A week like no other

The week began with the announcement by the Prime Minister that Paul Boateng was to be made the first Black Cabinet Minister. Boateng himself chose to play down the historical event, by utilising Dr Martin Luther King's famous words: ' I want to be judged not by the colour of my skin but by the content of my character'.

Boating is right to demand that he be judged on what he does and not by who he is, but he was wrong not to pay tribute to the significance of his race and the struggle that Black people- including Boateng himself- have undertaken to ensure we are afforded an equitable voice and greater social justice.

Nonetheless, we should all celebrate Boateng's appointment and be ready to protect him from the main stream press who have already sought to undermine and ridicule him. The Blackening of Westminster politics did not stop with Boateng, the talented David Lammy continues his meteoric rise with a promotion to Junior Minister within the Health Department.

These two talented Black men have a bright future and we should not be surprised if either one reaches the highest post in the land. We must not however, get over excited. Westminster is still painfully white and particularly difficult for Black women to enter.

Fast forward to Friday and the start of the World cup finals. I know it's principally about football and I am, as many of you know, particularly biased towards the 'beautiful game'. But its more than a game, much more. The drama that is the World Cup imbues cultural and national pride that is unrivalled by any other sporting event, and only perhaps by the sad affairs of war.

So when France played Senegal in the opening game, no one was more pleased than me to see the African continent supremely dominant. First, the French team is dominated by Black players of world beating quality, but even they were over shadowed and outplayed by the exuberant Senaglises who ignored the script and beat the World Champions.

Black people around the world rejoiced: Africa 1 Europe 0. At one point on Saturday morning it was Africa 2 Europe 0 as Cameroon led the Republic of Ireland. And then came England a country metaphorically a million miles from Black Africa, but even this proud nation fielded a team in which nearly half were Black.

I couldn't help but think if only our institutions and company boards were half as representative, as the English side, Britain truly would be great. Talking of great and how frequently we miss use it, the Guardian's Gary Younge made a brilliant programme -aired last Sunday- about the Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.

The Home Secretary David Blunkett recently reimposed the ban on Farrakhan arguing that his inflammatory remarks would stir up racial hatred. Central to the Ban were Farrakhan's remarks about Hitler being a 'wickedly great man'. Because of this remark American and British Jewish groups have successfully made the argument that Farrakhan is anti-Semitic. The Nation's leader begs his detractors to look up the definition of 'great'. I'm not a detractor, but I needed to know and understand. So I pulled down my Oxford English dictionary for further investigation.

To my surprise there were a number of definitions, non, of which described 'great' has inherently good, but rather denoting size, status, and importance. The demonisation of Farrakhan was therefore based on misinformation. What was interesting about Younge's programme was his forcibly argument that although one might not agree with all of Farrakhan's views-he argues for example that in a racist America Black people need their own segregated land- there was nothing of Farrakhan's views that would pose a threat to civil society.

I would go one step further. I believe that central the British Governments ban against Farrakhan coming to the UK is his forceful message of Black pride. Furthermore, he would highlight the historical and present social injustices that Black people around the world have been and still are subject to.

With his passionate oratory Farrakhan's presence would not only shake-up the establishment he would also awaken the sleeping giant that is Black Britain. It's a shame that they -the establishment- don't realise that as in world football our greater contribution would only be positive.

The week ended with the finale to the Queen's Golden Jubilee celebrations. My street was bedecked with Union jack flags and tributes to the Queens fifty year reign. Some of the neighbours had even organised a street party. I did attend the street party for a short while, more for a sense of community than exuberance for the official celebrations. But watching the following day on TV the final Jubilee pageantry stream down Pall Mall, I was surprisingly filled me with Black pride.

The Royal Family or the 'firm' as it is sometimes called acknowledged in these celebrations that Britain had irrevocably changed. Britain is a bustling diverse multicultural society. Perhaps even more important was the contribution by Commonwealth countries, during the celebrations.

It seemed as though The Queen depended on the Commonwealth countries- many of whom are Black- as her statue of -here's that word again-great importance. The past present and future of Britain and the Commonwealth in many ways is entwined. Our paths have crossed and there is no going back.

The events of the last week have shown there is good reason for Black pride that emanates from around the globe. Events such as these will seen as defining moments that we as a community must not only embrace but also build upon for real and long lasting change.