What is Black History Month?

An annual celebration that highlights the rich history, culture, and contributions of Black people across various sectors (including literature, politics, sports, and the arts), in the UK, Black History Month takes place in October. In the USA and Canada, it takes place in February.

The key purposes of Black History Month are to provide:

1. Education. The month offers an opportunity to learn about the history and culture of Black people, which is often overlooked in mainstream education.
2. Recognition. Black History Month honours the accomplishments of Black individuals in fields like science, sports, law, and the arts.
3. Reflection and Protest. The month is also a time to reflect on the ongoing fight for racial equality. While the month acknowledges the progress achieved, it also calls for action to be made to address systemic racism, and the challenges that Black people still face today. This includes employment disparities to inadequate access to mental health support.

The Origins of Black History Month

The formal origins of Black History Month date back to the United States in the 1920s. It was pioneered by Carter G. Woodson, also known as the “Father of Black History.”

Born in 1875 to formerly enslaved parents, Woodson had little formal education during his childhood and instead, worked on the family farm with his father to help support their family. However, his desire for education led Carter to self-teach, and after entering high school at age 20, he completed his high school diploma just 2 years later without any professional support.

Woodson’s passion for education continued throughout his adulthood, leading him to work as a teacher and then a school principal after obtaining a degree in Literature. He then studied for a master’s degree, and later, Doctoral studies where he obtained a PhD from Harvard University. This made Carter G. Woodson only the second Black American to achieve this level of academic achievement at such a prestigious institution, second only to W.E.B Du Bois.

As a scholar and educator, Woodson observed that this profession was white-dominated, and that African American contributions were:

 Overlooked, ignored, and even suppressed by the writers of history textbooks and the teachers who use them.

Woodson’s devotion to showcasing the contributions of Black Americans culminated in the creation of Negro History Week in 1926. Negro History Week was in the second week of February to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, both of whom were key figures in the Abolitionist movement. This week was later expanded into what we know today as Black History Month.

Black History Month in the UK context

In the UK, Black History Month was first celebrated in 1987, the 150th anniversary of the abolition of slavery in the Caribbean. The occasion was pioneered by Akyaaba Addai-Sebo, a Black activist and journalist who fled political corruption in Ghana to live in the UK.

With similar aims to Carter G. Woodson, Addai-Sebo wanted Black History Month to celebrate Black people, as well as highlighting the racism and inequality experienced by Black communities in the UK.

October was chosen in part because it aligns with the traditional gathering of African leaders to address key issues, and in part because it falls at the start of the academic year, before exams, allowing students more time and energy to engage in these discussions without the pressures of impending assessments.

Why Isn’t there a White History Month?

A common question is, “Why isn’t there a White History Month?” The answer is that history is usually taught from a white perspective, focusing on the experiences of white people.

When Black History is included, it often covers only a small part of the curriculum, usually focused on Black suffering and trauma, reducing the Black experience to one topic, such as the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

Black History Month helps correct this imbalance by highlighting the need for both equality and equity. While equality means treating everyone the same, equity means acknowledging that certain groups have been historically disadvantaged, and the sub sequential need for additional attention to correct these disparities.

What does it mean to ‘reclaim narratives?

Each year, Black History Month focuses on a specific theme to guide the month. The theme of 2024 is “Reclaiming Narratives,” focusing on correcting historical inaccuracies and challenging us to amplify the untold stories of Black success and achievement.

Typically, the stories of Black people have been told through the lens of others and history books have frequently overlooked or distorted the roles that Black people have played in shaping societies. Media representations reaffirm this, often showing Black communities in a one-dimensional, stereotypical manner, thus erasing, and misrepresenting the complexities of communities into a simple caricature.

Historically, Black history has also often been reduced to narratives of slavery and oppression. While these are crucial aspects to be aware of, the theme of reclaiming narratives seeks to portray the full complexity of the Black experience, emphasising empowerment, resilience, and the diverse contributions of Black people across various fields.

Black History in Bath

During the 18th and early 19th centuries, Bath was a fashionable spa town and was a desirable location for wealthy Georgian families to flock to. Much like Bath’s larger neighbour, Bristol, much of the wealth of the city derived from enslaved people. Its proximity to the port in Bristol coupled with abundant access to the countryside cemented Bath’s status as a desirable location for industry, trade and for Upper-class families to ‘season’.

Enslaved individuals often worked in the homes of wealthy landowners, colonial administrators, or those otherwise involved in the slave trade. The presence of Black servants in Bath is part of a broader history of Black people living in England during this period, though many of their names and stories sadly remain largely unrecorded.

The Bath & Colonialism Archive Project, a research project that began in May 2021 and has worked to bring together the archives of Bath Abbey, Bath Record Office and Bath Preservation Trust, has sought to research and illuminate some of the colonial past and untold contributions Black people have made in Bath as a way of ‘reclaiming narratives’ about a history that has not been widely shared.

Here are some findings from the project:

Historical Black Bathonian’s

• Ignatius Sancho. Born enslaved on a slave ship, but who ran away to freedom. His portrait was painted by Thomas Gainsborough, the leading portrait painter of the day, at his studio in the Circus in 1768. Sancho was also the first recorded Black person to vote in England. Posthumously his published letters were influential in the anti-slavery campaigns of the late 18th and early 19th century.
• George Bridgetower. Playing a concert in Bath in 1789 when he was just 11 years old, George was tutored by Hadyn and became friends with Beethoven. The concert, at Bath’s Assembly Rooms, came during a whirlwind young life for George, a child prodigy who played his first concert when he was just eight years old in Frankfurt.
• Sarah Mary Blathwayt. Born in about 1834 in Jamaica, Sarah he was the daughter of George Hibbert Oates, a plantation and slave owner, and Margaret Cross, described in George Hibbert Oates’ will as a ‘free woman of colour’. As a young child after her father’s death in 1837, Sarah Mary came to Bath to live with her grandmother, Mary Oates, and her aunt, Anna Maria Oates, at 6 Sion Hill. The family were well-off, living on legacies from various members of the extended family, many of whom were owners of plantations and enslaved people in the Caribbean. Sarah Mary married the Reverend Walter Thomas Blathwayt in 1876; he inherited Dyrham Park in 1899, and they lived at Dyrham House until his death in 1909. She used her position of relative privilege to advance the suffragette cause.
• Haile Selassie. Haile and his family were exiled from Ethiopia and were brought to Bath where they lived from 1936-1941. Their home was Fairfield House which Emperor Selassie donated to the City of Bath in gratitude for his welcome. Since 1993 the house has been home to the charity BEMSCA, which provides day care and support for elderly residents from black and Asian communities.
• Francis Barber. A formerly enslaved African, Francis became the manservant and later heir to Dr. Samuel Johnson, the famous English writer and lexicographer. Barber is known to have visited Bath with Johnson.

The Colonial Legacy of Bath’s Buildings

The Bath & Colonialism Archive Project also details some of the origins of key buildings in Bath, and their connection to the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

• Beckford’s Tower. William Beckford, an 18th-century politician and plantation owner, who owned sugar plantations in Jamaica, worked by enslaved Africans. Beckford was also a major art collector and built a notable tower on Lansdown Hill in Bath and his family’s wealth was built on the profits of slavery.
• Bath Abbey. The Abbey held memorials which included people such as James Dottin Maycock, who owned two plantations in Barbados, and a large memorial dedicated to Sir William Baker, who became a director of the East India Company. He later held senior roles in the Hudson’s Bay Company. Hannah Alleyne is another person commemorated. She was born in Barbados into a plantation-owning family and married into another.
• The Royal Crescent. This iconic building was constructed with the purpose of accommodating the wealthy families who came to Bath for the ‘season’. John Wood the Elder’s first patron was the Duke of Chandos, a man heavily involved in the Royal Africa Company which transported enslaved Africans to the Caribbean. The Woods’ developments were partly funded by several other investors who had made money through the slave trade.
• The Holburne Museum. The walk started at the Holborn Museum, built using the profits of slavery and housing a book that once logged transactions that often concerned the sale of people. Many of the pages in the book were removed years ago, possibly by the enslavers.

Black History and Mental Health

In addition to historical contributions, Black History Month also highlights contemporary issues, such as mental health disparities within Black communities.

A recent poll by NHS England revealed that two-thirds of people from Black communities expressed concerns about their mental health in the past year. Nearly 39% reported experiencing depression, while 27% dealt with generalised anxiety disorder.

Structural barriers, cultural stigma, and experiences of racism can make it harder for Black individuals to access mental health support, highlighting another reason why awareness months are important to shine a focus on marginalised communities. Mind has some valuable resources to support those who are struggling with their mental health as a result of racism and prejudice.