Black History Month wrap up

Recently, when my flatmate challenged me on why most of my poetry and spoken word revolves around struggle and pain, I explained that poetry, for me, is about exploring nuance; there’s often less complexity in positive emotions like happiness. That conversation sparked a realisation,  I wanted to challenge myself to explore the nuanced strength, culture, and excellence within Black history as well. Whilst Black history undeniably encompasses pain, captivity, and oppression, but it also speaks to resilience and triumph. For me, it goes beyond acknowledging injustices that Black people have faced and continue to face—it’s a celebration of the community we’ve built.


My earliest recollections of Black History Month revolve around picking out my best traditional outfit to wear to school and begging my mum to cook jollof rice for me to take to school. What I remember is this excitement to share my culture and show people where I’d come from. I was born in Lagos, Nigeria and belong to the Yoruba tribe. There’s the Yoruba proverb ‘Ijo je o we yon i’ which means ‘Eating together makes the exercise enjoyable’. This proverb for me encapsulates the essence of Black History Month - unity, bringing people together to celebrate the culture and heritage

As Black and Minority Ethnic Officer, one of my main goals is to build up our community here at Imperial so, this month I’ve put together a Black History Month Celebration Event called Rhythm & Roots. Each year there’s usually an event like this so if it sounds like something you’d like to get involved with then look out for that next year!