BLACK HISTORY MONTH
(UK & IRELAND)
BLACK HISTORY MONTH (UK) BLACK HISTORY MONTH (IRELAND)
Black History Month is an annual observance originating in the United States, where it is
also known as African American History Month. It has received official recognition from
governments in the United States and Canada, and more recently has been observed in Ireland,
the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. It began as a way of remembering important people
and events in the history of the African diaspora. It is celebrated in February in the United
States and Canada, while in Ireland and the United Kingdom it is observed in October.
In the United Kingdom, Black History Month
was first celebrated in October 1987 (which
was also coincidentally the 150th anniversary
of Caribbean emancipation, the centenary
of the birth of Marcus Garvey and the 25th
anniversary of the Organization of African
Unity, an institution dedicated to advancing
the progress of African states). Black History
Month in the UK was organized through the
leadership of Ghanaian analyst Akyaaba AddaiSebo,
who had served as a coordinator of
special projects for the Greater London Council
(GLC) and created a collaboration to get it
underway. It was first celebrated in London in
1987, as part of African Jubilee Year, when on
October 1st Dr. Maulana Karenga from the U.S.
was invited to an event at County Hall to mark
the contributions of Black people throughout
history, and Addai-Sebo drew up a plan to
recognize the contributions of African, Asian,
and Caribbean people to the economic, cultural,
and political life in the UK, with other boroughs
beginning to formally institute October as Black
History Month in the UK.
Since 2014, throughout October, Ireland
celebrates Black History Month, the fourth
country in the world to officially honor black
culture and heritage in this way, following in the
footsteps of the U.S., the UK, and Canada.
According to their website, "Black History
Month in Ireland is a social not-for-profit
initiative, with a vision of creating a unity of
purpose and advancement in Ireland where
different communities can share together
to experience with each other's history, arts,
cultures, and heritages to be able to co-exist
together meaningfully and productively. With
about 12% of Irish residence known to be Blacks
and Africans, we feel it is important to develop
an understanding of one another's culture for
innovation and knowledge sharing, and a better
community development and diversification,
hence what other better ways than through
the development of cultural heritages can we
positively build a social capital."
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