Black History Month at St Mary’s
October marks Black History Month and the History department will be provided students with the opportunity to study inspirational figures from Black History.
Students at St Mary’s encounter Black History on a frequent basis. Currently in Year 9 students are studying Decolonisation in Africa. Students have been able to study significant figures such as Kwame Nkrumah in Ghana, Joseph Chilembwe in Malawi and the Aba Women’s War in Nigeria.
At GCSE, Year 11 pupils have studied Black British History in a great deal of depth. The students were extremely interested in events such as the development of the arrival of the SS Windrush in 1948, the development of the Notting Hill Carnival in the 1960s and the Brixton riots in 1981. The students will be sharing their research on figures involved in these events in our upcoming assemblies for Black History Month.
At A-Level, some students are currently carrying out their research on the fight for civil rights in the USA. The students are researching well known figures such as Martin Luther King and Malcolm X but are also looking at the contribution of the African American community.
The theme of this year’s Black History Month is ‘Celebrating our Sisters’. Students will be able to research important heroines such as Claudia Jones, Mary Seacole, Doreen Lawrence and Dina Asher Smith.
The History Department will be running a competition on who can produce the best profile of an important figure from Black History and the deadline for entries is Monday 16th October. The profile can be presented as a poster, a speech or a PowerPoint presentation.
The History department looks forward to sharing this celebration of Black History with all of you.
