Black History Month

Black History Month banner image

Black History Month, held in October every year, not only provides an opportunity to celebrate the contributions and achivements of Black Britons now and throughout history, but how Black History influences our present and our future world.

Celebrate. Educate. Inspire.

Black History Month is an opportunity for everyone across the Trust to celebrate the contributions of our black colleagues, to educate one another on the inequalities experienced by people from BAME backgrounds and to inspire one another to maintain and further develop an inclusive and diverse culture which is supportive and welcoming for all.

Get involved

We’re inviting all staff to get involved! There is a variety of exciting projects and events planned throughout the month, including Webex sessions with guest speakers, opportunities to learn about our the cultures and backgrounds of our black colleagues through videos and blogs and a month-long celebration to recognise and celebrate the history, experiences and accomplishments of our colleagues. If you would like to get involved please contact the Communications Team.

You can also keep up with events over on the BAME Staff Network Twitter and across our Trust social media platforms.

Tasty and traditional African and Carribean dishes

To celebrate Black History Month, every wednesday throughout October you will be able to access tasty and traditional African and Carribean dishes in the dining rooms at the Princess of Wales Community Hospital and Evesham Community.

Look out as e very Thursday we will also post a traditional African and Carriben recipe in 2 minute catch-up to inspire you to get creative with your cooking too!

Upcoming events

To attend any of the virtual events listed below, please email the BAME Staff Network.

Race and Cultural Webinar – Black History Month (open to all staff)

Tuesday 13th October 2020, from 09.30am – 11.00am.

Following our 1st ever WHCT Race and Cultural Webinar, which was held on the 2nd September, we will be hosting another Webex during Black History Month in October 2020. We had 90 staff attend the first Webex!

  • All Trust staff are welcome and we encourage you to be part of shaping racial and cultural change and understanding in our organisation.
  • The webinar can contribute towards your CPD - 1 CPD hour (subject to approval by your Line Manager).
  • We are very excited to announce our guest speaker is Dr Knox Chitiyo who is the African Fellow/Head of Africa and leading Think Tank Chatham House (Royal Institute of International Affairs).

Guest speaker biography - Dr Knox Chitiyo

Dr Chitiyo was born and grew up in Zimbabwe during the turbulent 1960's and 70's. He experienced the struggles for racial, political and socio- economic equality across southern Africa, and the early years of African independence. He also found synergies with the concurrent movements for civil rights and identity in the US, UK, and elsewhere. As well as sharing insights from his personal journey, Knox will weave  together the historical, contemporary and future challenges, changes and opportunities in health, race, policing and the arts, and discuss the possibility of a truly 21st Century post-racial,  inclusive narrative of change. 

Dr Tapera Knox Chitiyo is the Associate Fellow at the Royal Institute for International Affairs (Chatham House) think tank in London. He is also the former Chair and current President of the Britain Zimbabwe Society. Prior to joining Chatham House, he was the Nelson Mandela Africa Fellow and founded and was the Head of the Africa Programme at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in Whitehall. Before coming to the UK in 2005, Knox was a Senior Lecturer in History, War Studies and International Relations at the University of Zimbabwe. He was also Deputy Director of the Centre for Defence Studies.

Knox has been an international advisor and has worked with the African Union, SADC and other organisations. He has published widely on International Relations, African Defence and Security, and Diaspora and Development, and is often a media interviewee. He is on a number of international Boards. Apart from his policy work, Knox has a keen interest in culture and the arts and has also published short stories and poetry and encourages everyone to express themselves creatively. He is also a musician and has played at various fora.

Support for managers and leaders drop in clinic

20th October 2020, 10am – 11am.

All staff in management and leadership roles are welcome to join this drop in clinics via Webex. The Webex session is intended to build a supportive and welcoming environment for staff in management and leadership; the session is limited to 10 participants to provide the best possible experience for staff.

BAME Staff Network meeting - "Career progression and development opportunities in our Trust" 

Tuesday 3rd November 2020,9.30am to 11am

Speakers: Hannah Wilson (Deputy Director of Nursing and Therapies) and Simon Kerslake (Retention and Recruitment Lead Nurse) 

We would like to invite all our BAME colleagues to join us at our next BAME Staff Network meeting in November where will give you an update on the BAME Staff Network and talk about career progression and development within our Trust. During the meeting Hannah Wilson (Deputy Director of Nursing and Therapies) and Simon Kerslake (Retention and Recruitment Lead Nurse) will explain some of the opportunities available to support development and career progression for all staff. The session will also allow staff to share their ideas, concerns and expectations from the Trust and managers. The session will build on developing and delivering a programme of events to support BAME staff in preparing for career progression as part of their career management.

Resources

Resources

The NHS Blood and Transplant service are holding a series of webinars throughout October celebrating Black Britons and recognising how Black History influences our present and future. We've released information on our latest 2 minute catch-ups emails!

Reading resources and poems

In celebration of Black History Month, Worcestershire Health Libraries now have a collection of informative and educational books at each of our libraries available for staff to borrow.

In our latest Race and Cultural Webinar, Dr Knox read a powerful poem called Scrublands outload:

Scrublands

Praise the unknown helper, the life in a day
eandering/ with purpose/ from shift to shift
They have journeyed from so far to be near,
have  quarantined/ their/ fear

Midwife Chipo@Chipo, made in Chi-town, Harare
wears her buttoned- down phone
in her left hand, unlocked and loaded as
she prays for/ the new day /with /Anointed Apostle Ndini X, 
an Angel descended [evicted!]from Heaven  
Chipo saved a newborn from his baby mama's junkie fix
zviri ku sparka as she rides the 99 bus to St George's Hospital Tooting
Meanwhile, six thousand and one miles away, 
Her cousin B-,locked down on duty  in Harare Hospital, asks yet again for
known unknowns:PPE's

Sankoh, this dewy London morning, moves
wearily on to his next appointment
fresh from the pm to am frontline in the COVID ward
kneading, pleading with the human clay wracked, now wrapped, on the bed,
a breath whisperer. Tired he is but now straight to his day job
His head nods on the bus, remembering his  rice Jolof
and dreams/ of /an England/ Prime Minister/ speaking in tongues, including Wolof.
Jaam nga fanane

And Bulgarian Christiana,  from steppes to steps
care nursing to support her Aged - with those cheekbones,
she could've been a model. But her calling was bright- sized life, not Size Zero.
And Ramon likes her. He shrugs off his scrubs , lights  a wax candle for his Cristina every night
who/ says/ you/ can't/ find / love/ during plague-time?

Mark Jones, FRCS, the suture king, steady as a rock in theater but
so often loses in joy what he's earned thru pain
Selfie Elphie, 57, lived before she died 
always cheerful, always working despite her body's malcontents, gold- tongued, open-mic'd,
with/ a smile/ that lit up/ London. Her son/was/ in a gang /but/ he kissed/ the deep water.

The younger one's just made partner in a law firm. But, last night, death's trumpet called her
 to come home/ alone/in A sharp minor
J'aanice does her ward rounds, seeing everything.
She wants to touch the sky, but-
her application for promotion has  been denied again
y'all /can /reason /why
But still, she's infected by joy. She's just  bought her first house.

The bleep/ bleep of the respirator, the bleep- holder, the agony shoulders
the up-the- stairs/  down- the -stairs/ the stents and catheters
and ward rounds and care homes and live- ins and mental health help
the living the dying the dead the resurrected;the tumult. Lives
of quiet respiration
and giving more than you can ever give,
'cos that's  all you can give   

But, pause the 'plause;
thuh.. this, is... is not a praise poem
they wouldn't want it to be
it is/ ummm../The Humanisations /
imagined-reality chronicles of /lives lived with/ feeling,
without glamour.

Babatunde, a hospital cleaner for 28 years
and his wife Daisy from Jamaica, a care worker for 20.
their feet/knees/ hands/ scabbed/ from/ scrubbing:
those mops, pails and brushes have sent their children five to University
They've  seen it all. Babatunde says 
Look/  listen, yoh/ Remember us/ the unknown helpers, for we/ have
stories to tell. And, Daisy adds, with a tear and a twinkle - remember too,
that sometimes, black/ do /crack, out here in the Scrublands
But. We .Don't. Break.We.R. Still.Here
"What is your name again?"

Videos

Recipes

  1. The Groundnut StewOur first recipe is a delicious West African recipe called Groundnut Stew and is the perfect main course  Made with chicken, Scotch bonnet peppers and either groundnut or peanut butter, it's a satisfying combination of sweet, savoury and spicy.
  2. Levi Roots Recipes- A website packed with recipes to suit every occasion and every season; whenever in the year you choose to cook Levi Roots' Caribbean food, you can be sure it will bring sunshine to your kitchen and to your soul. Each recipe has been broken down step by step and includes a list of ingredients.

People throughout history

  1. Baroness Lawrence: British Jamaican campaigner.
  2. Mary Seacole: British Jamaican nurse and businesswoman whose work was pivotal during the Crimean War.
  3. Nelson Mandela: South African anti-apartheid revolutionary and political leader.