As a school community, we celebrate black history month in various ways every October. From movies to poetry, we are encouraged to partake in celebrations to remind us of how far the world has come in terms of racism and what we still have to do to achieve full equality.
As many people know, October is dedicated to black history and fighting against racism so schools and communities often come together to remind themselves of what we can do to stop it. My school, in particular, have an annual evening celebration of black history where people read poems and perform dances related to culture and equality. We are encouraged in English classes to write poems and other forms of creative writing that can be read out on the evening. The school often gets inspirational people to tell their stories on the evening in order to encourage us young people to stand up for what we believe in and to fight for equality. The dances shown on the evening are related to culture and identity so they portray the different personalities and qualities of individuals.
Different departments within the school community incorporate the message of black history into lessons through different methods. Maths, for example, show a movie to classes that is related to both maths and racism- whilst history lessons are dedicated to different movements that have happened in the past to get us to where we are today. The variety of activities allows us to full understand what black people went through in the past and are still going through in some places across the globe.
The activities the school offers are very inspiring and beneficial to students who may be struggling to embrace their culture and who aren’t proud of it. People get to learn about the history of their culture which helps them to value themselves in society more. The schools celebrations help us to understand who we are and where we come from, whilst ensuring us that no matter what colour our skin is, we can go anywhere in our future.
