More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
A charity in Medway is urging schools to teach black history as part of the curriculum.
Speaking on The KM Community podcast, Carol Stewart, chairperson of the Medway African and Caribbean Association (MACA), spoke of the importance of children from all backgrounds having an understanding of black history and culture.
She said: "What we've recognised is that - and this has been the same I think, for centuries - in schools when people are learning about black history, it tends to be about slavery and oppression.
"They don't hear about the many significant achievements."
Ms Stewart recalled a time when her daughter had the opportunity to meet the famed American civil rights activist and Baptist minister Jesse Jackson, and excitedly told the school staff the next day.
She expressed her disappointment when the staff asked if he was one of the Jackson Five.
"They didn't know who he was, which I think was quite sad."
Listen to Carol Stewart on The KM Community podcast
Ms Stewart said black mathematicians and scientists should be put in the spotlight for their successes, so pupils understand it is not just white people who have achieved in these areas.
She said: "We're not just good at sports and music and the arts, but actually, we've achieved so many different things."
As part of their efforts raising awareness of black success, MACA's annual Sankofa Young Black Achievers awards take place Saturday, October 26.
Now in it's fourteenth year, Ms Stewart wants the awards to keep providing support to young black people in Medway.
She said: "Our young people were experiencing challenges and discrimination and racism, issues around self esteem and confidence.
"So we wanted to do something that gave them a boost."
The awards take place during the annual Black History month.
Winners are chosen due to their significant contributions to diversity, or even working hard to improve their local communities.
The awards ceremony is at Mid-Kent College, and include a performance from rising soul star Lukas Setto.
Last year, MACA organised the Black History Live event, including an exhibition at the Historic Dockyard Chatham.
Untold Stories: A Celebration of Black People in Kent, revealed stories of black people who had previously been ignored in the historical canon.
Ms Stewart said the reaction of people who attended the exhibition was overwhelming.
She said: "We just wanted to open people's eyes and ears to a different picture of history, and that we're not just black in October, that we're black all year round."
The charity also helped organise The Point Conference in September, which hoped to achieve some workable solutions to prevent knife crime in the county.
Ms Stewart wanted to help challenge the notion some people have that perpetrators of knife crime are predominantly black.
"There is this perception that it is black young people and black families coming down from London."
