Renewed calls for better education around Britain's Colonial past

As Black History Month begins in the UK - there are fresh calls to make sure pupils are learning a diverse representation of the country's history

Author: Ellie KumarPublished 1st Oct 2020

Questions are being raised over whether Britain's colonial past is being truly taught in classrooms - as many schools begin a series of programs for Black History Month.

It's a topic which has been raised repeatedly by The Black Curriculum - a social enterprise which was founded last year - to address the lack of Black British history being taught in schools.

As part of our series This Is My Voice, we spoke to children's author Catherine Johnson, who's written books including Queen of Freedom and To Liberty.

She tells us, there are huge swathes of history which have been glossed over for too long:

"Black British history is British history - it's all our stories.

"You need to know, that the wealth of this country is built on the backs of enslaved people,

"It's just a fact - you cannot say otherwise."

She feels topics like the slave trade and British Colonialism isn't explained properly in classrooms - and that needs to be addressed:

"They only stopped paying reparations - how long is it - ten years ago?

"To the SLAVE OWNERS, not the enslaved people.

"The trade has been over for 250 years - no-body has told Sharks this,

"Sharks still migrate following the route of the slave ships, because they were so used to bodies - dead and alive - going over."

You can hear our full conversation with Catherine in a few weeks time - and catch up with many other Black and Asian people in the arts in our series This Is My Voice.