Black History Month at Chigwell

October is famously known as the Black History Month across the world. The theme of the UK Black History Month 2023 is “Saluting our Sisters”, which focuses on the achievements of Black British women. Many schools in the UK adopt this special celebration as an extracurricular session for their students; Chigwell School is one of the many. “This is the third year in which we are celebrating Black History Month.” Said Mrs A Savage, Deputy Head of Chigwell School, “When you coordinate Black History Month for a few years, it is challenging to come up with new ideas and not repeat the same thing.” Indeed, this year’s Black History Month was encountered with various activities which differ from the previous years, all organised by a group of students, known as the Equality Ambassadors. Influential literature from famous Black British writers, such as Benjamin Zephaniah, was read out during the whole-school assembly. Student-led societies, for example, feminist society, culture society, and debating society, have all turned their gaze onto Black British History. Uniform embellishments to raise money for the charity “Cycle for Africa”, young musicians performing Afro-beats, posters, and Afro-Caribbean flags are decorated among the school, the list extends.

Mrs Savage further comments on the success of the event by “Students are talking about it, meaning that we have made an impact, this leads to more questions asked by them. We see it as a door opened for our students to be introduced to Black British History.”

Written by Lily Zhang.