October is Black History Month in the UK. It is to celebrate Black British history culture and contribution to Britain as well as past present and future.

The Black presence in Britain can be dated way back in history before the trans-Atlantic slave trade. However the majority Black Brits here today either arrived or descend from what has become known as the Windrush Generation. When in the 60s England asked the commonwealth countries for help to rebuild the UK after the war.

The government invited our elders here with open arms. However when they arrived they faced a lot of racism. Politicians used this as a way to garner votes by appealing to racists. Our history is more than this.

My book of the month which I am listening to at the moment is Black and British by David Olusoga. I am enjoying the history lesson and plan to keep delving further into it. For so long as Black Brits our history is often erased and centred around the American experience but we have our own stories to tell. Some are the same as all in the Diaspora and some are unique to us and the countries we now descend from whether they be a former slave nation or a country whose ethnic and cultural fabric are still in tact. If only they taught this in school I would have done GCSE History.

I hope you take this time to explore Black British history and global Black history. Not just for the month of October but everyday. You owe it to the ancestors who survived the journey so you could be here.