Black History Month is a time to acknowledge, celebrate and honour the numerous incredible contributions, creations and overall cultural impact that Black people have made throughout history. This is especially important as these contributions have often been forgotten, overlooked or downplayed. This year we are focusing particularly on celebration and wellness with our theme of: mind, body, soul.

While Black history should be celebrated all year round, Black History Month highlights a unique opportunity to promote and share Black history, to celebrate all the amazing things that Black people have done and are currently doing around the world and more locally at UEA with our fantastic cohort of Black students, staff and alumni and their contributions.

As part of our commitment to Black students there will be continued opportunities to put forward suggestions so we can better understand your needs from uea(su), as well as workshops and online meetups that look at leadership skills and navigating different kinds of spaces.

We recognise that whilst Black History Month is vital in celebrating the achievements of Black students and their history, there’s still a lot more that we can do as a union to improve the relationship between ourselves and our community of Black students and we are committed to working on change.

For more information on what we’re looking to do email the Welfare, Community and Diversity Officer at aaron.campbell@uea.ac.uk

Black History Month can have many different meanings to many different people - from freedom of expression and celebrating the strong figures around you, to reflection on the steps that have had to be taken to get where we are now and how far we have yet to go. Everyone's experience is not indifferent and a true expression of the diversity within the Black community.

We asked some of the members of the Black community at UEA Students Union to tell us what Black History Month means to them.