Behind the Scenes at Bakau

A lot goes on at this small company and sometimes we’re so busy strategizing for change that we forget to introduce ourselves! In this series, we’re inviting you to meet our amazing team and learn about what drives them in their passion for justice.

Cicely Belle Blain

CEO & Principal Consultant

Cicely Belle Blain is a Black/mixed, queer non-binary femme from London, UK now living on the lands of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh people. Their ancestry is a mix of Gambian (Wolof), Jamaican and English. Cicely Belle spent their formative years between London, the Netherlands and a small Catholic village in France—each home presenting a pivotal opportunity for awakening and growth. Cicely Belle is descended from a long line of feminist educators and developed a passion for justice from a young age.

Cicely Belle is noted for founding Black Lives Matter Vancouver and subsequently being listed as one of Vancouver's 50 most powerful people by Vancouver Magazine twice, BC Business 30 under 30 and one of Refinery29's Powerhouses of 2020.

Cicely Belle founded Bakau Consulting (formerly Cicely Blain Consulting) in 2018 and has grown the company to serve over 500 clients worldwide. Some of their most notable professional achievements include speaking at the United Nations Summit in Quito, Ecuador, developing an Intersectionality Toolkit for the City of Vancouver and presenting the keynote address for the 2020 graduating ceremony at University of British Columbia, their alma mater.

Cicely Belle is also an instructor in Executive Leadership at Simon Fraser University, the Editorial Director of Ripple of Change Magazine and the author of Burning Sugar (Arsenal Pulp Press and VS Books, 2020).

Cicely Belle loves:

• English breakfast tea

• Science fiction

• Scrapbooking

5 Big Questions

WHO, WHAT OR WHERE IS HOME FOR YOU?

London (UK) will always be my home, even though I've had the opportunity to live in a few other places around the world. When I was 10, we lived near Bourdeaux in France for a year and then when I was 16, we moved to Maastricht in the Netherlands before I moved to Vancouver. I made memories (good and bad) in each of these places, but I always feel called back to London. Vancouver is definitely a close second as it's where I found much of my chosen family, met my partner, adopted my dog, Daffodil and started Bakau Consulting. The two cities are really different, and I am really fortunate to be able to travel between the two and spend time with the people I love.

Specifically, my Nana's house will always feel like home. She moved there with her parents and siblings in 1933 and lived there until she passed. It's pretty amazing that this house has such a long legacy in our family—my mother grew up there too, and I spent so much of my childhood there. The garden is still full of hundreds of daffodil bulbs that bloom every Spring!

WHAT IS YOUR RELATIONSHIP TO LAND AND WATER?

Growing up in a concrete jungle, I didn't much consider the land and water around me. I was always separated from the earth by buildings and sidewalks and tarmac. However, many of our family holidays were by car, taking the ferry to France and finding rivers and lakes to swim in. I often wondered if I was a fish in a past life because I felt instantly happy and at peace in the water.

My relationship with land deepened when I visited my maternal family's home in The Gambia—I understood what it meant to have a more intimate connection with the land that provides you with food and nourishment, and materials to build your home. While I grew up away from that culture, it's amazing how the sounds and smells of a place can instantly feel like another home and call you back from afar.

Living on unceded Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh territory and learning stories from Indigenous folks whose families have called these lands home for millennia have been such powerful learning opportunities that I am endlessly grateful for. I have come to understand the intended relationship between humans and land, which has enabled me to decolonize my perspective. I think growing up in a country that made its wealth from colonialism and slavery, I subconsciously viewed nature as something for extraction and exploitation by humans—that somehow we had the right to take and destroy for our own benefit. Connecting with my own ancestors indigenous to Africa while learning from folks Indigenous to Turtle Island, my mind has been truly opened to the vast histories of symbiotic and respectful relationships that are possible between humans and nature.

WHAT IS A PIECE OF ART, LITERATURE, FILM, OR MUSIC THAT CHANGED YOU IN SOME WAY?

I recently watched Everything, Everywhere, All at Once and was blown away. I had to watch it 3 times to fully understand. It was bizarre and hilarious, and devastating at the same time. It really speaks to generational differences, mother-daughter relationships, race and immigration, class and capitalism, and so many other poignant topics. It initially appears to be very complicated and difficult to follow, but ultimately the main message is simply about choosing love over all else. Also Michelle Yeoh and Stephanie Hsu are incredible.

You can often hear me going around the house saying "sucked intoooooo a bagel." If you know, you know.

WHAT DOES A POST-LIBERATION WORLD LOOK LIKE TO YOU?

Generosity. Radical kindness. Abolition of policing. Less bureaucracy. More rest and joy.

I have many dreams for a post-liberation world but one thing my mind often comes back to is the "original affluent society", a theory proposed by Marshall Sahlins that describes how hunter-gatherer societies worked significantly less than we do now, and dedicated much more of their time to leisure. When we add this to lots of other Indigenous ways of being from cultures around the world, we know that community building, eating, dancing, making art, resting, and most importantly, sharing generously and abundantly have been ways that humans have existed together since forever. This also allows humans to live in harmony with land, water and other species. 

TELL US ABOUT A MOMENT OR PROJECT AT BAKAU THAT FELT INSPIRING OR EXCITING.

Over the past 5 years, I've had so many wonderful moments that I am so grateful for—it's so hard to pinpoint one!

As we are coming up on our 5th birthday, I am just reflecting on so many special and exciting things that have happened. It's truly such an incredible journey to be on as a leader and I am constantly in awe of my team and the wider community around us who continue to believe in what we do, recommend us to others, attend our events and be in community with us in other ways.

I started Bakau on a computer in the library by my Nana's house, and it's now grown so much—not only in the size of the team but also in terms of how we have deepened our knowledge as educators and consultants, enabling us to continue offering services we really believe in and are proud of!