What We Refuse To Normalise

IsleBlaque was born out of anger. And from that anger came a rebellion against the normalisation of the things that harm Black people. One of the most visible of these is the erasure of our culture. Our achievements, our language, our style, our dress, our businesses — all too often taken and repackaged without credit. Fashion brands appropriate our cultural clothing. Hairstyles we wear for generations are treated as trends. Our inventions, our music, and even our methods of resistance and expression are commodified for profit. The contributions we have made to the UK, to other countries, and even to the shaping of global culture, are often ignored or exploited.

Some people like to think anti-Blackness only exists in the Americas, but the truth is that it is everywhere. In the UK, anti-Blackness can appear subtle, polite, or “hidden,” but the systemic impact is profound. Black people are often limited in business, pressured to conform in workplaces, and unfairly targeted in education.

Prince Harry & Megan Markle's children

Even high-profile examples, like the scrutiny over the skin tone of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s children, reveal that these biases reach every level of society.

We are constantly silenced, belittled, mocked, and sometimes even dismissed by members of our own communities. Many prefer to maintain the power structures that keep Black people disadvantaged because change threatens the narratives they’ve been raised to believe.

The so-called “inclusion” we see in media and society is often performative. A Black family on television may seem to represent diversity, but too often, the depiction is carefully curated: the mother is white or mixed, the father is Black, and the children visibly mixed. This tokenised representation disguises the real struggles of Black communities while giving the illusion of progress.

Economic exclusion is another reality. From historic policies like “No Black, No

"No Irish, No Black, No Dog"

Dogs, No Irish,” designed to restrict privileges and maintain systemic barriers, to contemporary biases in hiring, business, and financial opportunity, Black people in the UK face repeated obstacles. Economic progress is slowed or denied, while other communities — who may also have their own biases — are allowed to thrive. In Birmingham, I have personally experienced these dynamics firsthand: the ways non-Black individuals, both white and non-white, can exploit our culture, profit from it, and yet reinvest primarily into their own communities, leaving Black people with the crumbs.

At IsleBlaque, we refuse to normalise these patterns. We refuse to accept the erasure of our culture, the silencing of our voices, or the barriers that deny us our rightful space in society. Recognition, respect, and empowerment are not optional — they are necessary.