- 12:49 pm
- I beg to move,That this House has considered Black History Month.I start by wishing Baroness Doreen Lawrence a very happy birthday—she is bright beacon for us all. It is a great pleasure to open the debate to mark Black History Month. I have led debates on the subject many times since 2020, but this is my first time from the Government side of the House, and as the first ever woman Minister of Ghanaian descent at the Dispatch Box.For some of us, every month is Black History Month. Many Members cannot dis-entangle our own narratives, family trees and stories from the broader celebration of black history. It is not the stuff of dry history books; it is about vibrant family stories told around kitchen tables, and lived experiences shared by our mums, dads, aunties, uncles, grandparents and great-grandparents. I know from our previous debates that we will be hearing some of those vivid stories this afternoon.Why do we celebrate Black History Month? We do so because black history is British history; because the lives of black Britons are the building blocks of our nation, from the Roman occupation to the Windrush generation; because history is never static, but a story constantly being told and re-told over again; and because the voices of black Britons have so often been marginalised and dismissed, ignored and overlooked. The racism and bias that our forebears faced—within the factories, the foundries, the armed services, the universities and the national health service, on the streets, and even in our homes—is made worse by historians brushing it under the carpet. This country and this House cannot overlook our complex and painful history of empire and slavery.A key theme this year is “reclaiming the narrative,” and I pay tribute to all the families, historians, scholars, teachers and storytellers who keep the narrative alive. We have a duty of care to our ancestors; a debt of honour to the countless millions who built our economy, shaped our society and forged the nation.
- I congratulate my hon. Friend on leading this important debate in Government time. The Black Cultural Archives, which I am hugely proud to say is based in my constituency on Windrush Square, is the only national organisation dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of black history in the United Kingdom. It does not currently have recognition as a national organisation. Will the Minister work with me and the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport to ensure that the Black Cultural Archives has that status and recognition, as well as sustainable funding, given the vital role it plays?
- I thank my hon. Friend for that suggestion; she has done a lot of work in that area. I know the Black Cultural Archives really well, having visited it on many occasions over the years. I, too, am concerned, and I will be happy to work with Ministers, alongside my hon. Friend, to look at ensuring that its legacy continues.It was a special honour to join Mr Speaker last week in Speaker’s House to mark Black History Month—it was truly a hot ticket. It was a pleasure to hear my right hon. Friend the Member for Hackney North and Stoke Newington (Ms Abbott) speak on that occasion. She reminded us of the terrible hate that black Britons faced in the 1950s and 1960s, and how working-class communities came together to protect one another when the fascists came to town. Jewish, Irish and Asian communities, as well as the settled white communities, worked alongside the African-Caribbean communities.
- I commend the Minister for leading the debate, and I think it is only fair also to commend the hon. Member for Brent East (Dawn Butler) for initiating it. Does the Minister agree that the celebration of culture and heritage, as well as their accomplishments, is something that benefits everyone in our community? The strength of this great United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has its foundations on our ability to be British and yet to be so much more.
- I completely agree. I mentioned how in the past different communities have come together alongside the African-Caribbean community, for example to fight the blackshirts, the National Front, and the British National party. These are the shoulders on which many of us stand. Alongside Bernie Grant and my fellow Ghanaian —and great friend—Lord Paul Boateng, they lit the path for so many of us to walk down.I do not want the House to think I am only going to mention those of Ghanaian descent, even though we make the best jollof rice—do not let my hon. Friend the Member for Vauxhall and Camberwell Green (Florence Eshalomi) tell you any different. But there is one more Ghanaian person I must mention, as I always do in this month: Akyaaba Addai-Sebo, the co-ordinator of special projects for the Greater London Council, who organised the first recognition of this month in 1987. In the 1970s, he had seen the Americans celebrate black history and believed that Britain should do something similar.
- First, I congratulate my hon. Friend on her speech. She is doing a fantastic job and she looks amazing. I am not getting into the jollof rice argument, because I am Jamaican. She mentioned one of the founders of Black History Month, who was a constituent of mine. Does she agree that it is no coincidence that in 1987, when Black History Month was first launched by the GLC, this place also made history with the election of the first three black MPs: the Mother of the House, my right hon. Friend the Member for Hackney North and Stoke Newington (Ms Abbott), Lord Boateng, and the late and very great Bernie Grant?
- I thank my hon. Friend for raising that, and I am glad she took the cautious path by not saying that Ghanaian jollof rice is not the best—she knows it is. I echo her points and I will be paying tribute to those MPs later in my speech.The stories we will hear this afternoon are our stories. We have come a long way since the 1980s, when we first celebrated Black History Month. We celebrate the trail- blazers today. I have mentioned the first black Mother of the House, the first black Minister and Cabinet Minister, Paul Boateng, and Baroness Lawrence. I must also mention Baroness Amos in the other place, who became the first black woman to serve in Cabinet. She is from my area, the borough of Bexley, and inspires me every day. Of course, no one political party has a monopoly on trailblazers; I know that Opposition Members will want to mention the black trailblazers from their own parties and political traditions.Since the general election in July, we can celebrate the most diverse Parliament in our history, making this House look and sound far closer to the diverse communities we represent. Such representation matters. If the nation’s children look at our Parliament and do not see women and men who look and sound like them, then they will assume that Parliament is not of them or for them; they will assume that the rulers are one thing and the ruled something else. I do not need to tell the House how damaging that is to democracy, or how populists thrive and democracies die. It is not about ticking boxes; it is about ballot boxes.I said we have come a long way—and we have—but the path of progress does not run straight and true. Progress can be reversed and set back. Social media provides a new platform for old hatreds. The scourge of racism is given new life through social media—each one of us faces it every day online. In our communities too, racism is real, and the struggle against it is real. It is not just overt racism; it is also the damaging effect of racism in our institutions. It is the routine micro-aggressions that black MPs and black staff face every day, and the hateful language in parts of our media. It is when the successful black business executive is mistaken for the cleaner, when the qualified jobseeker is blocked because of their surname, or when the political candidate is told, “This seat is not for the likes of you.”
- I call the shadow Minister.
- 1:01 pm
- Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I, too, wish Baroness Lawrence a very happy birthday.I congratulate the Minister on such a positive opening speech. How wonderful it is to have this discussion in the main Chamber! I have been working with the hon. Member for Brent East (Dawn Butler) on the all-party women in Parliament event, and I am delighted that joint working between Government Front Benchers and Back Benchers has brought this debate to the Chamber today. I am particularly pleased to see the number of people who are keen to be here on a Thursday—that is fantastic, and I look forward to the contributions from across the House.The theme of this year’s Black History Month is reclaiming narratives, and it is vital for every member of society to recognise the achievements of black Britons and the contributions they have made to our country and to the world. All of us as MPs have amazing constituents and friends who educate and inspire us, and that will be highlighted in today’s debate. It takes me back to my best friend from school, Genevieve. She educated me about what it was like to flee her country, Uganda, with just a passport, and what it had meant to her and her future to go through such a harrowing time with her family.We need only look across the fields of sport, entertainment, culture and politics to see how much of a contribution black Britons are making. We see that most clearly in today’s celebration. I agree with the Minister that looking forward to the future is vital, but Black History Month takes us back to the 1980s, which was when my friend Genevieve and I met. It was established in 1987, and not only has it grown as a movement; it has led to real debate and reflection. I am sure that this House will do it justice this afternoon, and that we will note just how far the UK has come and how different it is as a country from when Black History Month was established. We have heard from the Minister about the historic moment when three black MPs were elected to this House in the 1987 general election, and the difference that made. The right hon. Member for Hackney North and Stoke Newington (Ms Abbott) was elected in that year, and we celebrate her being the Mother of this House.
- As the hon. Lady is talking about sport and football, it is only right that I pay tribute to my brother, who is a premier league footballer—Bobby Reid-De Cordova. He is doing an incredible job, and I am incredibly proud of him because of what he demonstrates, not just on the pitch but in the communities within which he has served.
- I thank the hon. Lady for that contribution —I have a brother myself of whom I am extremely proud, so I get that. There is something slightly less competitive in that relationship sometimes. I pay tribute to him and his work, and, above all, his skill.
- If we are talking about footballers, can we remember people such as Alex Scott, who is a trailblazer for the women’s game, as well as those from the men’s game?
- I will be coming on to that in my remarks. As a former Sports Minister, I am absolutely focused on highlighting the women’s game and, above all, making sure that sport is not niche when it comes to reporting on women and their achievements—that it is literally a fair and level playing field—so I agree with the hon. Gentleman.Of course, it is with a note of sadness that we need to remember one pioneer of black sport, Alford Gardner, who died earlier this month. Prior to his death, he was one of only two surviving Windrush passengers, and he was recognised at the Pride of Britain awards for his work establishing the first Caribbean cricket club in the UK. As Sports Minister, I was keen to encourage representation and further opportunity, particularly for football managers, and to work with the beautiful game on those things—if you cannot see it, can you believe that you can get there? I still think there is more to do.We rightly herald the voyage of the Empire Windrush as the start of the story when it comes to truly understanding black history in the UK. I thank the Minister for her update to the House on what is being done to support the community.
- There is one cohort that it would be nice to hear mentioned by the Front Benchers: the black warriors who came to this country to fight in two world wars, and particularly to fight the Nazis in the second world war. I commend to people on both sides of the House with an interest in this subject the book “The Eighth Passenger” by the late Miles Tripp, which prominently features Flight Sergeant Harry McCalla. He was the rear gunner in his Lancaster and flew dozens of perilous missions; he survived, and Members can read about what happened after the war. We need to salute, in both senses of the word, those people who came to fight the Nazis.
- Hear, hear! A little further on in my speech, I will mention some of that, but I have certainly learned even more from my right hon. Friend.
- The hon. Lady mentioned the importance of the Windrush generation and the Windrush story to the start of the story of Black History Month. My constituency is one of the most diverse in the country, and long has been. In the 1920s, we had the biggest black population in London, but our black history prior to the second world war is often forgotten. Does she agree that we need to do more to celebrate, and to remind people and teach them about, that longer history?