Black History Month The Bedford College Group celebrated Black History Month during October with a Black Heroes and Heroines event. Welcoming guest speakers, music and art within the prestigious South Bank Centre at Bedford College Emmanuel Amissah is a Maths teacher at Bedford College. He has established an online group, Africaniwa. He told the assembled: “I came from Ghana in 2005 to the UK. I found people expected me to know about Africa … 54 different countries. I had no idea! So, during lockdown with friends I formed a group to share our stories and actual experiences.” Bedford author Desmond Clark attended with his book ‘Stolen Inheritance’. Desmond is a former student of the College who, as a mature student, progressed from a GCSE in English in 1991 to obtain a Bachelors degree and Masters. In addition, copies of the ‘Black and British’ book by TV’s David Olusoga are being offered to all students across The Bedford College Group. This new edition of the book is aimed at a younger audience but is a good introduction to some of the key points in Black History in the UK. The event was organised by Bedford College’s staff Carmela Martiello who pointed out: “Representation and narrative are key to change. “Bedford, as a town, has speakers of over a hundred different languages and a population where 28% identify as “nonBritish” heritage.”
The October event followed an earlier event staged in the summer at the town’s Quarry Theatre. A collaboration between the SpectaculARTS organisation which is pioneering opportunities for young people through the arts. Governor of The Bedford College Group Sharon De Leonardis, is CEO of SpectaculARTS. Sharon commented: “SpectaculARTS is delighted the exhibition showcased an array of individuals from past and present who have made inspired contributions to culture and society. The exhibition aimed to educate society at large and balance under represented or mis-represented aspects of Black history.” She continued: “I am so proud to be a Governor at The Bedford College Group, which became FE College of the Year in 2020. “Bedford College is now leading in its approach for race equality and is one of the only colleges within the UK that has created its own race equality committees for students and staff. As part of my work in the community I have had hundreds of meetings with a range of organisations. So many still have ‘race equality’ under equality, diversity and inclusion, but this topic of race equality is so big as it affects every aspect of life and deserves to be looked at separately. Bedford College has embraced this and I have noticed now the commitment for creating solutions. “It would be my personal dream for The Bedford College Group to lead the way in this area and for this approach to be adopted nationally by all colleges within the UK. “Bedford has such a rich mix of different cultures which work in harmony together, but now it’s time for Bedford to lead the way. The future is looking better with young people joining the conversation for race equality.”
Photo shows (L-R) Sharon De Leonardis, speaker Tré Ventour, Carmela Martiello, Daniel Vacchio and Emmanuel Amissah