Who You Know: Maja Antoine-Oniyoki

2020 has undoubtedly been a hard year for all. On top of a global pandemic, racial tensions have been high across the globe. Since the murder of George Floyd by a white police officer in May, all eyes have been on the black community with the increase in support for the Black Lives Matter movement which has inevitably shone a light on the systemic racism that still exists across the world.

Despite all of this, we’ve personally been motivated by black women that have managed to start conversations, lead movements and continue to create & inspire with their work. That's why this Black History Month, we'll be introducing you to black female founders across the UK whose work we think everyone should know about.

Take Maja Antoine-Oniyoki, who founded Maja’s Education Project to provide free books surrounding Black Lives & black history to those who can’t afford them. We first came across Maja on Twitter when she was covered on BBC News & instantly wanted to interview her about her story to spread the word about the amazing, selfless work she is doing.

Read on to hear from Maja & her future plans for the Education Project.

Tell us about yourself & what Maja’s Education Project does.

I’m Maja Antoine-Onikoyi, and I am a 21 year old student from Watford, currently living in Colchester where I study Film and Creative Writing at the University of Essex!

Maja’s Education Project is a not-for-profit organisation that sends free books out surrounding Black Lives, to those who cannot afford them. I started the project in June, with the aim of sending out three or four books, and have built it up to what it is now with thanks to the overwhelming amount of support from people donating and sharing every single day! We aim to send books out to schools and prisons, and any educational institution that may be lacking in diverse literature in their libraries. We also sell these books, with all of our profits going back into the company and funding books, postage and everything in between. This gives those who can afford books an opportunity to support a small black-owned business, and further their education on such important topics.

What feedback have you gotten from the project so far?

All the feedback that I get is amazing. The project has gotten news coverage from BBC, ITV, Dazed and more! On top of that, we get so many messages and feedback comments from people who receive their books and say how much it has helped them and nothing beats that. We get a lot of messages from schools asking for books, and with that being our aim it is really great to know we are reaching our targets so quickly.

Why do you think it’s important that people have access to Black literature?

Because without it, we’re back to where we are now. We won’t make any progress if nobody is learning about what black people have been through, and are still going through. It is so vital that we are given the resources we need to treat each other better as a collective; every generation after us should have access to the necessary literature the same way we all had access to literature on every other aspect of history we were taught about.

You mentioned that you would eventually like to work with prisons and schools. Do you think the government should do more to educate children on British black history & include it in the national curriculum?

Yes! There is this argument I hear from racists, that ‘black history’ is not necessary because ‘history is history’. Other than the civil rights movement and slavery, how much do you know about black figures in history? Compare this with how much you know about history in general: presidents, wars, (white) feminist movements etc. From slave owner statues to white-washed history books, children are not being taught the truth. This is what has led to the ignorance of the majority of British society today.

If there was one black British woman in history you think everyone should know about, who is it?

Good question! When I was about 12, a history teacher taught me about Mary Seacole when I asked about British black history. She was a nurse from Jamaica, and set up a ‘hotel’ to help British soldiers. I don’t remember too much, but it was the only black British woman in history I ever learned about in school which was crazy now I think about it.

Anything else you would like to add?

We all have a lot to learn. A lot of people assume that I’ve read all of the books I stock and I have all of this knowledge on all things Black history; I don’t, by any means. The same way I’m encouraging others to learn I am trying to teach myself. But my main aim is to show non-black people that they cannot be allies without being educated on our experiences. From micro-aggressions to our history, if you do not know what your privilege has done, is doing and can do, then you cannot help. In the words of Audre Lorde, ‘your silence will not protect you’! You have to do the work, use your privilege, have the conversations and make the change.