Celebrating Key Figures in Dorset’s Black History for Black History Month
As we look forward to celebrating Black History Month this October it’s a wonderful opportunity for teachers, pupils and community members to be part of the national celebrations and events to honour the too-often unheralded accomplishments of Black Britons in every area of endeavour throughout our history.
Often we learn about history through the role of key figures who have helped bring about change. The names Thomas Lewis Johnson, Robert Wedderburn, Belle Davis, Lilian Bader or John Stockley might not be familiar yet but their lives, and the lives of other key figures in Dorset’s history, are well worth knowing about.
By walking in someone else’s shoes we can build empathy and respect for those who may seem very different from ourselves but are actually very similar in how they feel, how they want to be treated and how they want to make a difference to the lives of others.
Here at DEED, we will be highlighting some of the key figures in Dorset’s Black History on our social media platforms during October.
You can also find out more information about them here.
The following websites may also be useful:
www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk Official website for Black History Month celebrating 30 years anniversary in 2017.
www.truetube.co.uk/event/black-history-month TrueTube has secondary resources (ages 11-16) including an assembly script, lesson plan and lots of film clips.
www.guardian.co.uk/uk/interactive/2008/oct/13/black-history-month-timeline The Guardian's timeline follows black history over the past 2,000 years and brings together key articles from the Guardian's archive.
www.bbc.co.uk/1xtra/blackhistory/ From BBC Radio 1 Xtra, this brings a great selection of audio and video into the black history mix.
www.blackhistory4schools.com This website is about black history in Britain during five key periods, from the tudors to the twentieth century, and includes lesson plans, photographs, Powerpoint presentations and other source material.
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/blackhistory This website, from the National Archives, is about Asian and black history from 1500 to 1850, and includes a variety of essays about black history and two 'virtual tours'. The site is ideal for secondary History teaching.