Meet the local artist who designed the NWTLC's recent colouring pages to celebrate Black Excellence in the North. Inemesit Essien Graham has been a guest in Somba K'e, the traditional home of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation, for 17 years. She is a writer, anti-racism educator, personal trainer and group fitness instructor, and visual and spoken word artist of West African descent from the region now called Nigeria. Inemesit spent 16 years in England before immigrating to Turtle Island on the land now called Canada. She is also a mother of three3.
Hi! My name is Inemesit and I am honoured to have been able to share my illustrations for Black History Month. The inspiration behind the colouring pages is Black joy. Black History Month was announced by the Canadian Parliament in 1995 as a way to celebrate the contributions of Black people to world history. Recognizing that Black people are often left out of the narrative when we learn the ways in which our modern world was created, it often becomes a celebration of Black trauma, with stories and histories focused on the things that have been done to Black people and the traumas we have collectively faced. Rooting people's stories entirely in trauma is dehumanizing because it fails to recognize the fullness of a person's existence. Black history is not enslavement or the Civil Rights Movement, nor is it the many ways Black people have been abused. These stories represent the violent history of European colonization and the fight for universal human rights. By focusing solely on these stories, we continue to dehumanize Black people by presenting a one-dimensional narrative of what it means to be Black.
Black people, as all people, are not defined or reduced by our trauma. Our magic has always been in our ability to share our gifts freely and embrace joyfulness in a world that has tried hard to rob us of it. Our magic has always been the ways we contribute to a world worth living in. I wanted the colouring pages to explore the humanity of Black people, the joy of motherhood, of family, of connection, and of community. Black history is human history, Black joy is human joy, and Black excellence is human excellence.
Máhsi,
Inemesit
