In the UK, every October is Black History Month, in which emphasis is placed on the excellence and achievements of black people in British society. This year, Mirror Sport will publish a series of articles over the remainder of this month, shining a light on black British sportspeople and documenting their perspectives
Firstly, we focus on boxer Sedem Ama, a two-time national amateur boxing champion.
Being born and raised in Peckham, South London, she is from a Ghanaian family who are proud of their cultural background. “It just means heritage,” she told The Mirror. “Everything that we have come from, everything that we have had to overcome, and things that we will still be overcoming on a day-to-day basis.
“I just think that in black culture there’s so many elements to it, it's not just the colour of your skin, it’s also the country that you come from. Every day I’m just proud to be a black woman working in a corporate environment and able to follow my passion of boxing, it’s something I’m proud of.
“I have an African name and I’m proud to use my African name on a day-to-day basis. Black heritage and culture is very important to me, so I champion that.” Ama was fortunate to explore her roots as a child when she was taken to Ghana as a child, an experience she holds dear. However, she admitted not fully understanding the meaning of her history and culture until she reached adulthood.
“The first country I went to as a child was Ghana, my Mum took me at 2 or 3 and said ‘you’re going to find out where your parents come from’," she said. "Because my parents were so big on speaking a different language in the household or taking me back home, that’s why I appreciate it more in my older years.
“As a teenager I didn’t understand the meaning of being part of your culture, but now that I’m older, I'm more in tune with it.” Last year, Ama signed with former WBC interim heavyweight champion Dillian Whyte as she bids to become a professional fighter. The pair both grew up in South London and she was part of his team when he walked out in front of a packed Wembley Stadium to take on Tyson Fury back in April.
“We had mutual friends and both grew up in South London so that's how the connection was made,” she explained. “I started going to his camps just training and trying to be around other professionals and eventually he said ‘I see you work hard and it would be good to support someone who is from the same area as me.’ It’s been amazing because I still join him in camp and I’ve learned so much in the past year. I’m a different boxer, my skill set is different and the way I train is different. You learn different things being around these people.
“You learn so many different things so even when I’m not in camp with them I know that when I'm training back home, I’m looking after myself more and I'm having more rest and those thing really add up.” Throughout the black British community, a common theme is the desire for black history to become part of the UK's school curriculum, which The Mirror has launched a campaign for. Ama shared the same opinion while also stressing the importance of teaching black history through education.
“We shouldn’t just wait for Black History Month, it should be a consistent thing," the boxer said. "I definitely think that it is something we should try and talk about more rather than just one month of the year. When I was in secondary school we talked about Martin Luther King and Malcom X every year in October.
“We shouldn’t wait for that time to learn about Harriet Tubman and Rosa Parks, we should find ways to weave in other cultures, especially black culture more within the syllabus.” Growing up in the 1990s and 2000s in a British society with very few black women in the spotlight, Ama looked overseas for a role model and was inspired by someone who recently retired after an illustrious 20+ year career.
On the topic of representation and role models to inspire the community, Ama shared: “It’s so important. When I was growing up I looked up to Serena Williams, there was no other person I could relate to other than her and her credentials speak for themselves. It’s so important to have somebody that looks like you and that you can relate to culturally. She’s American, at the time in the UK there wasn’t someone like her that was presented on mainstream TV.”
Ama, who worked in the corporate world before transitioning to boxing later on, sees herself as a form of representation for those who are keen to shift their line of work to something very different at a later stage in life, no matter how challenging it may seem.
“I think my story of being a corporate woman and juggling that with boxing, that could be a positive thing for somebody else as well, who may be in a line of work that might not necessarily enjoy, or they need something else that’s positive, and they can pivot," she said. "I think that’s important to have.”
Moving forward, Ama plans to make her professional debut and compete at a global games. “Professional ranks is the next step for me,” Ama said. “Then we can work towards the titles like the Commonwealth and international titles and eventually the world championships and hopefully be injury-free.”
