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Black History month takes place every year to celebrate African heritage and culture. It came about in the 1920s when an American citizen, Carter G Woodson wanted to address the racism he saw around him in the USA. Now it is celebrated every February in the U.S and every October here in the UK.
While its focus in the past has been people of African origin, it now extends to all ethnic cultures. BHM celebrate the history, culture and achievements in all ethnic groups with their communities and wider society.
The aims of BHM are to:
• Promote knowledge of ethnic history and experience
• Highlight information on positive ethnic contributions to British society
• Heighten the confidence and awareness of ethnic people within their own
culture and roots.
BHM coincides with Ramadan (a holy month for Muslims) and a week that celebrates all minorities through football and other sports called ‘Love football, hate racism’. Football clubs take part from all over Britain. The week celebrates the contribution made to football by ethnic minorities, whilst tackling the battle of racism.
October is crucial to young people because they are our future generation and if they battle racism now then the future is more promising for everybody. Mehrun Ahmed who works for ‘Football unites, racism divides’ (FURD) based in Sheffield told me, “This month is very promising and can change a persons point of view drastically. It isn’t all about history its also about mixing in with communities, so come along this October to Mount Pleasant and join in!”.
Racism is an important issue. We as a country need to tackle it and without Carter G Woodson and BHM we would have a longer way to go. Join us at event in October and let’s kick out racism for good! www.kickitout.org
By Rosanna Ahmed
Email cubeweb to let us know what you think or what you're involved in during this year's events. You can write up your experiences and we'll be happy to post on cubeweb cubeweb@ssclc.net