Black History Month 2024: Reclaiming Narratives

Marion Garvey is a Project Worker at Oak House, a United Welsh housing scheme that supports people experiencing homelessness in Cardiff. Her role has made her even more passionate about addressing and challenging problematic societal perceptions. In this blog, Marion shares her thoughts about the theme of this year’s Black History Month, ‘Reclaiming Narratives’.

Black History Month is observed annually in October in the UK, and is an opportunity to share, celebrate and understand the contributions of Black Britons and the positive impact of Black culture.

Marion said:

“In workplaces, a lack of sensitivity regarding Black history and culture remains an issue.

“Rejecting stereotypes and generalisations about Black culture and not assuming a one-size-fits-all approach to addressing cultural issues will help organisations to encourage a better understanding of Black culture.

“This empowers communities of colour to reclaim narratives that were founded from racist and supremacist structures. Past inaccuracies in Black history include:

• Portraying ancient Egypt as predominantly white
• Minimising the pre-colonial achievements of African kingdoms
• Romanticising the British Empire, glossing over its role in slavery
• Underrepresenting Black soldiers’ contributions in World Wars
• Representations of Black men as lazy, and Black women as loud and aggressive, leading single-parent households.

“Organisations like United Welsh have an important role in tackling microaggressions and cultural insensitivities, which partially stems from insufficient education about Black history, and little exposure to diverse perspectives.

“Reclaiming narratives like the examples above will help to create a more inclusive and accurate understanding of Black history and culture, and the positive, fundamentals of British society that Black people have helped to create, past and present.

“Black History Month is a positive opportunity to do this, but work must continue all year round. For example:

• Comprehensive training programmes for all staff members, focusing on cultural awareness, cultural sensitivities, unconscious bias, and the impact of microaggressions
• Events and forums that bring staff together to foster dialogue and understanding
• Mentoring relationships between Black staff members and those from other backgrounds to foster mutual understanding
• Ongoing learning opportunities for staff about Black history, culture, and contemporary issues.

“Reclaiming narratives is an essential part of this work, and will promote empathy, respect, and equality in the workplace, and beyond.”

To work towards fulfilling its vision of becoming an anti-racist organisation, United Welsh’s Anti-Racist Action Plan currently focuses on three areas:

1. Representation: To continuously improve the ethnic diversity of the United Welsh Board and staff at all levels.
2. Service provision: To embed anti-racism and race equality throughout our service design and delivery.
3. Communication and engagement: To show support for racial equality and provide platforms for people from ethnic minority backgrounds to shape, influence and change the services we deliver.

You can read the 12-month Anti-Racist Action Plan here, and the Anti-Racist Plan summary here.