October is Black History Month in the UK. Every year it is a moment of celebration, reflection, and education. But it is also a month that makes me stop and think carefully about my own role.
I want to begin with an acknowledgement: I am not Black. Some people might question why I should write about Black History Month at all, and I think that is an important and fair challenge. My voice is not the one that should be centred. Black occupational therapists, students, educators, and service users must always be at the heart of these conversations.
So why write? I write because I see allyship as part of my professional and personal responsibility. My own lived experiences as a disabled and neurodivergent occupational therapist give me an understanding of how inequities play out in daily life. I know how it feels when society limits what you can do, when access is denied, when people fail to see you as capable. That does not mean I understand the experience of racism – I do not. But it does mean I can recognise how racism functions as another form of exclusion, and why it matters deeply for our profession to call it out.
Symbols and Struggles
This year, the Black History Month flag feels especially powerful. It represents not only heritage and pride but also resistance and resilience. It is a reminder that celebration and struggle are intertwined. Across the UK, Black communities continue to face racism in everyday life. From discrimination in employment and education to disproportionate experiences with policing and health inequalities, these barriers are very real.
The design of the Black History Month flag, using the colours red, green, gold, and black, is deeply symbolic. These colours come from Pan-African traditions and liberation movements. Red represents the blood that unites people of African ancestry and the struggle for liberation. Black represents the people themselves and pride in identity. Green symbolises the richness of African land and hope for the future. Gold symbolises prosperity, optimism, and justice. When we see these colours, we are reminded of histories of resistance and resilience, but also of hope and determination for change.
We are also seeing racism visibly on our streets. Unofficial flags are appearing in communities across the country – a clear reminder that racism is alive and present. These flags are not harmless. They carry messages of exclusion, hostility, and intimidation. As occupational therapists, we must recognise the impact of this on our friends, families, colleagues, and the people accessing occupational therapy. For some, these symbols may bring fear, anxiety, and a sense of being unsafe in their own neighbourhoods.
This is not an abstract issue. It is about how safe people feel to take part in everyday occupations – going to work, walking to school, shopping in the local high street, joining community groups. When racism is made visible in the public space, it can restrict participation in the most ordinary and meaningful activities. As a profession rooted in enabling participation, we cannot ignore the occupational impact of racism.
Why This Matters in Occupational Therapy
So, what does any of this have to do with occupational therapy? The answer, for me, is everything.
Occupational therapy is about enabling people to do the things that matter to them – work, play, family roles, learning, creativity, belonging. But people do not access those occupations on a level playing field. Racism changes the opportunities available, the support people receive, and even how health professionals interpret needs.
We know from public health data that Black people face poorer outcomes in both physical and mental health. This affects the very occupations we aim to support: chances to learn, to parent, to earn a living, to live well. If we ignore racism, we risk reinforcing those inequities instead of challenging them.
As occupational therapists, we need to keep asking ourselves: Do our assessments and interventions reflect people’s cultural identity? Do we recognise and address the impact of racism on everyday occupations? Do our teams and organisations create truly inclusive spaces? And crucially, what are we doing to challenge the structures that create these barriers?
Occupational therapy cannot be neutral. Silence is not neutral – it sides with the status quo.
My Role as an Ally
Allyship is a word that is often used but not always lived. For me, it means acting in both professional and personal spaces. It means using my roles within RCOT and AbleOTUK to ensure that equity, diversity, and belonging are central to our conversations, not add-ons. It means pushing back when I see discriminatory practice. It means listening when colleagues share their experiences of racism, and not making excuses but asking what I can do differently.
It also means showing up outside of professional life. That might mean raising awareness on social media, supporting anti-racist campaigns, or speaking out in my community. It is about recognising that injustice is interconnected – when one group is silenced, it weakens us all.
And I will be honest, I do not always get this right. There are times I have repeated myself so often about equity that I have felt unheard. Recently, someone challenged me to reflect on whether I needed to change my approach so the message landed differently. That was uncomfortable, but necessary. Allyship is not about being perfect. It is about learning, adapting, and staying committed.
Learning from Black Voices
Most importantly, allyship means amplifying Black voices. There is incredible work being done by Black occupational therapists that everyone in the profession should engage with. A few starting points recommend are:
Antiracist Occupational Therapy: Unsettling the Status Quo (2023), edited by Musharrat J. Ahmed-Landeryou, a vital and timely book exploring how racism is embedded in our systems and what it means to practise anti-racist occupational therapy.
Narratives of Black British Occupational Therapists (2022), by Diane Parker, Folashade Akinlose, Brenda Asher and colleagues, a powerful collection of lived experiences that challenges us to reflect on our own practice. (Library links available through universities and professional networks.)
BAME OT UK Network provides articles, blogs, and podcasts that highlight lived experiences of racism and create space for solidarity, connection, and action. You can also listen to the BAME OT UK Podcast, including episodes such as Let’s Talk Institutional Racism and Occupational Therapy.
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