Celebrating Black History Month: Reclaiming Narratives
This October is very important as it is Black History Month. Black History Month is a time to celebrate black history, heritage and culture, and the iconic figures that have contributed so much.
However, it’s not just a month to celebrate the continued achievements and contributions of black people to the UK and around the world; it’s also a time for continued action to tackle racism, reclaim black history, and ensure black history is represented and celebrated all year round.
This year’s theme is ‘Reclaiming Narratives’, and marks a significant shift towards recognising and correcting the narratives of black history and culture.
Reclaiming Narratives is more than just a theme—it’s an invitation. An invitation to every member of the Black community to take part in shaping how stories are told. It’s about ensuring that our Black colleagues’ voices are heard, experiences acknowledged, and contributions celebrated. This theme encourages us to shine a spotlight on the untold stories, and the unsung heroes who have made an incredible impact on our communities.
This year at CLCH, we are celebrating Black History Month by sharing stories from our colleagues across the organisation about what Black History Month means to them and their personal experiences.
Elizabeth Hale, Director of Communications and Improvement shares a message as Executive Sponsor for the Race Equality Network. In her video message, Elizabeth tells us what she is going to do during Black History Month: “The theme ‘Reclaiming Narratives’ is important because so often in the past, stories from our black colleagues have either been overlooked or completely ignored, and so in a sense there’s a missing element in our history and understanding of what has happened in the past.
“I’m going to use this as an opportunity to listen and reflect because these stories are really important. It will help me reconsider what it is about our history that I’ve missed before and how that will then shape my view of the present and to think about how that will influence how I behave in the future."
