1st October marks the start of Black History Month (BHM) in the UK. First celebrated in 1987, it provides an opportunity to shine light on the significant contributions that people from African and Caribbean backgrounds have made to society throughout history.

This year, we asked members of ACE Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (ED&I) Forum how they celebrated the occasion within their own organisations. Activities included anti-racism webinars, staff blogs sharing lived experiences and family recipes, Black history quizzes, and book clubs focusing on texts written by British Black authors.

Below we share several members’ reflections on the importance of the month. Through creating this piece, we, the ACE Secretariat, hope to highlight best practice within the ALB community, and support peers in their future plans to drive and celebrate diversity. Indeed, as one member reflected:

“It’s never too early to start planning – we already have lots of ideas for next year!”

1. Why is it important to celebrate Black History Month?

Coal Authority: Celebrating BHM gives us all an opportunity to learn more, not only about Black history, heritage, and culture but also celebrate the contributions and achievements of members of the Black community, which have historically been understated and overlooked. By celebrating BHM in our workspaces, we are taking action to learn more and bring awareness to racial inequalities that still very much exist in the present day.

Planning Inspectorate: This is the first year we have actively made BHM an event. We felt it important to celebrate the contribution to our history from people from Black British backgrounds who are often overlooked. We encouraged the members of our REACH (Race, Ethnicity and Cultural Heritage) Network to share historical figures or stories that meant something to them which we can all gain insight and education from.

Healthcare Safety and Investigation Branch (HSIB): As an organisation we are proud of the heritage of all our staff. We saw Black History Month (BHM) as an important opportunity to share and embrace our differences, learning about the contribution of Black and Asian people to the heritage and culture of the UK and internationally. It is imperative to challenge the often distorted and inadequate perceptions of systemic oppression and historic ideology.

HM Land Registry (HMLR):  In line with our cultural ambitions of Being Inclusive, HM Land Registry (HMLR) has historically encouraged its staff networks to be active in shaping our agenda through leading and contributing to our internal conversations and influencing the way in which we think about, develop and deliver policies and services to our customers.

Our BAME network is active throughout the year organising discussions and events. Black History Month (BHM) is always an important focus for the network as it provides the impetus and focus on sharing stories from around the world to celebrate our similarities and understand our differences.

BHM is an ideal launch pad to kickstart conversations about different perspectives and inclusive behaviours. It can showcase an organisation’s commitment to diversity that benefits individual and team wellbeing, boosts talent attraction and retention and drives innovation.

2. How did you choose to celebrate?

Coal Authority: We have a relatively new Race Equality Network who took the lead on our events this year. The network wanted to focus on creating educational and engaging activities, while having a bit of fun along the way!

We also wanted to link BHM to our wider antiracism agenda and increasing our colleague’s confidence in talking about race. Activities included sharing historical resources on Black coal miners and organising an anti-racism webinar, to encourage staff developing confidence in having conversations about race.

Planning Inspectorate: The Reach network decided on the activities for the month, supported by our Communications team. We had a blend of information and events, some focusing on local historical news stories, such as the Bristol Bus riots, and others focusing on tackling racism in the workplace, including how to be an active ally.

HSIB: As part of our EDI strategy, we have strong and active ‘EDI champions’, working hard to embed fairness and inclusivity across all our engagements with patients, families, colleagues and investigation processes.

This year, with the theme ‘Proud to Be’, we heard from one of our champions in an all staff meeting about the teachings of Sikhism and his experience of discrimination in overt and subtle ways. Staff discussed how breaking down ignorance was key and enjoyed learning about this religion and way of life.

The Chair of our Citizens’ Partnership, Patrick Vernon OBE, who is of Jamaican heritage talked about the contribution of black Britons to the achievements of the UK and this year opened up conversations with all staff about how black history has been taught or ignored over centuries. He was also joined by Placida Ojinnaka of the ‘Citizens Partnership’, who shared her lived experience of intersectionality in professional life and inspiration from black scientists.

HMLR: Our Black History Month celebrations this year were shaped by two things: the majority of our staff are still working remotely most of the time; and the results of a recent staff survey, where nearly a quarter of non-white colleagues expressed their concern that they feel that have to significantly adapt and self-edit their personalities, behaviours and ways of being to fit into the organisation. This feedback coincided with the BHM theme #proudtobe.

Our network, liaising with communications colleagues, organised a series of online events to share, to educate, involve and debate. This included stories about our backgrounds, sharing recipes from around the world (see picture below) and a debate about how to be an authentic leader when you don’t sound or look like many around you.

                                                                                 #Proudtobe recipes around the world

3. What have you learnt from BHM 2021?

Coal Authority: There is still a lot of fear amongst colleagues around ‘saying the wrong thing’ or ‘using inappropriate terminology’ when talking about race. So for us at The Coal Authority, it’s been an opportunity to focus on developing confidence in having conversations about race. During our BHM quiz, we also learned that, for many of us, our general knowledge of global and British Black history is really limited.

Celebrating BHM signals to your colleagues and communities that racial equality and inclusion matters. BHM activities should feed into a wider approach to Equality Diversity and Inclusion, tackling racial inequality and becoming an actively anti-racist organisation. Engage your employee networks but also find opportunities to collaborate with other networks, teams and organisations – try to engage as wide an audience as possible.

It’s never too early to start planning – we already have lots of ideas for next year!

Planning Inspectorate: There are many Black Britons in our history who have achieved so much that goes un-reported and un-celebrated. Their stories should be told every day, not just in one month of the year.

BHM also gave the opportunity for REACH network members to share their own personal stories alongside those from history to draw parallels of experience and highlight that sadly some of the racism experienced in history still persists today, which is why we need to keep thinking about how we can all learn from past experiences, in particular those whose stories have had less prominence in the past and make efforts to try and stop history being repeated.

HSIB: Talks and discussions of this nature are extremely thought provoking. Black History doesn’t just happen in October. We are collectively responsible for continually driving equality, diversity and inclusion in all the protected characteristics.

We shared webinars and resources promoted for black history, but the opportunity for open conversations with our employees about the history and religion of different members of staff, the discrimination they have faced and their experience were the most emotional and powerful sessions imaginable.

HMLR: It’s important to seek out and amplify the voices from minority groups to give them a platform to tell their story, so we can all appreciate the complexity of the world around us – for our colleagues and our customers.

The blogs and online drop-in sessions in particular sparked interest from across the organisation – with many sharing similar experiences and others appreciated knowing more. A couple of the comments made by staff brought home to me the importance of sharing our stories regularly:

“So often in life people use language and labels to make short-cuts or categorise people and scenarios. I think that can often lead to assumptions, misconceptions and can belie the mental, physical, social and emotional complexity of a situation. Hearing each other’s stories helps open up conversation and broaden thinking about very real events and experiences, and well, life really. Thank you.’’

Special thanks to Gail Larkin from the Planning Inspectorate, Alison McLellan from the Healthcare Safety and Investigation Branch (HSIB), Karina Singh from HM Land Registry, and Kelly Jenkins from the Coal Authority.