You are warmly welcome to Foundation for Mpuasuman Educational Development (FOMED) site to celebrate special Black History Month 2023.

Black History Month 2023 is an important opportunity to recognise and celebrate the invaluable contributions of black people to British society. 

The theme for 2023 celebration is ‘Saluting our Sisters’, highlighting the crucial role that black women have played and continue to play in shaping history, inspiring change and building communities.  
 
History of Black History Month
Black History Month originated in the US and is celebrated there in February, to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and the most photographed man in the 19th century, Frederick Douglass. A leader in the abolitionist movement, author,  public speaker and the first black US marshal - Douglass escaped the US as a fugitive slave and sold out venues across England where he spoke of his experience. He returned to the US a free man, after UK abolitionists raised funds to secure his freedom from his US slaveholder.

One school of thought believes that October was chosen in Britain because of its importance in the African calendar, being a time of plenty, in the form of the harvest. This philosophy holds in some parts of Africa. In Mpuasuman Traditional Area, Ghana, the harvest of yam festival called ‘Munufie’ is always held in October or early November.

 
Akyaaba Addai-Sebo, a Ghanaian member of the Greater London Council, was instrumental in bringing Black History Month to Britain in 1987. Addai-Sebo states that October was chosen so that:-

‘Children were fresh after the long summer vacation, had less to worry about exams and tests, and camaraderie was stronger as they shared experiences. Self-pride is the catalyst for achievement and there is no greater ‘truth’ than knowing yourself.’ 

 

Black History Month 2023 is a chance to recognise and celebrate the invaluable contributions of black people to British society. The theme for 2023 ‘Saluting our Sisters’, pays homage to the black women who have played role in shaping our history, inspiring change and building communities. FOMED has compiled a lot of activities for you as individual, family and friends to engage in and keep you busy throughout the month and beyond. There is compilation of books, television, film, online and other events,  To look for more, please visit Black History Month 2023 - Celebrating our Sisters (https://www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk/).

 

Books 

The Flame of Resistance - American Beauty, French Hero, British Spy by Damien Lewis. 

During World War 2, Josephine Baker, one of the world’s richest and most glamorous entertainers, was an Allied spy in Occupied France. This is the story of her heroic personal resistance to Nazi Germany. 

Prior to WW2 Josephine was music hall diva renown for her singing and exotic dancing and was the highest paid female performer in Europe. When the Nazis seized her adoptive city, Paris, she was banned from the stage. Yet instead of returning to America, she vowed to stay and fight. Overnight she went from performer to Resistance spy. 

This book uncovers this little known history of the famous singer’s life. Baker’s secret war embodies a tale of unbounded courage, passion, devotion, sacrifice and of deep and bitter tragedy, fuelled by her own desire to combat the rise of the Nazis and to fight for all that is good and right in the world.

 

I Know Why the Caged Birds Sing by Maya Angelou 

'I write about being a Black American woman, however, I am always talking about what it's like to be a human being. This is how we are, what makes us laugh, and this is how we fall and how we somehow, amazingly, stand up again' Maya Angelou 
In this first volume of her seven books of autobiography, Maya Angelou beautifully evokes her childhood with her grandmother in the American south of the 1930s. Loving the world, she also knows its cruelty. As a Black woman she has known discrimination, violence and extreme poverty, but also hope, joy, achievement and celebration. 

 

Pepper Seed by Malika Booker  

Shortlisted for the Poetry Prize for First Collection from the Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry, Malika Booker’s Pepper Seed is a map and compass to a world of distinct yet interconnected landscapes.  

Drawing on dramatic monologue, historical narratives, poetry of witness, and an integral intimate-domestic voice, this compilation portrays a visceral emotive patchwork of everyday dramas in the fabric of ordinary life. Booker's sense of rootedness shapes the dimensions of her work. Her work here delves into a multiplicity of places, characters, locations, landscapes, and languages. From Grenada to the Heathrow airport, these poems are interconnected in a larger diasporic story. 

 

War to Windrush: Black Women in Britain 1939 to 1948 by Stephen Bourne 

Commemorating the 75th anniversaries of the arrival of the Empire Windrush on 22 June 1948 and the birth of the National Health Service on 5 July 1948, Stephen Bourne’s War to Windrush shines a light on the lives of black women in Britain in the decade leading up to, and just after those historic occasions. Spanning the years from the start of WW2 to the arrival of the Empire Windrush, the engaging and informative book celebrates the contribution of Black women to British society in a decade of major upheaval and social change. This book retraces the history of black women who helped build the great, multicultural Britain we know today. 

 

Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams 

Queenie Jenkins is a twenty-five-year-old Jamaican British woman living in London, straddling two cultures and slotting neatly into neither. She works at a national newspaper, where she's constantly forced to compare herself to her white middle class peers. After a messy break up from her long-term white boyfriend, Queenie seeks comfort in all the wrong places...including several hazardous men who do a good job of occupying brain space and a bad job of affirming self-worth. As Queenie careens from one questionable decision to another, she finds herself wondering, "What are you doing? Why are you doing it? Who do you want to be?" - all of the questions today's woman must face in a world trying to answer them for her.  

Queenie is a remarkably relatable exploration of what it means to be a modern woman searching for meaning in today's world. 

 

Half of the Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 

In 1960s Nigeria, three lives intersect. Ugwu works as a houseboy for a university professor. Olanna has abandoned her life of privilege in Lagos to live with her charismatic lover, the lecturer. And Richard, a shy Englishman, is in thrall to Olanna's enigmatic twin sister. Amongst the horror of Nigeria's civil war, loyalties are tested as they are pulled apart and thrown together in ways none of them imagined. 

Winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's masterpiece is a novel about race, class and the end of colonialism - and the ways in which love can complicate everything. 

 

Wonderful Adventure of Mary Seacole by Mary Seacole 

Mary Seacole was born in 1805 in Jamaica, the daughter of a Scottish soldier and a free black woman. From her mother she learned traditional African herbal medicine and also incorporated European medical ideas into her treatments.  

When the Crimean war began in 1853, she offered her services to nurse the wounded but was rejected. Undeterred, she set up the 'British Hotel' just behind the lines, selling food and drink and caring for injured soldiers.  

This book is the story of those times, told in Mary Seacole's own words, a time when 'Mother Seacole' was a familiar figure on the front lines. Travelling with two mules packed with food and medicines, and alleviating, in the words of another eyewitness to the conflict, Lady Alicia Blackwood, "the sufferings of those around her; freely giving to such as could not pay, and to many whose eyes were closing in death, from whom payment could never be expected."  

In 1991 Mary Seacole was awarded the Jamaican Order of Merit; she was voted the greatest black Briton in 2004. 

  

The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 

The Orange Prize-winning author of 'Half of a Yellow Sun' presents twelve dazzling stories that turn a penetrating eye on the ties that bind men and women, parents and children, Nigeria and the West. 

In 'A Private Experience', a medical student hides from a violent riot with a poor Muslim woman whose dignity and faith force her to confront the realities and fears she's been pushing away. In 'Tomorrow Is Too Far', a woman unlocks the devastating secret that surrounds her brother's death. The young mother at the centre of 'Imitation' finds her comfortable life threatened when she learns that her husband back in Lagos has moved his mistress into their home. 

And the title story depicts the choking loneliness of a Nigerian girl who moves to an America that turns out to be nothing like the country she expected; though falling in love brings her desires nearly within reach, a death in her homeland forces her to re-examine them. 

This collection is a resounding confirmation of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's prodigious storytelling powers. 

  

Short stories 

Don’t have enough time to commit to a book or a film? Then take a look at the various thought provoking short reads on www.BlackHistoryMonth.org.uk. We’ve picked a few here but there are so many more to choose from. 

  

Tanya Wilkins: West Yorkshire Police’s Trailblazing Black Female Leader 

Detective Superintendent Tanya Wilkins is one of the highest ranking Black female police officers in the North of England. During a recent interview Tanya shares why she became a police officer and her future ambitions. View the interview transcript on the Black History Month 2023 website. 

  

Michael Fuller: The first Black Chief Constable 

Michael Fuller changed the course of British history when, in 2004, he became the first Black Chief Constable. Following a long and influential career in the police, Michael now campaigns for racial equality, via his candid autobiography, ‘Kill The Black One First’, media appearances and corporate speaking engagements. View the interview transcript on the Black History Month 2023 website.

  

Empowering Women of  Colour: The Legacy of the Organisation of Women of African and Asian Descent (OWAAD) 

OWAAD sought to empower women of colour and challenge the intersecting systems of oppression they faced due to their race, gender, and class - read more on the Black History Month 2023 website. 

 

TELEVISION 

I May Destroy You by Michaela Coel 

Where does liberation end and exploitation begin? Set in London, this fearless, frank and provocative series centres on Arabella (Michaela Coel), a carefree, self-assured Londoner with a group of great friends, a boyfriend in Italy, and a burgeoning writing career. But when she is spiked with a date-rape drug, Arabella must question and rebuild every element of her life. Michaela Coel’s series is an extraordinary, breath taking exploration of consent, race and millennial life that works on every level. You can watch I May Destroy You on BBC iPlayer. 

 

Small AXE by Steve McQueen 

An anthology of stories capturing the experiences of London’s West Indian community between 1969 and 1982. 

Steve McQueen’s Small Axe is a series of five films, which aired on the BBC in 2020. The series takes its title from a West Indian proverb about collective struggle (“If you are the big tree, we are the small axe”), and encompasses true stories from the late 60s to the mid-80s. There is tragedy and shocking injustice here but these films are also, just as importantly, a celebration. There is friendship, family and food, with great music as a constant throughout, like the background rumble of a distant sound system on Carnival weekend. You can watch Small AXE on BBC iPlayer. 

 

The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson  

Released in 2017, filmmakers re-examine the 1992 death of the transgender legend Marsha P. Johnson, who was found floating in the Hudson River. Originally ruled suicides, many in the community believe she was murdered. 

Johnson spearheaded the Stonewall uprising in 1969 and along with Sylvia Rivera, she later established the Street Transvestite (now Transgender) Action Revolutionaries (STAR), a group committed to helping homeless transgender youth in New York City. You can view the documentary on Netflix. 

 

Film  

Hidden Figures (2016) 

Hidden Figures is an inspiring movie based on the true story of three brilliant African-American Women working for NASA – Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson. These women were the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history, the launch of astronaut John Glen into orbit -a stunning achievement that restored the nation’s confidence, turned around the Space Race and galvanized the world. 

The film illustrates the determination needed to overcome racist and misogynistic attitudes. For the first years of their careers, the workplace was segregated and the women were hired to work in an all-black unit as human ‘computers’. They persevere in the face of discrimination against both their race and their gender to launch brilliant and storied careers as mathematicians and engineers. 

 

Online

Life Discovery - Dame Kelly Holmes – TEDxRoyalTunbridgeWells 

Dame Kelly admits to being obsessed and driven by success and is motivated by providing inspiration to others to achieve their own goals in life. Dame Kelly Holmes won two Gold Medals at Athens Olympics in 2004 for the 800m and 1500m cementing her place in history as the first women ever in Great Britain to win two gold medals at the same games. Having served in the military she was awarded an MBE for her services to the British Army in 1998 and was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 2005 for her services to sport.  

In 2008 Kelly founded and is now President of The Dame Kelly Holmes Trust, which helps disadvantaged young people in the UK. Kelly opened her own coffeehouse in her hometown of Hildenborough in December 2014, which is named Café 1809, (pronounced one eight oh nine) after the Olympic race number worn in Athens.  

This inspirational talk can be viewed at TEDx

 

No. You cannot touch my hair! - Mena Fombo – TEDxBristol 

Through her own personal story and the hair-raising experiences of other women and girls, Mena Fombo’s TEDxBristol talk is a witty, yet compelling and sometimes dark exploration of the objectification of black women.  

Mena Fombo describes herself as a British Nigerian Bristolian through and through! She is a purposeful coach, facilitator, motivational speaker, consultant and activist with a background working in the arts, the voluntary sector and educational establishments across Europe, the USA, Africa and South Asia. As a confident, black woman, who has overcome a lifetime of adversity and personal experiences of injustice, she has carved out a role for herself as a creative activist, working tirelessly to support the political, social and economic equality of black people and women. She is passionate about social change, the development of people, values-based leadership and creating powerful learning experiences. 

This powerful talk can be viewed at TEDx.

  

Events

There are a number of external events advertised on ENEI’s (The Employers Network for Equality & Inclusion) website. To view the full list of events, follow this link - https://www.enei.org.uk/events/. You may need to register with the site before further information on the event is provided.

 

Update on Black History Month - 27/10/2023

The following are more additions to the Black History Month as it draws to a close. You will definitely find yourself indulge in lot of activities below or above. You are spoilt for choice.

​

Books

Small Island by Andrea Levy

It is 1948, and England is recovering from a war. But at 21 Nevern Street, London, the conflict has only just begun.

Queenie Bligh's neighbours don't approve when she agrees to take in Jamaican lodgers, but with her husband, Bernard, not back from the war, she has little choice in the matter.
Gilbert Joseph was one of the many Jamaican men who joined the RAF to fight Hitler. But when he returns to England as a civilian he doesn't receive the welcome he was expecting, and it's desperation that drives him to knock at Queenie's door. Gilbert's wife Hortense, who for years has longed for a better life in England, soon joins him. But London is far from the golden city of her dreams, and even Gilbert is not the man she thought he was.
Small Island explores a point in England's past when the country began to change. In this delicately wrought and profoundly moving novel, Andrea Levy handles the weighty themes of empire, prejudice, war and love, with a superb lightness of touch and generosity of spirit.

​

The No1 Ladies Detective Agency By Alexander McCall Smith

Precious Ramotswe is a kind, warm-hearted and large African lady. She is also the only female private detective in Botswana. Her agency, the No.1 Ladies Detective Agency is the best in the country. With the help of her secretary, Mma Makutsi, and her best friend, Mr JLB Matekoni, she solves a number of difficult problems. A missing husband, a missing finger and a missing child - she will solve these mysteries in her own special way.

 

The First Woman By Jennifer Mansubuga Makumbi

The second novel from prize-winning author Jennifer Makumbi is an intoxicating mix of Ugandan folklore and modern feminism that will linger in the memory long after the final page. 

As Kirabo enters her teens, questions begin to gnaw at her - questions which the adults in her life will do anything to ignore. Where is the mother she has never known? And why would she choose to leave her daughter behind? Inquisitive, headstrong, and unwilling to take no for an answer, Kirabo sets out to find the truth for herself. 

Her search will take her away from the safety of her prosperous Ugandan family, plunging her into a very different world of magic, tradition, and the haunting legend of 'The First Woman'.

 

Online

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: The danger of the single story

Our lives, our cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice - and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding.

This thought provoking TED Talk can be viewed at TED Talk.

 

Film 

The Colour Purple

An epic tale spanning forty years in the life of Celie (Whoopi Goldberg), an African-American woman living in the South who survives incredible abuse and bigotry. After Celie's abusive father marries her off to the equally debasing "Mister" Albert Johnson (Danny Glover), things go from bad to worse, leaving Celie to find companionship anywhere she can. She perseveres, holding on to her dream of one day being reunited with her sister in Africa. 

The Color Purple, novel by Alice Walker, published in 1982, won a Pulitzer Prize in 1983 and weaves an intricate mosaic of women joined by their love for each other, the men who abuse them, the children they care for and their struggle for empowerment.

 

Podcast

Recommendation by Beth Adams: The ‘You’re Dead to Me’ podcast series is an incredibly well researched history/comedy podcast, hosted by Greg Jenner. Greg brings together the best names in comedy and history to learn about the past. Beth says: “There are a number of great episodes that highlight the contributions of people of colour throughout history. My personal favourites in the catalogue are about Chevalier de Saint-Georges, Sake Dean Mahomed and Josephine Baker. But focussing on the UK, there is a really good episode on Black Georgian History with Gretchen Gerzina. The episode focuses on London and other port cities across the UK, and the diverse lives of individuals across various sections of society. I would definitely recommend this podcast episode and the series generally.” You can listen to the Black Georgian Britain podcast, where host Greg Jenner is joined by Professor Gretchen Gerzina and special guest Kwame Asante in Georgian England as they meet some of the leading figures of Black History at BBC Sounds

 

Audible and National Theatre have released a new podcast, New Voices, to platform plays from emerging young writers.

The series showcases ten audio plays from emerging young writers from the National Theatre's playwrighting programme for young people, New Views. The New Voices podcast is available on Audible now and celebrates ten years of New Views.

Find out more about the New Voices on BlackHistoryMonth.org.uk

FEEDBACK

Please send us your feedback for improvement in the future. You can contact us through Email fomed.org@gmail.com.