Black Lives Matter Sweden – the founder of racism in Sweden

Isatou Aysha Jones, 35, was tired: she wanted to highlight violence, hatred and racism. So when the Black Lives Matter wave swept the world, she started a Swedish part of the movement, and the first digital demo hit 1.3 million on day one.

– My idea was never to found Black Lives Matter-Sweden. I just wanted to show that there is racism in Sweden and that racism is both structural and individual, she says.

Black Lives Matter Sweden has just moved from an informal network to taking strong forms as an association, with Isatou Aysha Jones as president.

It emphasizes that Black Lives Matter is not a large organization and rejects criticism directed at demonstrations in the United States, among other places.

– I think the criticism is really ridiculous. We share names and the core of our struggle, but that’s where our similarities end. We don’t even have any contacts, you are your own unit, says Isatou Aysha Jones.

Isatou Aysha Jones on growing up in Örebro

In 1985, Isatou Aysha Jones was born in the Gambian capital, Banjul. Two years later she went to Sweden and Örebro, her mother had fallen in love with a Swede. Growing up in Sweden was good and bad.

– Örebro was a good city to grow up, it was safe. But there was not much diversity and that of course left its mark. In his youth, he was always willing to defend, not only with himself but also with others. I have always defended the little one and sometimes with my fist.

Schooling was plagued with conflicts and disputes with peers.

– When there were meatballs to eat at school, they used to throw me the meatballs that were a bit burnt. I’d rather not eat meatballs for ten years and I ate them sadly.

When he tried talking to teachers and other adults about racism and bullying, the support was almost non-existent. The same was true for his friends who also had foreign backgrounds.

– We were always the rioters, we were supposed to have started the fight even though someone had said something racist, he says.

The events of her childhood created a desire to be the best. This momentum has enabled her today to call herself a site manager, speaker, entrepreneur, influencer, cookbook author, and activist.

– My driving force comes from my mother and from constantly hearing that you are not enough. So it has become a feeling that I should show you, I can certainly do this.

Their engagement has also cost money.

– I have gone from being known in part to known to the masses, literally overnight. It has made me a target for racists who write. Its very stressful.

The BLM protests in Stockholm

Black Lives Matter-Sweden works for compulsory anti-racist education in schools and for various solutions on how the police can cooperate with residents in vulnerable areas. A collaboration would improve the living situation for blacks in Sweden, says Isatou Aysha Jones.

– Blacks have the worst and Black Lives Matter wants to improve their lives, but just because blacks get better doesn’t mean that others get worse, he says.

During some hot summer days in early June, thousands of people gathered to demonstrate under the banner Black Lives Matter Stockholm. The protests have been criticized because they defied the pandemic and the rules of the Swedish crown, but Isatou Aysha Jones believes that one must understand what it is that makes people willing to take the risk. As she sees it, these are two different types of pandemics, where anti-black racism is its own global plague.

– But nobody wants to dedicate another leadership page, he says.

Isatou Aysha Jones was not present and organized the demonstration, but was present at Sergels Torg in Stockholm.

She believes that critics of physical demonstrations do not react as much to other activities in which people are physically:

– I do not think that physical activity should be encouraged at all, but I think that those who criticize those who are demonstrating show double standards. We have no problem with people eating fancy lunches at Stureplan or crowded on the beaches or on buses, but on the other hand, others are fighting for their lives. Because that’s what demonstrations are all about, says Isatou Aysha Jones.

The history of Sweden is bordered by international institutes of slave trade and racial biology. And according to Isatou Aysha Jones, racism lives on, both as structural and as individual racism.

– Individual racism is when you get on the bus, the eyes see. You sit on the seat and someone changes places or holds the bag tighter. It’s incredibly sad, she says and continues:

– I just want to be able to wake up, not plan what routines I should have to not be exposed to anything and feel that I am incredible.