"Black History Month is a time for us to reflect, celebrate and champion the rich history and legacy of Black Britons both past and present. This year's national Black History Month theme 'Saluting our Sisters' is an opportunity for us to shine a light on the pioneering Black British women whose contributions to our national history should be better known. For the Black History Month planning team this year's theme has been core to the events that we have planned.
Although Black History and the significant achievements and contributions of people from the African Diaspora to British society should be acknowledged all year round, Black History Month serves as an opportunity to directly draw attention to this and to challenge the systems that allow racial inequality to exist in our society.
As a community, we have shown a strong commitment to improving the experiences of our Black staff and students but we also acknowledge that there is more to do. This October, we ask you to join us in celebrating Black History Month, get involved with the array of events that we have planned and to challenge yourself in thinking about how you can be an ally to our Black community."
Words by Reece St Omer, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Partner
This year's artwork has been created by Sustainable Design student, Trusha Oza, who explains her design process:
"The BHM branding uses bright colours, playful and bold typography to represent the joy of decoloniality. I attended a workshop at the University of Westminster where we shared images and objects that bring us decoloniality joy. Participants shared powerful stories of strength, family, food, culture, etc which was the main inspiration behind the identity design. The design aims to evoke a positive feeling of decolonisation and at the same time show strength in fighting colonialism.
My process involved working with keywords, creating a visual mood board, sketching and finally working on Adobe Illustrator to create logo options. I had the most fun designing this logo, the process gave me joy."
Students and staff can find a wider list of resources and suggested readings by logging into the iCat online library with their Kingston University username and password.