Celebrating culture and history other than our own might be foreign to some of us and even futile to others. However, there are undeniable benefits of going the extra mile to explore the journeys of others. Every October, Black History Month is celebrated globally. Many questions arise concerning black history, including: Should it be celebrated for more than a month? Why don’t we have an Asian history month? What do we gain from learning about their culture? At Croydon High School in South London, students explored some of these questions.

During break and lunchtimes at Croydon High School, showings of documentaries, films and TV shows based on black lives were introduced to promote cultural awareness. This included Michelle Obama’s critically acclaimed ‘Becoming’ and the series ‘Dear White People’ which cultural bias and social injustice. Assembelies took place which emphasised the impact of Black Britons who are often overshadowed by their American counterparts. Some notable figures included Diane Abbott, Mary Seacole and Idris Elba. The Religious Studies department created a display which consisted of black philosophers that we should be aware of. This display will be up for a year. Croydon High actively supports discovering Black History and being culturally diverse in innovative ways. 

To find out about Black History Month from a new perspective, I interviewed some students from year 12 with different backgrounds.

When asked about Black History Month, the first student mentioned ‘As I am brown, I think we should also have a month to celebrate’. As black figures are raising their voice on black history, some say that Asian history remains in the shadows. However, South Asian Heritage month which ran from 18 July to 17 August 2020 was introduced to combat this issue. Black History month is just a start of a more culturally diverse world. It is admittedly difficult to learn about all cultures, however, another student states ‘We don’t have to learn about it in depth but we should be responsible for limiting our ignorance’.

So when people ask what we have to gain from learning about the history of others, tell them that we gain enlightenment. When we understand our peers, we build stronger relationships, we respect them and we avoid unintentional offences and microaggressions. Learning about culture and history fosters open-mindedness. When we understand our peers, we empathise with them. We can walk that extra mile in their shoes. Consequently, we overcome the barrier of stereotypes and we can enrich our lives by enriching our knowledge. This is why we must celebrate each other. A world without cultural diversity would be a world I would not want to live in.