Mia Morris profile
When you first spot Mia Morris sitting at her stall at annual black history conferences, you know that she is someone important. It is not because of the £700 six-foot banner parked behind her stall decorated with her beaming smile. Nor is it the sea of postcards with Malcolm X’s face plastered on it scattered on her table. But it is because every guest speaker stops at her table to talk to her. Every student leaves carrying her card and a copy of her publication “Black History Month 365.” And every child runs away beaming with new knowledge.
So who is this ambassador of Black history that leaves an impressionable mark on every passer-by? Well, it is hard to sum up her decade-long contribution to history in a single title. Talking in a confident tone of voice that can mesmerise even a person with the shortest attention span, she says:
“I am an all-rounder really. My main role is to co-edit my Black History Month site and publication, but that involves a lot of work. I source stories, write them up, meet with other colleagues. I do a bit of everything because I would rather have it done right. That, and the fact that I am a bit of a lone-wolf”.
History is a topic that we have all studied at one point in our academic lives. Even though we have an understanding of it, it can be hard to make it exciting and new – because it isn’t. But drowning out the background noise of monotone speeches at celebratory history round-ups, you can hear Mia’s booming passion. She says: “Finding out about history is one of the best things that people can do. If we do not take care of our history we will just disappear.” Now if your history teacher told you that, wouldn’t you have paid more attention in class?
She has a charming ability to get you interested in whatever she is saying. Talking about her career to date she downplays her vibrant personality and perseverance as the key to her success. Instead she insists the combination of luck, timing and demand is what has led to a 100,000 print circulation and thousands of clicks on her site every month.
The whole idea behind embracing Black history month did not come from business meetings and advertising unlike other publications and sites. It came from an outcome of a lack of resources for setting up and publicising key events. She explains that, “Eric and Jessica Huntley wanted to post information online about an upcoming event they were involved in. I looked online for them thinking that surely there would be an outlet for this. But there wasn’t – so I created it for them”.
Eight years ago when her site black-history-month.co.uk launched the internet was a different place and Mia preferred it that way. But do not let that fool you into thinking she is incapable of keeping up-to-date with new developments. She has adapted her publication and site by giving them a re-vamped look at the start of 2011. The updated design included interactive social networking tools and a clearer layout. Yet she isn’t convinced that this development is a positive turn in the right direction. As a self-confessed techno-phobe she explains that social networking might potentially be damaging for history.
“What is starting to happen to people is that we are getting lazy. People go on Facebook to find out information instead of looking through archives and historical documents. There was a time when my website was the only interaction I had with the readers. Now I’m tweeting to them, skyping them and emailing them. For me it is a huge difference, but for modern visitors it is almost expected.”
As many of us may know Black history month is October every year, but Mia has the challenging task of making it relevant and current all year round. This year a way of spreading historical news is in the form a major Black history event taking place at Wembley stadium. With a large turn-out expected and top speakers lined up including journalist and activist Marc Wadsworth it is a perfect example of how Mia’s work and organisations are influencing future generations. “The whole idea is for it to be somewhere for the family. I am in the early stages of planning what that will look like, but so far we have a guaranteed food court and many exciting activities for children”.
Mia has a 30-year background working in the heritage field and started off her venture by volunteering at a radio station called Radio London on a programme called Black Londoners. Since then her work has gone from strength to strength with her site being archived by The British Library and being approached by SMAART publications that launched her magazine four years ago.
Growing up in Hackney she went to an all-girls school where most of the pupils were Black and this is what originally sparked off her historical interest. But her background is not the source of her current motivation. “Being grounded, not taking myself too seriously and integrity is what keeps my inspiration flowing.”
Taking on a large workload single-handedly means that life is often hectic and tough. She jokes that “My children are my sites and paper. And lately they have been very disobedient.” And when probed about whether it is too much for her to handle she exclaims “I’m a mad woman! I like to be in control of all the running of my achievements. If I were to let it go I would either pass the baton onto a trusted colleague, but I am more likely to let it die with my name”.
Although the future, like her light blue shirt, seems bright and full of promise she admits that finances are not great.
“I use money from other work to keep it going. It is not the best business model and I suppose I do have moments when I want to give it up. But then I remember that it is a good marketing tool for both myself and our ancestors”.
Finances aside Mia is confident that she has many years of contribution left ahead of her. She says, “Knowing that I am contributing to our history and that I am making a difference will keep it going. This is our story un-cut after all”. She has recently ensured her own history will be encapsulated after planning to deposit her personal archives at the end of the coming April, after running out of space to keep them at her house. This will highlight the story of her life for a change, while she continues to make sure that our stamp on the world will never be forgotten.
- Find out more about Mia Morris HERE
- Dates for “Black history live” has been announced! Grab tickets for the 1st & 2nd Oct at Wembley HERE!
