Community advocate and writer Guled Mire Photo: re:news
New Zealanders who support the Black Lives Matter movement can learn more about the experiences of Black people in this country via the new doco series Third Culture Minds.
In the series, community advocate Guled Mire goes deep with 'third culture kids' – a diverse group of young New Zealanders from migrant and refugee backgrounds who don't quite feel accepted as Kiwis or in their family's culture.
Guled had no plan to launch the series to coincide with the current uprising of the Black Lives Matter movement, but it's timely, he says.
"People are coming out and saying 'Black Lives Matter'… All of a sudden it's cool to do this. We've been doing this for years and when we needed New Zealand they weren't there for us, truth be told.
"We've got an entire generation of Black Kiwis who experience things like everyday racism and feel like their blackness is not accepted. Yet we value and like Black (American) culture.
"Now is the time to really stand behind that statement and back us up.
"Listen to [Black New Zealanders], listen to their voices and acknowledge their aspirations and pain and struggles and visions and hopes for the future."
The surge of support for refugee and migrant New Zealanders after the Christchurch terror attacks needs to now be actively maintained, Guled says.
"It was beautiful to see people coming together in solidarity but you've got to keep the energy and momentum going, otherwise those rallies and all those flowers and vigil events, it doesn't mean anything."
You can watch Third Culture Minds now on RE: and soon on TVNZ On Demand. A related podcast series is in the works.
The series features PhD student Bilal Nasier, rappers JessB, Mo Muse, Mazbou Q and writer Mohamed Hassan, who has made two podcast series for RNZ – The Guest House and Public Enemy.
Watch Guled Mire and Mohamed Hassan on Breakfast and a couple of clips from Third Culture Minds below:
