So where you are African, peacefully, be African, respectfully, be proud of your roots, and be proud of who you are. How this episode has helped you to reflect on am I losing touch with my Africaness? You know, there is no reflection. You don't eat African food, you don't listen to African song, you don't wear any African clothes, you don't use any of your African names, you do not nothing about you shows African at all. Are you losing your roots? Ask yourself. Ask yourself, how am I in touch with my roots, with who I am, with my authentic self? Thank you so much for listening to this episode. And on this um celebratory mod for Black History Month, I wish you all to be rooted in your authentic self. I wish you peace and love and inner harmony. Until I come your way again, I remain Abia Sonia. Take care and God bless.