Filling in the blank pages

October is Black History Month, but students and officers could be forgiven for wondering how that fits in with their union work and with their union priorities of fighting the lifting of the cap, making their union democracy work better and making commercial services relevant to their members. Ruqayyah Collector, NUS Black Students’ Officer, explains how.....

Well, it fits in very nicely. The month exists to highlight and celebrate Black contributions to British society and is an ideal chance for the union to get more involved with Black members and non-members. Some people may wonder why anyone needs a Black History Month, but the reality is that Black history is often a hidden history, and one that has been written out of mainstream British history. More accurately, it was never written in — for most people, school histories of the UK were strictly all-white affairs. Filling in these blank pages does a number of things. It helps to illustrate the positive contribution Black people have made to society as a whole. Clearly that’s good for everyone to understand, but it also helps build confidence in the Black community and provide positive role models for our Black students. Black history also combats myths about Black people in the UK — for instance, that ‘they’ only started arriving after WWII. Such inaccuracies and generalisations are bread and butter for the far right. For NUS, Black History Month is an awareness exercise — one that helps to destroy the arguments of the British National Party (BNP) and its ilk.

By the 1760s, the Black population had grown to somewhere between 20,000 and 40,000; Granville Sharp estimated the number of black servants in London alone at 20,000�

Black people have always been at the forefront of human development, but too often we have been ignored. It is a time to reflect on the achievements and remember the good and the great who have challenged the norm and struggled to make the world a better place. If we want an inclusive society, then we need an inclusive history. Awareness of all our histories breaks down barriers and leads to co-operation on all sides and progress for all.

Celebrating the achievement and contribution of Black communities in the UK comes from the idea of Dr Carter Godwin Woodson, a Black civil rights activist. He recognised that ‘those who have no record of what their forebears have accomplished lose the inspiration for change that comes with the teaching of history’. If we are to leave legacies like those of our predecessors, then we must be active and involved to make that change. Yet involvement in students’ union democratic structures is lower among Black students. Addressing this issue in our students’ unions will ensure better representation for all. And with more involvement and representation will come higher levels of activism and satisfied students.