Black History Month: The Race for Change at Holyrood
It has been 21 years since Scotland's first MSP was elected there has never been a Black MSP elected to Holyrood - we're hearing from the candidates hoping to change that.
It has been 21 years since Scotland's first MSP was elected and despite the multicultural make-up of our country, there has never been a Black MSP elected to Holyrood.
This year parties are doing more than ever to champion candidates from Black and other minority communities.
As we celebrate Black History Month we are hearing from the candidates hoping to change that at next year's Holyrood election.
Nadia Kanyange is originally from Burundi, she moved to Glasgow as a refugee. She is a single mum who graduated from UWS in 2019 with a degree in Society, Politics & Policy.
Nadia fought deportation by the Home Office to deport her and wants to shine a light on social justice in Scotland and challenge perceptions about asylum and race. She’s hoping to stand for election in next year’s Holyrood election for the Green party.
“I could see there was a lack of Black representation at Holyrood. I didn’t necessarily think I’d be in a position to do anything about it, but an opportunity came about as I’m a member of the Scottish Green Party and I decided to put myself forward.
“Society in Scotland is changing. It really is changing. There is a number of different ethnicities living in Scotland now and also looking at everything that’s going on around the world – that’s a result of everything that went wrong in the past.”
"When I was an asylum seeker, I wish there had been someone in Parliament to stand up for me."
Glasgow City Councillor Ade Aibinu - who is originally from Nigeria - is standing for the Scottish Conservatives. He would like to see Black and BAME candidates elected in every party.
He told Northsound 1: “You can end up in a situation where you do a disservice to the Black community by saying we all think alike, we obviously don’t all think alike. So, I think much more than just having a Black MSP or a BAME MSP I would like to see Black candidates with different views because that provides balance.
“The key thing is having a political party that supports us and having local activists who will go out and support us and I really do think we will be in a situation next year where we have Black representation at the Scottish Parliament and that will make life much easier.”
Erskine and Inchinnan Councillor Michelle Campbell’s also hoping to become one of Scotland’s first Black MSPs – and could be the first woman of colour elected to Holyrood, if successful. She’s putting herself forward for the Renfrewshire North and West seat.
She’s also participating in the Pass The Mic campaign, pushing for women of colour to make headway in the media and is a mental health nurse who returned to the NHS to help her colleagues during the pandemic.
She told Northsound 1: “For me it’s not about being the first woman of colour elected. It has to be beyond my colour. I am a strong person and people need to stop looking at just my colour and preventing me from having that input.
“We can be great community leaders, offer so much to inward communities but how do we help people turn outwards to allow everyone to reap the benefits of that representation. That’s what I’m championing within the party and want to do with my representation.”
The candidates are speaking to Clyde News as we celebrate Black History Month. For the month of October we are showcasing some of the inspirational stories from the city's Black community.
This national celebration lasts for the whole month of October aims to promote and celebrate Black contributions to British society, and to foster an understanding of Black history in general. Its origins go back to the 1920s.
Hear all the latest news from the North East of Scotland on Northsound 1. Listen on FM, via our Rayo app, DAB, or smart speaker.