Black History Month Celebration at ESA

This year’s Black History Month has felt extra special. Not only because of the moving and inspirational assemblies of Mr Hazeley focusing on embracing who you are regardless of your skin colour, but also the accentuation on the fact that every day is an opportunity to feel proud to be black or simply to celebrate who you are.

In the English and Media department they supported Black History Month by suggesting books and movies masterpieces to engage with such as Jordan Peele’s Academy winner Steve McQueen Small Axe anthology and Salt by Nayyirah Waheed collection of poetry.

It also felt special because students and staff participated in a series of videos opening up and connecting with each other. They talked about racism and their opinions and views in the current society.

Tilly feels that it is horrible how people treat other people differently because of skin colour “when really it should be something to be celebrated” while Elvie said "I feel very proud to be black because they are such a welcoming community..." and continued to talk about how wholesome it feels to belong to the black community and the importance of educating yourself about other backgrounds and traditions.

Paulina gave us tips and told us how she raises awareness through social media by sharing black creatives’ work and actively talking about racism and societal issues with her peers. Even if “it makes them uncomfortable”.

Mr Okeke, Mr Hazeley, and Ms Russell talk about how first hand racism feels and how common it is to this day. They talked about how proud they feel to be black even when “it wasn’t always like that,” Ms Russell explains. 

If you wish to watch all the videos please follow the links and check our Black History Month playlist on Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFofmlxHc1Wg1RR3Risn7OA/playlists