Diversity House in Sittingbourne say their identity should be celebrated everyday.
Mahima Abedin reports.
Mahima Abedin reports.
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00:00Black History Month has just kicked off in Kent, and here at KMTV, we're looking to
00:11shine a light on members of the community. We started off by speaking to Diversity House
00:16in Sittingbourne which supports people from all walks of life. But while people from diverse
00:21backgrounds go to them for advice, it has a different take on what this month means
00:25to them.
00:26I'm not a fan of Black History Month, I'm sorry to say, because my history, my heritage
00:34is not a one month thing. I live it every day. So just to assign one month of the year
00:43to my history doesn't make sense. We should talk about my history all the time and let
00:50it be something that, you know, people study. And if we do that, believe me, people will
00:56get to understand who you are, get to understand your history, and all the fears that people
01:01have and the suspicion will not be there.
01:04So after speaking to Christine, I found out that not everyone believes that there should
01:08be just one dedicated month to celebrating a specific community. Instead, she showed
01:14me around this room here, and on these shelves, there's loads of different toys. And she showed
01:19me these dolls in particular. And what these dolls are, they're all of different ethnicities,
01:24and she said that this shows that everybody should be celebrated every day, in fact, and
01:28any topics or issues that matter should be brought up in day-to-day life, not just in
01:33one particular month. But then, after speaking to her, that made me wonder, would everyone
01:39agree?
01:40Patience uses the Diversity House facilities to learn new skills. She was busy sewing an
01:45African bubble dress. It's a traditional piece of clothing. As she told me, it's also her
01:50country's Independence Day.
01:51I agree with it, because this month reminds us that we have our independence. Like today
02:00in Nigeria, it's the first of October, which is our Independence Day. So every year, in
02:06October 1st, we remember Independence Day, where we have our freedom. So here, we celebrate
02:13men and women that gave their life for the war.
02:16Whether or not you agree that there's a need of the month, October will undoubtedly shed
02:20a light on the black community, not only in Kent, but across the whole country.
02:25Mahima Abedin for KMTV in Sittingbourne.