Black History Month

What is Black History Month?

Black History Month is both a time to celebrate and a time to learn about and understand Black history and culture.

For the entire month, a wide range of events are held across the country celebrating African and Caribbean cultures and histories, including everything from food festivals to music workshops, educational seminars and lectures.

When is Black History Month?

In the UK, Black History Month takes place every October

Why is Black History month celebrated in October?

During the Thatcher era, following the Brixton, Tottenham and Toxteth riots, Black Britons were experiencing high levels of marginalisation and racism.

In response to this, Akyaaba Addai-Sebo, a Ghanaian analyst and activist, who was working as the Special Projects Officer at the Greater London Council coordinated the first official Black History Month event on 1st October 1987, with speaker Dr Maulana Karenga, the originator of Kwanzaa.

The annual celebration of African American culture is held from December 26 to January 1 in the US.

Since then, the popularity and breadth of celebrations have grown exponentially into the widely celebrated national programme that we see today.

Each year, Black History Month has a different theme to focus on throughout the month.

This year’s theme for Black History Month 2022 is Time for Change: Action Not Words.

WHY IS BLACK HISTORY MONTH IMPORTANT?

Black History Month is an opportunity to start conversations about race. Conversations about race are important to have in the workplace because it supports an organisation’s anti-racism work and encourages a two-way dialogue and conversation about race between Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and White employees.

This is important for building relationships, rapport and trust among colleagues.