So, it’s Black History Month (Let’s not get into the fact that having only one month is something that we’re supposed to be grateful for!).

I can get a bit jaded. I recently spoke at a conference full of public servants – police, firefighters, healthcare workers, etc. The speakers were dynamic, informed and frankly great. However, I left a bit depressed. I had heard nothing new or nothing I didn’t already know, and I caught myself in my own arrogance. It’s easy in my job to get tied up in the day to day – I know we can only ‘fix diversity’ if we fix systems and processes, but it can make you forget why you do it in the first place.

On the way home from the conference I was pondering why we still needed to repeat these things. How do people not just know them? I remembered what had ‘activated’ me, and I know it was becoming empowered. As regular readers know, I am a TV addict, particularly, a Shonda Rhimes addict. Now I was brought up on the Eli Pope philosophy of “you must be twice as good as them to get half of what they have”.

As I continued to educate myself, I found that a text that had a huge impact on me was Windrush: The Irresistible Rise of Multi-Racial Britain. This text helped me understand how and why my parents raised me as they did and how we all reacted to a variety of social scenarios we had no control of.

My philosophy as I got older however, became more Olivia Pope (and yes, of course, I do imagine myself as her – when I was growing up there were next to no black female TV characters let alone leads), who said: “We know who we are, who we will always be, and we have a choice, we can hide in the shadows, or we can stand in the light”.

That education led me to grow and recognise who I am and what my strengths are. I was able to see the different types of oppression I had been letting rule my life – from society’s expectations and norms, to my parents’, and to my own internalised ones. It led me to decide to do something, to reach my potential, and to help remove the barriers that prevent others from doing so.

I was particularly reminded of this when I caught the last day of Get Up, Stand Up, at Somerset House. It described itself as ‘a major new exhibition celebrating the past 50 years of Black creativity in Britain and beyond. Beginning with the radical Black filmmaker Horace Ové and his dynamic circle of Windrush generation creative peers and extending to today’s brilliant young Black talent globally, a group of 110 interdisciplinary artists are showcasing their work together for the first time, exploring Black experience and influence, from the post-war era to the present day.’

The whole exhibition was a great mix of provocation, reminiscing and empowerment through art, and it really spoke to me. It was also interesting to me when I went to find resources or information about this amazing man, Horace Ové, next to nothing was available! I would highly recommend these podcasts – they will make particularly good listening this Black History Month.

Anyway, back to the conference and my jadedness.  What I remembered is, that’s the work and that’s the journey. We don’t learn about all of our histories and contributions consistently, and so our diversity issues in the workforce and in Higher Education persist. These conferences ignite new sparks for some and lead others to empowerment and to take action. Black History Month does the same. It enables celebration, reflection, activism and progress. I am glad that for my children, they will not, like me, grow up unknowingly believing that Black History doesn’t exist.

As ever, there are many events across the month being held across King’s, as well as London.