What is black history month and why do we celebrate it?
In the UK, for the past 35 years, the month of October marks the national celebration of Black History Month.  During this time, the achievements of the black African and Caribbean community are recognised and celebrated. Although this year, Leeds -along with other major cities across the UK- have put a spin on the annual event. From the help of artists and community workers, a magnificent art display has been put together by The World Reimagined project,  to further the general public's understanding of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. So, here's why projects like The World Reimagined are crucial in keeping black history alive and present in today's society.

Black history is almost erased out of our school's curriculum

The UK's education system is responsible for omitting the vast majority of black British history out of the school curriculum. The lack of Black history education in schools is contributing towards racism, The Black Curriculum has warned.

Despite the increase in talk of Black History in recent years, Only 10% of schools across the UK make the study of it mandatory, which majority of the history being referred to is American black history. Out of the 59 GCSE history modules available from the top exam boards in the country (Edexcel, AQA and OCR) 12 specifically mention black history. Only 5 mention the history of black people in Britain - representing a mere 8%... 

No modules in the GCSE syllabus for the most popular exam board, Edexcel, mention black people in Britain.


Silencing black history has been suggested to contribute to cases of racism in schools 

Eradicating Black history out of the school curriculum trivialises racism, leaving young people uniformed on such tendencies as racial slurs, micro aggressions and stereotypes.

A study conducted by the YMCA asked about racism in education. A staggering 95% said they had witnessed racist language at school and almost half (49%) said they believed racism was the biggest barrier to academic attainment. If this mindset is left unchecked from an early age, it perpetuates inherent biases black people are often subjected to. This then forces us to feel we have to overperform or "work twice as hard" as Adele Tondu ,19, member of YMCA’s youth advisory group, said instead of changing the way society depicts us.


Even though our corrupt school systems continue to fail us, that still doesn't mean we can't make an effort to do our own external research. For this article I have asked an artist partaking in the project ,Natasha Muluswela, to share her thoughts on what The World Reimagined project  means to her while featuring perspectives from leaders across the organisation.The world reimagined project kind of reinforces and acknowledges the message that the city is actually dark on slavery, Says Natasha Muluswela, creator of the movers of the past shakers of tomorrow globe.

"It will deflect the beauty in the darkness and bring the community together" - Natasha Muluswela. 

Muluswela explains that by combining history and art, creates an inclusive space many people can be part of. She went on to say that   "Seeing kids standing next to my globe, posing with it and engaging with art that speaks of a subject that's so painful and dark is so refreshing " 

Projects like these demonstrate how beneficial it is to include everyone in the conversation of black history- not just black people.

However, change seems to be coming in the near future. After the rise of BLM movement in 2020, Campaigners collected signatures for an open letter to be sent to the former education secretary ,Gavin Williamson, to make the teaching of Black history mandatory in the school curriculum across a variety of subjects. While this change hasn't reached England, Scotland or Northern Ireland yet, Black history will be mandatory in Welsh schools from next year which is still a step in the right direction.