Star pupil from Homerton hoping to change narrative around young black boys after 10 Downing Street visit
Aleka and Amari at 10 Downing Street. - Credit: Archant
A star pupil wants to change the narrative around young black boys in the media after being invited to Downing Street to celebrate his GCSE results.
Homerton boy Amari Gutzmore, 16, and his mother Aleka were asked to go to number 10 by Samuel Kasumu, the Prime Minister's special advisor on youth and black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME).
He had seen Aleka's viral LinkedIn post about her son's incredible grades after results day.
"One of my biggest life achievements is that of being a mother," she had written. "Yesterday all the hard work was rewarded. My son achieved 10 A's in his GCSEs, 8 of which were at grade 9 one at grade 8 and one at grade 7."
The pair went down last month and chatted about Amari's future, although a certain Mr Johnson wasn't around to meet them.
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"I just got an email from 10 Downing Street inviting me to go," Amari said. "I was like: 'Wow, OK'.
"I was quite shocked because the place was really big. We just talked about what I want to do and how I could help."
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Aleka, a self-employed financial advisor, added: "He was ecstatic. He was inspired. It was good to know the only reason we were there was because of our achievements. It's had a massive impact. Before he went he would say he was going to do his A-levels and go to uni. Now he's going to Oxford to do philosophy, politics and economics!"
Amari recently sat on a panel in Birmingham talking to his peers, much to Aleka's surprise.
"I didn't expect him to say yes," she said. "He doesn't really like the limelight, it just shows how these results have affected him."
Amari went to Cardinal Pole and is now at Brampton Manor, which he says is more intense. He's studying politics, maths, philosophy and ethics.
"I want to change the stigma and stereotypes," he said of his long-term goals. "My case is treated as exceptional but it shouldn't be. I mean yeah I did well but other people do too. It shouldn't be shocking."
Aleka said: "It's very rare you hear about the success of a young black boy in Hackney. The media and community is celebrating crime more than success. If you're doing really well and trying really hard at school but everything you hear is negative some will think: 'What's the point?'."
Amari says his Aleka helped him to be successful by not putting pressure on him.
"I always told him to aim high," she said. "I just made learning fun, that's all you've got to do."
Black History Month
Aleka has written the following poem for National Poetry Day, inspired by Black History Month:
If I Had a Voice
If I had a voice
You would hear me sing
If I had a voice
Such joy it would bring
If I had a voice
The youth would think
listen to the sound of the silent ring
opportunity so weet you can hear it roar
night after night they would pray they soar
If I had a voice
The boards would bring
And being at the top would not be a thing
If I had a voice
Equality would stop the divides
Unity it would be side by side
If I had a voice
You would know the magnificence
of my race
If I had a voice
And maybe even a face
more would happen at increased speed and pace
