Thinking about Black History Month.

 It’s Black History Month, something that is also called African-American History Month in the USA, where it is celebrated in February. It’s a fairly recent thing in the UK, and is celebrated in October - so the month is almost over. I did a bit of research into it. 

It started as a way of remembering important people and events in the history of the African diaspora. Before there was Black History Month, as far back as 1926 in the USA there was Negro History Week, created by historian Carter G. Woodson and the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. They chose the second week in February because it coincided with the birthday of Abraham Lincoln, February 12th, and that of Frederick Douglass, American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman, February 14th. Both these birthdays had been celebrated in Black communities since the late 19th century.

Over a century of celebrating noteworthy people and still prejudice is around!

Black History Month was first celebrated here in the UK in October 1987, the year of the 150th anniversary of Caribbean emancipation and the 25th anniversary of the Organisation of African Unity, an institution dedicated to advancing the progress of African states. The first Black History Month celebration in the UK was held in London on October 1, 1987, when Dr. Maulana Karenga from the USA was invited to an event by the Greater London Council about Black people's contributions to history.

Some institutions have faced criticism for supporting Black History Month with images of people from British Asian backgrounds, using the term "black" to refer to “political blackness” an idea that arose in 1970s as a way of referring to anyone in the UK who was likely to experience discrimination based on the colour of their skin, in other words anyone who was not white. 

Back in the 1970s we were very optimistic and felt that things could only get better and that we would all,become more tolerant and accepting - well, quite a lot of us felt that way. Some of us feel a bit more pessimistic nowadays but hope our children and grandchildren might keep fighting for a better world. 

Anyway, it’s Black History Month, or almost the end of Black History Month, and here is a link to an article about some people’s recommendations of black people whose faces should appear on our postage stamps, with reasons why they should be so celebrated.

Here’s an example, by writer Bernardine Evaristo: 

“Beryl Gilroy, born in 1924, is the unsung heroine of the Windrush generation of writers. She arrived in Britain from Guyana in 1951 and worked as a schoolteacher in London for many years, eventually becoming a headteacher.

Her wonderful, groundbreaking memoir, Black Teacher (1976), is an account of her early years as a teacher in the 1950s and the racism she encountered and overcame, always with great humour and dignity in the face of extreme ignorance.

Unlike the book’s male counterpart, To Sir, With Love, by fellow Guyanese writer ER Braithwaite, which was turned into a Hollywood film starring Sidney Poitier, Black Teacher was shamefully overlooked. In 2021 Faber & Faber republished it and I was honoured to write an introduction.

Gilroy went on to write many fiction books for children and adults. She died in 2001, leaving behind two children, one of whom is the renowned scholar Paul Gilroy.”

And at this time when the world seems to be dissolving into into intolerant chaos and violence, I felt the need to write about something more positive. 

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!