21st October 2021
This year, to mark Black History Month, students and staff from across the college came together to enjoy a series of events and activities, including sharing their own experiences, eating some great food, and raising money for charity.
St Brendan’s Students' Union spearheaded the month – organising a series of fantastic experiences for everyone at the College.
Alongside in-person activities, such as a bake sale to raise money for the charity SARI (Stand Against Racism & Inequality) the Union launched interactive content across their social media channels, including dropping a Spotify playlist celebrating Black artists across a mix of genres and eras.
On 21st October, students supported Black History Month with their big event of the month: an hour of speeches, poetry and discussion, and to hear from guest speaker Junior Saunders.
Hosting the event, student Ashya opened with a talk about Black history, covering a huge breadth of topics from the Civil Rights movement to cultural appropriation before handing the floor over to guest speaker Junior Saunders who gave a rousing talk focused on personal identity and energy.
Others took to the stage, delivering speeches on topics such as white privilege, the importance of listening, colourism, and tackling judgement with a smile. Others stood up to share poetry with the room – one entitled “Black Flowers” and another about Barack Obama.
In addition to the events organised by the Students' Union, the College’s LRC ran a Book Review Competition, with a prize voucher of £20 to the best review of one of the books recently added to the Library collection to mark Black History Month.
Elsewhere in the College, students and staff were able to enjoy something a bit different for lunch as the Students' Union worked with Café Max to add dishes such as Jerk Chicken to the menu for a few special days.
