Black History Month: An important global celebration
Black History Month was first celebrated in the UK in 1987 which coincided with the 150th anniversary of the abolition of slavery in the Caribbean.
How did Black History Month begin?
Black History Month was first conceived by Carter G. Woodson, a famous historian along with members of his Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (now the Association for the Study of African American Life and History).
The Association organised a black history week (February 1926) and they selected the month of February for this celebration due to its proximity to the birthdays of President Abraham Lincoln;; Lincoln was responsible for the ‘Emancipation Proclamation’, and the African American orator and abolitionist Frederick Douglass. The week grew in popularity, across America and many cities started their own celebrations of black achievements.
The civil rights movement also galvanized its importance and was later expanded to become Black History Month in 1976.
Source: Britannica 2024
With its aim to provide an important educational and reflective window into the origins of black history, a key part of this important awareness month is to acknowledge the social injustices and mistreatment of black people through the ages – and to understand why oppression sadly still appears in society today.
Black Lives Matter (BLM), a well-known grassroots campaign, continues today to campaign and highlight racism and shine a light on instances of brutality towards black people.
The Forward Trust is an ally for people from all backgrounds and we work with staff and communities to help remove barriers for support, promoting equality and equity wherever we can. We are fully committed about playing our part tomake sure we are increasing opportunities for individuals and groups from all backgrounds.
An example of this is reflected in our new Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI Strategy) 2024-2027, which is developed based on three key principles:
Robust data collection and analysis must be central to our decision-making in helping us to measure and drive change.
1. We will keep listening and learning and be honest and transparent about our progress. We must improve on the quality of our data collection, learn from the data that we collect, including our staff and service user’s experiences, to make targeted, fair and evidence-based decisions and to effectively monitor our progress.
2. EDI is everyone’s responsibility: The responsibility for EDI lies with all members of staff and volunteers, but especially our leaders who need to set a strong EDI culture and standards. We must enable everyone to understand what EDI means to The Forward Trust, each directorate and their roles. We want everyone to take personal responsibility for learning, be equipped to recognise and challenge discriminatory behaviours and embed inclusive practices in all aspects of their work.
3. Continuous learning and review: In driving forward change, we recognise that we might not always get it right, but we are committed to learning from our experiences and to always ask how we can be better.
How can I get more involved in Black History Month?
How can I get involved or find out more?
You can be an ally of Black History Month in a number of ways:
- Attending events and educational sessions to learn more about its origins and importance
- Become a friend and confidant for anyone that wants to talk about their racial identity
- Read, research and find out more about the campaign – and share your knowledge with others
- Support on social media – use the hashtag #BlackHistoryMonth and like/share other content that resonates with you.
Forward will continue to promote its range of staff/community activities across the month to celebrating this important awareness month.
Staff event: recognising Black History Month
As one of our six Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), our ‘Race Forward ERG’ is leading on a fantastic new event this month.
Race Forward will be hosting this celebration day on Monday 21st October (11am-4pm) at Forward HQ, with a panel discussion exploring identity and a Q&A. The event will also celebrate the day with great food, music and stalls including jewellery making (history of African beads), the meaning and significance of different symbols and Akara fabrics and the history of Corn row.
Ultimately, the event will celebrate the lives, stories, and contributions of Black British people.
There will also be information available on physical and mental health in the black community focusing on a range of areas from wellness to cultural awareness.
Find out more about how Forward is improving both its service offer and its support and development of staff on our EDI pages.