Black History All Year

08 Oct 2005

Diane Abbott, Hackney MP of Jamaican descent, has a busy schedule in October. She will be celebrating Black History Month by attending various functions and speaking engagements across the capital.

Black History Month aims to promote awareness and knowledge of black contribution to British society and to strengthen awareness of black cultural heritage. Black history month focuses on the diverse influences of black culture on contemporary Britain from music and art to poetry and history.

Diane said: “Black History Month is a great and valuable initiative. It is a celebration of multi-culturalism and significant contributions of black culture which have often been overlooked. However, I am of the opinion that setting aside just one month for teaching black history simultaneously undermines our commitment to multi-culturalism and diversity. Black history should not be separated from ‘general’ history and crammed into one month a year. It should be an integrated and significant element of British history.”

Diane continued: “Black history should form a natural part of the national school curriculum. It should be taught as part and parcel of British history.” Diane went on: “Equally important is to highlight to today’s youth the positive contribution black people have made to society. There is so much more to black history than slavery. We need to also celebrate the positives of our history.”

Diane said: “Black boys are still failing in our schools. Although the causes of this are plentiful the boys do need to be engaged in the classroom. Incorporating black history into the curriculum would teach all our children a much more interesting, diverse and adequate version of British and world history”.



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