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When Black History Month (AHm) was established in the UK in 1987 the founding events, that took place as part of Afrikan Jubilee Year included a stellar line-up of Warrior Scholars like Baba John Henrik Clarke, Baba Yosef Ben-Jochannan, Baba Tony Martin, Mama Sally Mugabe, Mama Frances Cress Welsing, and Baba Maulana Karenga. It also came with a raft of declarations including: “promoting positive public images and an understanding of Afrikans and people of Afrikan descent and encourage the positive teaching and development of their history, culture and struggles” and to “support Afrikan organisations and liberation movements based in London”. (1) Although BHM UK was borne out of the work of the London Strategic Policy Unit and various supportive individuals, it emanated from the vision of one man Baba Akyaaba Addai-Sebo.
It could be argued that such an initiative was inevitable, for it came not only in the midst of the turbulent 1980s, but also at the cusp of a global Afrikan philosophical, literary renaissance, as evidenced by some of the ground breaking volumes published in succeeding years and whose impact reverberated around the world: Decolonising The African Mind (Chinweizu, 1987);Afrocentricity (Molefi Asante, 1988); The Isis Papers (Frances Cress Welsing, 1991) Notes For An African World Revolution (John Henrik Clarke, 1991; Awakening The Natural Genius of Black Children (Amos Wilson, 1992; Nationbuilding (Kwame Agyei Akoto, 1992); Yurugu (Marimba Ani, 1994).
Over the years BHM has had a varied output. Through extensive local authority involvement and effective local lobbying, some events and been well resourced and impressive. On the flipside such ‘official’ involvement can lend itself to interpretations such as those once proffered by the Department of Education and Skills, that it is a “wonderful occasion to celebrate the diversity of our society and the contributions black and Asian men and women have made to the development of British society, technology and culture”. (2)
An encouraging development has been the development of a plethora of Black History organisations and initiatives such as Black History Walks (http://www.blackhistorywalks.co.uk/) , Black History Studies (http://www.blackhistorystudies.com/), British Black Music/Black Music Congress (https://www.facebook.com/BBMBMC/), the Black History Month website (http://www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk/section/news-views/) and of course the work of The Black History Man – Bro. Robin Walker (http://www.whenweruled.com/).
Another challenge BHM UK has faced is opposition to its October calendar, in contrast to the USA/international slot of February – originating from the Carter G Woodson/ Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, ‘Negro History Week’ that began in February 1926 and expanded to the whole month in 1976. However, in an interview with Bro. Kubara Zamani, producer and presenter at Nubiart Sound Radio which first appeared in New African magazine, Baba Akyaaba explained the compelling rationale behind the October choice:
“We decided on October as the month to celebrate black history because apart from its significance within the African calendar – the period of the autumn equinox in Africa – October is consecrated as the harvest period, the period of plenty, and the period of the Yam Festivals. It was the time in history when Africa, Egypt and Ethiopia for example were the cradle and breadbasket of civilisation. October is also a period of tolerance and reconciliation in Africa, when the chiefs and leaders would gather to settle all differences. This was also the time to examine one’s life in relation to the collective and to see if the targets set for oneself and the group during the past year had been achieved or not…We were also thinking about the children, and what to bequeath to them. October is more or less the beginning of the school year; their minds are refreshed and revitalised, so they can take in a lot of instruction. This was also one of the reasons that October was chosen.” (4)
One way to assess the impact of BHM might be to revisit the incident that served as the catalyst for Baba Addai-Sebo to envision the observance.
While he was working at the Greater London Council as the coordinator of Special Projects. A colleague, who had tried to consciously raise her six year-old son with a positive self image (even naming him after Marcus Garvey), reported that he came home school asking why couldn’t he be white. (5)
There is enough evidence to indicate that many schools (for example Rochester Grammar school and its ‘Slave auction’ lesson) still have some way to go to embracing the founding principles of BHM (6), not least in light of ”side lining”decreasing local authority funding. (7)
(1) Akyaaba Addai-Sebo and Ansel Wong (Eds) (1988) Our Story – A Handbook of African History and Contemporary Issues. London Strategic Poverty Unit p. 7-8; p. 319
(2) Vanessa Walters (29/09/03) More than Martin Luther King. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/sep/29/race.highereducation
(3) Kubara Zamani (2004) The Origins Of Black History Month In The UK. Nubiart Diary
(4) Ibid
(5) Zamani Op. Cit.
(6) The Ligali Organisation (13/07/17) Rochester school defends racist ‘how to be a slave master’ lesson. http://www.ligali.org/article.php?id=2567
(7) Diane Abbott (01/11/17) Black History Month is being sidelined, and that’s a problem. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/nov/01/black-history-month-funding-slashed
So we ask the question:
Black History Month@30: How do we assess its impact?
1) How has Afrika UK fared over the last 30 years?
2) Should we still lobby local authorities to support BHM?
3) Is BHM being sidelined?
4) If so, what should be our response?
5) Should BHM now be run by independent Black organisations?
Our very special guests:
Bro. Ldr. Mbandaka: Resident guest who is Spiritual Leader of the Alkebu-Lan Revivalist Movement and UNIA-ACL Ambassador for the UK and national co-Chair of the interim National Afrikan People’s Parliament. Bro. Ldr is a veteran activist of over 30 years standing, a featured columnist in The Whirlwind newspaper and author of Mosiah Daily Affirmations and Education: An African-Centred Guide To Excellence.
Bro. Akyaaba Addai-Sebo: a long standing Pan-Afrikan activist and is one of the main inspirations of Afrikan Jubilee Year, which spawned the establishment of “Black History Month” in the UK in October 1987. He has also been an independent Consultant on Preventive Diplomacy and Conflict Transformation and Special Envoy of International Alert. He helped to broker peace negotiations between the fighting groups in Liberia and Sierra Leone. Other roles held include consultant to The Listen Charity’s (UK) advocacy and fundraising campaign in support of the exemplary work of expert children’s charities mostly in developing countries. Bro. Addai is presently in Ghana working on a reforestation project to green degraded lands.
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