Women and young people will be at the forefront of events held to mark Black History Month in Enfield.

The borough will host films, exhibitions and live music celebrating the history and culture of the black community throughout the month of October.

Enfield is home to a large ethnic minority population, and around one in five people in the borough is from the black community.

Councillor Nneka Keazor, cabinet member for community safety and cohesion, said: “We want to focus on highlighting all the positives that we have – black, but also ethnic minority champions in our community history past and present.

“This year, we are doing something different – it is not entirely the council hosting the activities.

“There will be a focus on women. We are celebrating the woman of the year, and there will be a focus on black women as well.”

A series of films at the Dugdale Centre will mark the centenary of the first women being allowed to vote, highlighting the roles played by key figures in the fight for women’s suffrage.

The year of the woman season will also include films on prominent black women such as writer Maya Angelou, politician Winnie Mandela and pop superstar Whitney Houston.

Cllr Keazor added: “We have fantastic guest speakers who will also provide some mentoring for young people going into schools.

“The mentoring we want to provide is not just for Black History Month. We will have those in place and running for the year so children will benefit.”

Cllr Keazor said it was important for young people “to engage with what has happened in the past and see how their culture has come from all those areas of African and Caribbean countries”.

She said: “What we are trying to do is have events in places where young people will engage and attend.”

The Millfield Theatre, Trinity at Bowes Methodist Church and Centre, and Community House are among the other venues that will be hosting events.

These include a celebration of the music of Bob Marley, stand-up comedy from Mr Cee and an exhibition by local black artist Patrick Samuel.

Cllr Keazor said the events could help to tackle crime in the black and minority ethnic community as well as highlighting the positive achievements of young black people.

She said: “We have a lot of young black children that do acting and do really well in schools. We are promoting some positives that you never really hear about.”