A London-based LGBT+ immigrant who organized Nigeria’s first Pride march aims to break the world record by traveling 15,000 kilometers backward to spread awareness of bigotry.
Joel Mordi, 26, announced to the PA news organization that he will take on the challenge over the course of the following year in various places across the UK and that “every state flag may be represented” during each trek.
Retro-walking, his concern, is “very figurative” because it aims to draw attention to “backwards” beliefs held against LGBT+ citizens, he said.
Mr. Mordi, an LGBT+ person who grew up in Nigeria, claimed that this required him to deal with a variety of covert and overt injustices, including bullying, heckling, and other forms, in order to be perceived as unique.
He claimed that upon arriving in the UK, he was subjected to racist abuse at a detention facility, in temporary housing, and perhaps sexual victimization by another asylum seeker.
He claimed that his “backwards walking challenge” “depicts the state of the country and aims to challenge harmful rules, policies, and language that surround not only my social class of LGBT+ people but also our cultural discussion.”
In February, Mr. Mordi began his attempt to break the world record by walking backward around Tooting Bec Stadium for 12 hours.
He may surpass the record set more than 90 years earlier by Plennie Lawrence Wingo, who walked backward for 18 weeks from 1932 to 1933, in order to accomplish his aim.
Mr. Mordi was an LGBT+ rights activist who organized a number of protests while he was residing in Nigeria. He then entered the National Assembly in Abuja’s capital city with an entourage of friends to publish a “love letter” to young Nigerians.
“It was a call to action for all the children outside to stand up for justice,” he declared.
The Mordi Ibe Foundation, a youth-focused charity based in Nigeria that “localized the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and made it practical for young folks in schools,” was founded by Mr.
However, he and his supporters “became people of attention” and fled to the UK in 2019 after being “hit by the rather unpleasant reality that England is not a utopia,” according to him.
Mr. Mordi spent five days in the Harmondsworth immigration treatment center in Middlesex, where during his induction “in front of the guard,” he was subjected to “whistling, catcalling,” and name-calling.”
“All kept telling you that everything would be fine even though they were aware of my differences,” he said.
“They saw my symbol, my Dr. Martens rainbow set boots, and everything else that was a dead giveaway to indicate that I’m someone who needs something.”
While at the detention facility, he claimed to have also been sexually assaulted by another detainee.
“One had his way after entering my room halfway. He claimed that if he had wanted to kill me, ‘he could have killed me.'”
He claimed that although he reported the incident to an officer, nothing was done.
He lived in temporary housing with a racist roommate who “kept on threatening” him because of his sexuality, so he usually couch-surfed at friends’ accommodation, according to him, during the Covid-19 crisis.
“Due to my numerous addresses, I am currently classified as homeless,” he said.
“I’m walking backward to challenge long-standing cruel, dangerous rhetoric and all the discomfort we have to endure.” “I carry so much pain, such as I do joy, and that’s why.”
“It is crucial that detention and treatment are carried out with dignity and respect,” a Home Office director told PA.
“The detention land and escorting process are managed by service providers, and we take their welfare and safety very seriously.”
