Celebrating Black History Month at St Paul's

October is Black History Month in the UK, an event that has been celebrated nationwide for more than 30 years. Black History Month was first celebrated in the UK in 1987, an event that was organised by Ghanaian-born Akyaaba Addai-Sebo.

How did Black History Month start?
Virginian-born Carter Godwin Woodson, a historian and co-founder of the “Association for the Study of Negro Life and History” (now the Association for the Study of African American Life and History), is credited with being the “father of black history”.
In February 1926, Woodson and his organisation launched “Negro History Week”, a precursor to Black History Month.

Why is Black History Month important?
Black history month was first launched in London in the 1980s, where the aim was for the local community to challenge racism and educate themselves and others about the British history that was not taught in schools.
Black people have been in Britain for a lot longer than previously thought. One of the oldest skeletons ever found was that of the Cheddar Man who had dark skin. Archaeologists think that he was alive during the Stone Age. Black people have always been present in the UK but there has been a lack of representation in the history books.

The link below will lead you to an online Black History Month advent style calendar. The website is called our history is shared and very interesting.  

https://ourhistoryissharedhistory.com/

We wish to share some of it with you so please enjoy the pieces below.
 
Tamara Allen