This year, the theme for Black History Month is ‘Saluting our Sisters.’

The purpose of Black History is not to demote or promote one group’s experiences over another. It is about completing history. As historian David Olusoga has commented, Black History is British History. This means acknowledging all aspects of Britain’s past and present. It’s about recognising the so called “colonial regiments” from all continents who fought wearing British uniforms in both worlds wars. It’s about the people who came in the 1940s from the Caribbean as British Citizens who were and still are instrumental in making the NHS function. It’s learning that civilisations didn’t begin when European colonisers arrived in Africa, Asia, the Americas and elsewhere, but had existed and flourished for thousands of years with innovations and with nuance. As John Henrik Clarke, another historian wrote, “black history is the unwritten pages of human history.”

Let us all unite and celebrate the contributions our Black Members have made and continue to make in making our public services accessible to all.