Child being pursued during the Haitian Revolution |
As
October is Black History Month/African Heritage Month in the UK, I
have been posting lots of Black history events on Nurture Success Events – even more than usual.
Of
course, many of us know that every month is Black History Month. BHM
in the UK was started in the 1980s as an opportunity to acknowledge the
contributions of African people. It was never intended to be the
only Black History Month – just the one observed by local
authorities and other statutory bodies.
Tony
Warner of London Black History Walks runs events all year long, not
just in October. So do Black History Studies.
I
attended “What Were Black People Doing in WW1” on Saturday – an
excellent presentation. I have seen it at least three times now, and
I always learn something new. Brother Tony breaks down the whole
context of how Africa and its people got involved in the two World
Wars.
So
why does Black history matter? For one thing, in order to know who
we really are, we need to know our history. We need historical
context to understand the events of today, and to understand why
Africa and African people are in the position we are in. For
example, check out my recent blog about how people are recovering from the Rwandan genocide. To understand how and why the genocide
happened, we need the historical context.
That's
just one of many, many examples I can give.
In
order to subdue and control our ancestors, the enslavers did
everything they could to steal their cultural identity.
When
we understand how Black people were robbed of our dignity for many
generations, we can begin to see why we behave in ways that are so
self-destructive. And these behaviours will continue until we
undergo a profound healing process. And of course, that's what my
work is all about.
You
may also be interested in my recent blogs about the First World War.
More about this soon.
There are loads more Black history posts on this blog, so feel free to explore.
Organisations such as Black History Studies and London Black History Walks are
making a crucial contribution to us as a people and this
needs to be acknowledged more. Enjoy Black History Month and
please share this blog with your networks. Please leave your
comments below.
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