“I am proud to be a Maasai woman and a Derry girl,“ Mayor Lilian Seenoi-Barr, the first black person to be mayor anywhere in Northern Ireland, told a cheering crowd in the Guildhall on June 3. Colum Eastwood, MP, leader of her party, the SDLP (Social Democratic and Labour Party), stood with her on what he called “a fantastic night in the City of Civil Rights.”
Born in Narok County, Kenya, one of 14 children, her advocacy for women’s rights, especially her opposition to forced marriage and female circumcision, endangered her life and that of her young son who had been diagnosed with autism. The Changaro Trust active in Kenya and based in Derry offered her refuge in the city.
She arrived in December 2010. She recently recalled a fateful encounter.
“I had only been here a few days when a man stopped me on the street. He asked where I was from. I said ‘Kenya.’ ‘Well Derry is your home now,’ he said. I found out it was John Hume. Then I learned about the SDLP, the party he had founded. His wife Pat was the one who encouraged me to get involved in politics. I joined the SDLP and later represented Foyleside, which is where she lived. I know Pat would be so delighted for me now.”
The mayor is selected for a one-year term from elected council members by each party on a rotating basis. Eastwood explained that the SDLP chose Lilian Seenoi-Barr because of her work as a community activist and founder of the Northwest Migrants Forum.
“She has been speaking out on behalf of those who are marginalized and at times struggle to have their voices heard. We were delighted when Lilian joined the SDLP, sharing our vision of a peaceful and prosperous future for people in our city, region, and island based on respect for difference and diversity. She has been a source of constant enthusiasm, energy, and positivity.“
Lilian Seenoi-Barr received the chain of office from outgoing mayor Patricia Logue of Sinn Fein who offered her support as did incoming deputy mayor Alderman Darren Guy of the Official Unionist Party.
In her remarks, the new mayor thanked her husband, Paul, “The rock of my life”, and expressed special gratitude to the Kenyan government dignitaries who had traveled from Africa to witness the historic moment. Then she spoke to the crowd of friends and neighbors.
“Since I arrived, Derry has embraced me. It has granted me a family, a community, and now the honor of serving as your mayor. Of course, some in recent weeks have seen this history-making moment as a threat. And it is no secret that it has provoked anti-immigrant sentiments and intensive abuse. That has been a reminder of the issues we face as a community, but I know those sentiments find no home in Derry. They were not reflective of most people in our city and district. Indeed, since I was appointed, I have witnessed the warmth and kindness of the Derry that I know and that I have loved with all my heart through the kindness of strangers and the outpouring of solidarity and support.
“The Ireland I know, and the Derry where I built my home, is a welcoming and generous place where anyone, regardless of their background, can thrive.
“{Derry] is a city steeped in social justice, progress, and protest in support of rights for all of our citizens. It’s a place that makes history. We follow in the footsteps of giants in the city. Giants, including John Hume, who once said, ‘Difference is the essence of humanity, an accident of birth.’ My appointment is a sign of that celebration of difference…
“We are no longer just green and orange; We can make new choices and build a new united community in all our diversity. As your mayor, I pledge to lead with ambition to drive real change, ensuring that all voices within our vibrant community are heard and represented.“
A delegation from Kenya came to support the new mayor and to declare that the city. in the words of Deputy Head of Mission for Kenya to the UK, Edwin Afande, would now be connected to Africa.
Among the delegation was Senator Ledama Olekina, the mayor’s brother, who champions the rights of minority communities in Kenya.
Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch, Head of the Smithsonian Institution and the founding Director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC which Lilian had toured last year met her on a visit to Derry in April. Now he sent this message “It was a treat to meet her and to know that her pioneering ascendency to the office of the mayor reflects well on a changing Northern Ireland.” ♦
Great story. Makes me proud to be Irish