In her excellent 2009 TED Talk, entitled ‘The Danger of a Single Story’, the prize-winning author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie stated; The single story creates stereotypes and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. One story becomes the only story.’
Black History Month was pioneered in the US by Carter G Woodson. A son of former slaves, he worked hard to excel in his education, gaining several qualifications which included a PhD in history from Harvard University, and eventually becoming a professor at Howard University. Throughout his life he worked tirelessly to promote black history in schools, and in 1926 he launched the first Black History Week, set in February to coincide with the births of former President Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. Both men played a significant role in helping to end slavery.
In the UK, Black History Month was first observed in 1987 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the abolition of slavery in the Caribbean. The ceremony was arranged by Akyaaba Addai-Sebo, who came to the UK from Ghana as a refugee in 1984. Like Woodson before him, he wanted to challenge racism and celebrate the history of black people. October was chosen partly because it’s traditionally a time when African leaders gather to talk about important issues, and partly because it was at the start of the school year.
Nearly forty years since Addai-Sebo initiative, is there still a need to devote a whole month to Black History? Well, yes. Recognition of black people’s contribution to the history of the UK has not developed at a galloping pace. And arguably, the concept of the single story speaks directly to Black History Month. For many, history has for too long been viewed through narrow lens; a white European paradigm which celebrates white heroes, achievements, conquests and victories, which denounced villains, championed the underdogs etc etc.
The problem with this is that it is a single-story narrative, ignoring the fact that history – the study of the actions, decisions, interactions and behaviours of people, is never just one story predominantly set in one place. Mankind has journeyed the length and breadth of our planet as nomads, travellers, searchers, explorers, settlers and conquerors. And in the course of this, some groups have exploited, subjugated, kidnapped, enslaved, and displaced other humans they have encountered. Genocidal violence decimated populations, and common European diseases such as cold and influenza devastated indigenous groups due to their lack of immunity. The point is that our history is shared and intertwined with others. History by omission is incomplete, dishonest and deeply flawed.
Black history Month is about enabling ‘a balance of stories’ to use the acclaimed Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe’s much lauded phrase. People from African and Caribbean backgrounds have been a fundamental part of British history for centuries. Their contribution to society has often been overlooked or distorted. Black History Month recognises our equal humanity and emphasises our similarities rather than our differences. It gives everyone the opportunity to share, celebrate and understand the impact of black heritage and culture.
Wanting to explore the parts of Africa my enslaved ancestors came from, I recently took a DNA test. The result excited, grounded and surprised me. My ancestry revealed much of what I already knew -that most of my ancestors were forcibly removed from their homeland, various parts of West Africa, and shipped like cargo to Jamaica where they were enslaved, that some arrived in Jamaica from England as indentured workers or free citizens. What I was not expecting was DNA evidence from a region in mainland Europe and from The Yucatan Peninsula, the latter indicative of an Indigenous (Maya) connection. DNA, our genealogical history, will seldom if ever tell a single story. So why should our external reality contrive to do so?
My hope is that there will come a time when Black History Month ceases to be an annual event, not because it lacks importance, but because society will have evolved from viewing history in one dimensional form. Instead of an incomplete narrative, i.e. robbing people of their dignity, we will be presented with multiple, diverse perspectives and viewpoints which recognises that contribution and participation from the many, produces the whole.