Teaching Black/Israelite History to all students in the UK

by Minister Charmain, UK Branch

In the UK Black History Month (BHM) is celebrated in October. I have been leading a BHM campaign here in the UK to change the month from October to August so that the celebration will fall in line with the date (1August 1834) that slavery was made illegal throughout the British Empire.  It has been argued to us by members of parliment that October is most appropriate for BHM as children are at school and in August are they are on school holidays.  But, this is a weak argument since BHM is NOT even on the school curriculum in the UK.  Therefore, August is appropriate, so that families can be taught black history in their own environments and be taught by their own communities.

In addition, I made it a must that I go into my daughter's school to teach her peers about black history. (Schools can opt to teach it but do not have to).  After talking with the deputy head about the importance of the subject of black history, or at least Israelite history; I was made able to teach 2 classes of 10-11yr olds about the Trans Atlantic slave trade. The classes were a mixture of Carribbean, African, Asian and white youth.  Both classes ran over time as the children were very interested and were constantly asking me question.  I gave the children facts and presented them with images as well as a breakdown of my ethnicity.

The experience gave me a great feeling of satisfaction knowing that I had shared the history and culture of my people with school children who seemed to throughly appreciate my sharing.