OUR HISTORY: REFLECTING ON BLACK HISTORY MONTH 2023 A continual engagement with our history helps to give context to our present and future – a sense of belonging and a connection to both our personal and community identity, writes Nathalie Whittington
We were delighted to welcome our keynote speaker for the month, Baroness Floella Benjamin, to speak to pupils and staff from both the College and the SSLP schools. As a previous governor and parent of the College, she was a wonderful choice to speak around the theme of Our History. Pupils were able to take part in a collaborative workshop exploring extracts from Baroness Benjamin’s recently published autobiography, What Are You Doing Here? , which invited them to empathise with and under- stand the perspective of someone from the Windrush generation learning to navigate life in 1960s Britain. Baroness Benjamin’s address was characteristically enthusiastic, uplifting, honest and encouraging; after the talk, there was a long line of pupils and staff eagerly waiting to meet her and she shared words of encourage- ment with them all. We were also delighted to have a number of OAs return to the College to speak at societies over the month. These included Dr Isioma Obuaya addressing the African and Caribbean Society; Dr Robert Holdbrook addressing the Biology and Climate Change societies; and Robert Ottey addressing Economics Society. A range of other societies, academic lessons and the Libraries also celebrated Our History throughout the month; as Dr Ben Snook, Head of History at the College said, ‘Our History gives us a chance to reflect upon those who might not always have been prominent in our own institutional memory and, using innovative historical techniques, to bring them forward into the historical light.’ ◎
T his year, we were delighted to use the events of Black History Month – and beyond – to celebrate ‘Our History’. Following on from our previous Black History Month themes of ‘Adding to History’ and ‘Ancestors and Descendants’ with a focus on Black British histories and local historical figures, we turned our attention to celebrating the long-standing Black history at the College. A group of pupils completed an archives and research project that celebrated a selec- tion of Black OAs who attended the College between the 1900s and 2000s. We started the month by shar- ing details of their histories in assemblies across the College. Portraits of each of the OAs were also created by the pupils and formed a follow-up display around the College campus.
Artwork by Henry Yang (Year 11)
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