BAME Person of the Month Winner - Alexandra Wilson

Written by: Aoife Marriott

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Each month, your LCG Rep, VP Wellbeing & Diversity, the BAME officer, International student’s officer and the Student Voice team will be helping students celebrate inspirational members of the BAME community.

This month our winning writer is Aoife Marriott who has celebrated Alexandra Wilson, read her piece below.

"Alexandra Wilson is a young black woman from Essex. She is also a barrister – and that is why she is an inspiration.

Alex has recently received lots of exposure in the media after being mistaken for a defendant 3 times in one day. Not only is this undeniable evidence of racism, but also an indisputable reflection of the lack of diversity that makes up the legal system. How is it still so incomprehensible for some that a black woman could actually be a barrister?

Despite having to overcome many milestones regarding her race, Alex has proceeded to one of the most successful upcoming barristers of today; winning Woman of the Year 2020 in the Precious Awards, being part of The Lawyer Hot 100 2021 along with so many other achievements.

Personally, for me, the main reason I find inspiration within Alex is her relatability. At the age of 25, she’s a regular with Instagram and Twitter - Alex signed off her tweet about the unjust ‘mistaken for a defendant’ situation with “but we move x”. The small phrase shows an incredible amount of empowerment and resilience on her behalf. Even in the face of racism, she chooses to continue following her dreams and aspirations; whilst attempting to tackle the prejudiced system all at once. For me, this is the perfect example to aspiring university students of how to react to obstacles that may make us feel like we cannot achieve or attain.

In her book, ‘In Black and White’, Alex talks about always feeling a sense of “imposter syndrome” – because of her race and gender – which is something I feel so many students have nowadays – the group-chat is constantly rammed full of questions of self-doubt and failure, especially in the current circumstances. Alexandra proves that despite the failure within the system, the achievement is possible – and that when we do get there, we shouldn’t stop fighting for change, for others and ourselves, just like she hasn’t. And promises to continue to do."

- Aoife Marriott

There were loads of amazing comments from the judges such as: "the entry echoes an important message for every individual that has faced some type of prejudice because of the structure of the society and that is despite the flawed structure of society it should not stop people from being the best that they can be."

Do you want to celebrate someone? All you have to do!

To enter this competition, you have to write anywhere from 200-300 words on someone you think is inspirational – on a word doc.
The text itself can be either factual or emotive, but it must say why this BAME person is inspirational to you and others.
Use a high-resolution image if possible!
We will format it for the social media channels but let us know if you have any specific requests - your usernames to be tagged in the posts for example.
Dates will be sent out via email.
Email entries to: studentvoice@su.plymouth.ac.uk
The next submission deadline is Monday 15th March 2021 so please submit your writing now!