Negotiating Black and Irish Identity in the Digital Space

The digital space has been a microcosm for the many developments that have taken place in how the concept of race has been perceived, discussed, participated in and debated. A language to broach “blackness” (as a racial identity) has grown in other states such as the USA and the UK, based on the unique histories and cultural dynamics of these regions, and has been recently imported into conversations about race in Ireland, often eclipsing the nuances of racial discourse and experiences in the Irish context. The visible presence of digital platforms like the Black and Irish podcast, Pints of Malt and Box’D Out. The podcast highlights a new generation of platforms utilising the digital medium as a place where nuanced perspectives of lived experiences of Black and Irish communities are highlighted and unpacked. We ground this chapter with theoretical frameworks surrounding the concept of “Blackness” from our upbringing as Rwandese-Irish and Nigerian-Irish which places us in a unique position to be social commentators of Irishness, identity and representation. We will converse with each other and other content/podcast creators from the Black and Irish communities. This chapter positions the growing presence of Black and Irish digital media by highlighting how alternative media spaces like podcasting and the creation of YouTube content give Black and Irish content creators’ room to amplify their diverse experiences within the public sphere. Black and Irish content creators are adding to the digital dynamics that centralise Black experiences while playing an integral role in shaping popular culture in Ireland. The chapter also proposes an alternative way to look at Black and Irish identities where one’s Irish identity no longer needs to be qualified by one’s race, a future that allows Irishness to become flexible enough to encompass the heterogeneity of its modern population.