Black History Month

Diigo

Yorkshire is home to many culturally diverse communities who make an outstanding contribution to our regional artistic landscape. During October, the region will be celebrating Black History Month with a host of inspiring arts and cultural events that celebrate and profile African and Caribbean culture across Yorkshire. ‘Yorkshire Celebrating Black History’ is being led by Arts Council England, Yorkshire in partnership with Audiences Yorkshire, the region’s audience development agency.

Highlights range from the Leeds West Indian Centre’s celebration of the steel pan to Cartwright Hall’s Black British Style: Family Weekend looking at fashion and styling across all aspects of Black life and culture over the past

50 years. With other exciting events such as Maya Angelou headlining at Ilkley Literature Festival and Stephen Joseph Theatre’s showing of The Island, set on Robben Island, South Africa, here really is something for everyone to enjoy.

Andy Carver, Executive Director, Arts Council England, Yorkshire comments:
‘Promoting culturally diverse arts is one of our core ambitions - we want to create an environment where the arts reflect the full range and diversity of contemporary society. Black History Month focuses attention on October, and adds to the wide range of culturally diverse arts events that take place all year round. We hope the ‘Yorkshire Celebrating Black History' campaign will encourage people from across the region to participate in and explore Yorkshire’s exciting and diverse arts offering.’

Details of over 70 Black History Month events can be found on www.digyorkshire.com, Yorkshire’s online What’s On guide. Click this link to be directed to the latest, up-to-the minute listings of events happening around the region as well as features, previews and interviews. http://www.digyorkshire.com/digEventFinder.asp?sortOrder=date&keyword=black+history+month

‘Yorkshire Celebrating Black History’ has bought together several partners to work together to promote Black History Month in the region, including Leeds City Council; Bradford Metropolitan District Council; Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council; Sheffield Futures; Heritage Lottery Fund; and the BBC Roots project.

Rommi Smith, poet, playwright and performer, and Guest Editor of DigYorkshire for Black History Month, comments:
‘I’m delighted to be working in partnership with www.digyorkshire.com, as Guest Editor for Black History Month. Black History Month celebrations throughout the world are a time for remembrance, recognition and sometimes, yes, revelation to those of us of African descent, (and people of non-African descent), of the extent and enormity of the contribution Black people have made to culture, society, literature, medicine, invention, sport, music and political activism since, well, since history began.’

‘Black History Month is an important start, a comma, if you like, but it isn’t a full stop. I welcome an increased profile for Black History Month, purely because it’s a device to raise awareness of a slice of history and contemporary achievement that has been marginalized, overlooked, or written out. I welcome too the community element, the way in which its celebrations are a time for families, organisations and individuals to gather together. But it’s important we don’t become complacent about Black History Month; thinking that performances, commissions, programming and opportunities for Black people should be, can be, crammed in 31 days and forgotten for the other eleven months of the year, is a mistake. It undoes the whole point of Black History Month. Black history, or should I say the contribution of Africans to historical and contemporary culture is a matter of millennia, not a month.’

See events for the North & Yorkshire for information on where to go and what to see.

Diigo

“No Pets, No Blacks, No Irish”, a few famous words which would be emblazoned on ads in shop windows for people intending to rent accommodation in 1960s Britain; my father declares. I am shocked I can’t believe it. Migrating to Britain post Windrush, Black people from the West Indies thought was a clever move. Britain promised jobs, a better way of living moreover a chance to earn decent salaries to send and provide for family members back home.  These offers were not as ideal as they appeared to be.