If 2020 taught us anything, it’s that the stories of Black and brown people all across the globe need and deserve to be told.
London born and bred vlogger, Fayida Jailler, is stepping up to the plate to tell the stories of the African Diaspora in countries spanning across 6 continents.
Jailler’s interest began as a teenager, and she was fascinated with learning about Black history and African Diaspora communities. So, in 2018 she joined the company AfroLatino Travel founded by Dash Harris and Javier Wallace, where she curated African Diaspora tours in Peru and Colombia. Unfortunately, COVID-19 has forced the tours to pause for now.
“At the end of 2019, I began to google African Diaspora communities in other countries and was amazed to learn that there have been Afrodescendant populations in places like Turkey, India, Australia, China, and Iran for hundreds of years,” Jailler told Travel Noire. “I could find individual documentaries and articles on these communities, but didn’t come across any resources that brought all of that information together.”
Soon after her research efforts began, she launched a YouTube channel to bring more awareness and visibility to these communities, in a free and easy-to-access way.
“The idea is to demonstrate the breadth and diversity of the global African diaspora, to share our history and to celebrate our achievements in a way that is free and accessible to everyone. I don’t claim to be a historian, just someone with an interest in our history and a passion for sharing it.”
Jailler’s Freedom is Mine channel has covered over 35 destinations spanning six continents and counting. Her research process is a combination of gathering information online, watching documentaries, reading books, and also reaching out to journalists, academics, activists, and historians who have written about or belong to the African diaspora communities in question.
In her discoveries she has learned things like the African Diaspora in Bolivia has its own king who was crowned in 1992, there is a historically Black town in Greece called Avato where the residents have lived for generations and are said to be of Sudanese descent, and the famous Afro-Samurai of Japan was a real person.
“The bottom line is— Black people have contributed to every single modern society, and yet we continue to be discriminated against, marginalized, persecuted and even killed by the very societies that we helped build,” she explained. “We are not here by coincidence. The past and the present are connected, and by understanding that, we can better determine our future. I’ve said it, and I will keep saying it, knowledge is power! Black history is WORLD history.”
Jailler recently released a free ebook called ’35 Global Black History Facts From 35 Countries That YOU Need To Know!’ The book is exactly what it says on the cover, cool Black history facts from 35 countries spanning six continents. It’s completely free and you can download it here.
To learn more and to check out the amazing video content, visit: ‘Freedom Is Mine Official‘ or on IG: @freedomismineofficial. She also has merch and other cool resources on her website: www.freedomismineofficial.com.
Related: Five Black-Owned Bookstores In London You Can Support
