History has generally been written by white people about white people. In most schools, many subjects focus on teaching about the achievements of white figures, such as artists, painters, and scientists. People from African and Caribbean backgrounds have been a fundamental part of British and worldwide history for centuries. Black History Month gives everyone the opportunity to share, celebrate and understand the impact of black heritage and culture and recognise the contribution and achievements of those individuals with African or Caribbean heritage.
At Dallam, students have been challenged to think of famous black people from British history. How many could you name without the aid of Google?
They were then taught about key black figures from the 1700s to present day that had made significant social and cultural impact in history, such as Mary Seacole, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and Professor Shirley Thompson.
Our librarian, Miss Brown has had a special area of the library focussed on Black History Month where students can pick up books on:
- biographies of significant black figures
- key events in black history
- classic and modern literature by black authors
- poetry by black poets.
Combining both Black History Month with National Poetry Day (7 Oct) we asked on Facebook for recommendations of black poets we could share with our students. Students will be seeing videos (see links below) in their form periods of the poets perform their works so they can appreciate how creative and powerful poetry can be. This has been a great way to broaden appreciation of literature among our students.
Enjoy these two-minute poems as recommended by followers on our Facebook:
Maya Angelou
George the Poet
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