black history month now

Cllr Bernice Vanier
Cabinet Member for Safer
Community and Cohesion
Each year Black History Month
provides an opportunity for all
members of the community to share
experiences and learn about the rich
culture and history of black people,
and the contribution they have made
to our culturally diverse community.
This is important because in the
main black history is blotted out or
re-written to suit others. One month
is insufficient to redress this balance
but it gives the chance to spotlight
black history and promote
understanding and harmony.
This year in particular is of special
significance as seventeen African
countries celebrate their Golden
Jubilee independence anniversary. It
is also the 10th anniversary of the
death of Bernie Grant, the first black
leader of Haringey Council and MP
for Tottenham from 1987 to his
death in 2000. The focus of the
booklet is on his life and
achievements.
The programme this month includes
a plethora of activities and thought
provoking events. There is
something for all ages and taste.
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Eddie Griffith
Mayor of Haringey
It is a delight and privilege to be
asked to pen the preface to this
edition. The co-incidence of being a
Mayor from the black community
adds a certain poignancy to the
occasion.
It is important that we in Haringey
acknowlege and celebrate the
achievements of members of the
black community whose sojourn
dates back many decades, indeed as
far back as World War 2 and possibly
earlier.
Worldwide black people over the
centuries have made their mark in the
fields of science, mathematics, health
and the like. Inventors such as
Thomas Adams, George Alcorn,
Howard Aiken and Andrew Alford
have made significant contributions
which have revolutionised the way we
do things today.
This year's programme is a reminder
that in our midst there is a diversity of
talent, skills and knowledge of which
we can be proud. It is also ten years
since the untimely death of our own
local hero, the larger than life Bernie
Grant, who served the constituency of
Tottenham as Member of Parliament
for some thirteen years. Bernie was
Haringey’s Black History Month
2010 programme aims to
celebrate the rich art and culture
of the Black community by
providing a diversity of events
across the Borough. The 2010
brochure particularly focuses on
the 10 year anniversary of Bernie
Grant’s death, and aims to
celebrate the former MP’s life and
achievements.
Among attractions will be
exhibitions, talks and seminars -
for all ages.
Key exhibitions include a Bernie
Grant roadshow at local libraries
and the Bernie Grant Arts Centre,
including a seminar by the MP’s
official biographer Onyekachi
Wambu.
There will also be a boroughwide
art exhibition at various locations
across Haringey - entitled Sisters in
well loved and respected and a man
of profound integrity. I had the good
fortune to have known him as a friend
and colleague when he served at
Haringey as its leader and can testify
to his relentless energy, commitment
and passion, legacies which remain in
the mind to this present day.
In the next few weeks we will be
treated to an array of cultural
delicacies which will enrich the mind
and stimulate our natural propensities
to add to our intellectual growth.
Sprit - featuring the work of
contemporary black female artists.
Nicola Green’s thought-provoking
exhibition House-Slave, Field-Slave
will trace the struggle for the
abolition of slavery as commemorated
in the borough in 2007 - before this
locally-based, nationally-respected
portrait artist shows her work at the
International Slavery Museum in
Liverpool in 2011.
Called Black History Month Now the
programme celebrates present-day
achievements and successes - and
shows how these draw on the
community’s rich heritage in the
borough.
For full details of this year’s Black
History Month celebrations in
Haringey, visit www.haringey.gov.uk/
blackhistorymonth - or contact
020 8489 1419 or email
elena.pippou@haringey.gov.uk
2010
black
history
month
now
Black History Month in the year 2010
promises to be a memorable one and
I for one am already smacking my lips
in anticipation of the cultural delights
which will be served up in the weeks
ahead.
Black History Month 2010 could be
the most exciting to date but we all
have to play our individual parts by
joining the celebrations whenever and
wherever they are held.
Have a happy, enjoyable, rewarding
and stimulating Black History Month.
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