Billy Mazoya has taken it upon himself to try to make London better for the next generation compared to what he experienced when he first came
Billy Mazoya came to London from the Democratic Republic of Congo with his family in 2005. As an eight-year-old, he was in new surroundings as his family had left during the Congo Civil War.
When he arrived in London, he moved to Brixton, and his status as a refugee didn’t come with a warm welcome. His arrival coincided with the rise of the British National Party in the 2000s and the anti-immigration rhetoric that saw them garner support.
Billy, now 28, told MyLondon: “Despite being in Brixton as a Black person, I still experienced the occasional racism. The microaggressions that Black people experience, such as being followed around in shops. When I first arrived, you’d see graffiti saying ‘go home’. Those words were graffitied on the hotels we stayed at, so it’s not a new thing, refugee hotels. It was upsetting, and seeing it continue now shows we haven’t progressed as far as we think we have as a society.
“Now, you see all this anti-immigrant rhetoric, hotels being burned, and it is definitely upsetting and triggers a lot of memories of when I first arrived. It just shows that there’s still more work to be done. It was happening 20 years ago, and it’s still happening now—if anything, it has got worse.”
Billy’s experiences growing up and his observations of the current political climate inspired him to do more. In 2023, he created his own company, Cynefin Pamoja. ‘Cynefin’ means “Belonging” or a sense of habitat in Welsh. Secondly, the word ‘Pamoja’ means “Together” in Swahili. As a co-founder of Cynefin Pamoja, he delivers anti-racism workshops in schools, supports youth employment, and organises community social events around London. He is currently working alongside filmmakers and Warner Bros. to provide young people from deprived areas of London with access to acting opportunities.
In the three years since its creation, they have won multiple awards for their work. It was this work that also gave Billy the chance to speak at the United Nations’ Permanent Forum on People of African Descent in April. He spoke about issues of injustice and the willingness of people to stand up and not fear discussing them.
He said: “It feels as if the far right has been normalised in the political landscape, whereas when I first arrived, you’d view them as a more dystopian group of individuals who just hate foreigners – now it seems as though that rhetoric is normalised within actual political parties, so it is very surreal to see.
“That is why it encourages me to keep doing what I’m doing. I offer these classes free of charge to a range of organisations, from teachers to schools. Teaching teachers helps them better understand children. A lot of teachers don’t know what microaggressions are, so it’s extremely helpful to help them identify them and call them out, which educates their pupils, helps them understand them better, and gives them the tools to be anti-racist allies.”
In some of his workshops, Billy had to explain to teachers why microaggressions, even done unconsciously, are harmful. He points out examples of White teachers who may say to a Black or ethnic minority person that ‘I’m almost as dark as you’ after coming back from holiday or wanting to touch their hair. He also helps teach schoolchildren, as they are the ‘next generation’, by showing them how to talk about racism and stand up for each other to create a better society.
“When I do make these teachers aware, at first, they can’t believe that those things are microaggressions because they see it as them being interested. Yet, when you explain that you’re viewing that minority person as an object to be gazed at and touched rather than a human being with boundaries, that helps to highlight it to them. Once they get over the initial embarrassment, they feel extremely grateful for being taught”, he continued.
“Speaking at the UN, I couldn’t believe it. A UN delegate reached out as they had been watching my stuff online, which is something I never would have imagined in a million years. Going to the building itself in Geneva, seeing how policies and humanitarian work are carried out across the world, and being able to speak there was a crazy, surreal feeling.”
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