Maxwell A. Ayamba
Academics & Education
Also working within:
Decolonising Movements & Diasporas
Also working within:
Decolonising Movements & Diasporas
Based: Sheffield
Maxwell is the Founder/Managing Director, Sheffield Environmental Movement. Currently PhD Research Student in Black Studies, Department of American & Canadian Studies, University of Nottingham, M4C/AHRC. He is an environmental journalist by profession, former Associate Lecturer/Research Associate, Sheffield Hallam University. Co-Founder, 100 Black Men Walk for Health Group which inspired the national play Black Men Walking in 2018.
First Black person to serve on the Board of the Ramblers Association UK. Named in 2021 one of the 70 most remarkable people in the history of the Peak District National Park since 1951. In 2021, Maxwell received the National Lottery Award in the Heritage category. He authored papers and chapters in books in relation to minoritised communities and the UK environment.
“The idea that sometimes people hold a core belief that is very strong and when they are presented with evidence that works against that belief, the new evidence cannot be accepted. It would create a feeling that is extremely uncomfortable called cognitive dissonance. And because it is so important to protect the core belief, they will rationalize, ignore, and even deny anything that does not fit in with the core belief.” Frantz Fanon’s Cognitive Dissonance