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October Black History Month

Posted on 1st October 2020

October is Black History Month in the UK, an event that has been celebrated for more than 30 years.

The month was founded to recognise the contributions that people of African and Caribbean backgrounds have made to the UK over many generations.

Black History Month has expanded to include the history of not just African and Caribbean people but all people who identify as black.

To find out more about Black History Month visit the website by clicking this link

When I asked the advocacy Matters team who they would like me to write about for Black History month, I said shall I write about Martin Luther King? I was sent a link to this YouTube clip of a Black History Class This shows a very passionate student who wants to know about the black people in history that do not get mentioned that are also inspirational. Black People who have made history since the civil rights movement.

‘Dzagbele Matilda Asante she recalls arriving at Dover in August 1947.  On arrival in London, she was taken by a British Council officer to the Colonial Hostel in Collingham Gardens, near Earl’s Court – the British Council was very particular about which part of London it housed its colonial guests. In less than a fortnight, she moved to Barnet Hospital in north London, where she began her nursing training’. Read about her life and work in the NHS by clicking the link on her name.

Jack Leslie should have been England’s first black player but when the selectors discovered his heritage, his name would never appear on the team sheet. Click on his name to find out more.

Read Why Black History Month is even more important this year.