Important events to celebrate Black History Month throughout October – with a Proud to be Me theme - have proved to be a success for staff and students.
Inspirational storyteller Mara Menzies entertained and informed, with her compelling performance on Wednesday 6 October, was arguably the biggest draw and she wowed a large online audience with her tales and awareness raising of prejudice and racism.
An amazing range of materials have been created by FVC Media students that explore similar themes. The Student Association also held a successful Show Racism the Red Card event which challenged prejudice through the unifying pleasure of football.
Monica Medina, FVC’s Diversity Coordinator said: “Celebration was the central idea of our Black History Month events and this year’s theme, Proud to be Me, really highlights how we can share our varied experiences with each other. The events of the last two years have raised renewed and heightened awareness around racism and I look forward to seeing FVC take on the challenging conversations needed to advance our Anti-racism plan.
“This year Mara Menzies’ excellent performance helped us explore the themes of slavery, colonialism and modern-day racism in a non-confrontational way.
I hope that the Black History Month activities inspired staff and students to incorporate some small steps towards further understanding, action and change.”
For more information on Mara visit https://www.marathestoryteller.com/ . If you missed the performance and would like to access the book directly from the publisher; see https://birlinn.co.uk/product/blood-and-gold/.