Ugo Paul Eboh talks about his African and Israelite heritage and the cultural holidays he celebrates.
Heritage
“Black Lives Matter caused me to do some historical searching. This combined with DNA testing and greater cultural insight has helped me to connect my Igbo heritage (ethnic group in Nigeria) to the Ancient Israelites of the Bible.”
Cultural Holidays
Since recognising my Israelite heritage, we now celebrate the Passover as a family.
- Passover is the annual remembrance of the Israelites leaving Egyptian slavery, after the angel of death “passed over” them, and killed the firstborn of Egypt.
It’s been great to come together as a wider family to celebrate this, with lamb, bitter herbs and unleavened bread. It’s also been great to connect this to our Christian faith and Jesus, the perfect Passover lamb!
Celebrating African Culture
African culture knows how to come together and celebrate. I’ve always been aware of that from a young age, having lots of African food, music, dressing up, etc.
My favourite food includes Pounded Yam with Ogbono Soup, closely followed by Jollof Rice with Chicken
Now there is a number of the next generation in our families, we love to come together and recreate those celebrations for them, again with food, music and dress.
Ugo Paul Eboh works at Virgin Money. Explore other stories in our Cultural Spotlight series here.
