By Adekunmi Olatunji, MA Linguistics
“I, Dr Whytlaw III, the first and last word on white people, the alpha and omega of the White Man, will usher you safely through the woods. Have no fear. Walk with me.”
October marks Black History Month, the annual commemoration celebrating African and Caribbean cultures and histories will take place up and down the country. For many, Black History Month is a way of reflecting on the diverse histories of those from African and Caribbean descent, taking note of the achievements and contributions to the social, political, economic and cultural development.
On Monday 21st October, the African-Caribbean Society in conjunction with the Centre Of African Studies will be hosting author Nels Abbey in conversation with Reporter and SOAS alumni Symeon Brown to discuss all things Think Like a White Man, the cutting satirical book dictated to Nels by Dr Boulé Whytelaw III.
Dr. Whytelaw is the distinguished Professor of White People Studies at Bishop Lamonthood University and the Deputy Vice Chair of the Centre for (Trying to) Understand White People (CUWP). He has written numerous successful TV shows, including Good Cops, Good White Folk and Other Wild Fantasies and Scientific Proof: The White Man’s Ice Is Indeed Colder. Since dictating the thesis of Think Like a White Man to Nels Abbey, he has neither been seen nor heard from again. Dr. Whitelaw’s advice is simple; by following the White Man Commandments – namely, that winning justifies anything and everything – you too can achieve success beyond your capabilities.
Additionally, the event will also host Nels Abbey, a British-Nigerian writer and media executive based in London and a graduate of Penguin’s Write Now scheme. As a writer, his work has been published in the Guardian, London Evening Standard (where he also served as a blogger and occasional columnist), across the BBC and in the British Film Institute’s Sight & Sound. He has worked in an advisory capacity for PWC, HBoS and BlackRock.
Furthermore, Symeon Brown, a reporter and journalist at Channel 4 News will also be attending one of the society’s most anticipated events. Brown has written for a range of publications including Vice, Guardian, Huffington Post, CNN, New Statesman and The Voice. His essay on the commodification of culture in East London is included in the anthology Safe: On Black British Men Reclaiming Space which explores British history according to black British men. Symeon was born in north London where he still lives. He studied Economics at SOAS and received an MA in Broadcast Journalism from City University in 2014.
With lessons on the value of shock and awe, putting compassion on the back-burner and pretending racism doesn’t exist, the distinguished panel teaches you how to understand, overcome and overthrow the White Man in the whiter-shade-of-pale world of work. We thoroughly urge you to attend this event and hope to see you all for an opportunity to gain insight from our esteemed panel.