What does Black History Month mean to us at Young Lives vs Cancer?

Our Head of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB), Kei-Retta Farrell, shares what Black History Month is and what it means to us here at Young Lives vs Cancer…

This October marks Black History Month.

There are conversations that debate the value of Black History Month based on the fact that Black people have been a fundamental part of British history for centuries, and on the feeling that activity can often feel trivial, tokenistic and patronising. However, in my perspective, Black History Month is still a necessary part of the organisational calendar.

Black history is British history, but there has been a lack of representation of Black people in history books. Until this is redressed, we must continue to intentionally harness these opportunities to recognise and understand the impact of Black heritage and culture in British society and take concrete steps towards combatting the systemic racism that still plagues our society.

Meaningful activity is activity that:

• Creates safe and brave spaces for people to listen and share stories and experiences around race and Black identity.
• Creates opportunities to understand and address how systemic racism plays out in the pay, terms and conditions, opportunities for advancement, service delivery and representation of Black people.
• Challenges our perceptions of equity and power, ensuring black voices are integral to the decision-making process.
• Continues beyond Black History Month and race equity works to span the activity of the business.

Across Young Lives vs Cancer in the past year we have taken some positive steps forwards in our race equity work. Over the past twelve months we have:

• Strengthened data monitoring for our workforce through the Workforce Engagement Survey and DEIB Pulse Survey to better understand the experiences of the people who work here
• Produced our first Ethnicity and Safeguarding report, and developed anti-oppressive practice and cultural humility training for social workers
• Last Black History Month saw Young Lives vs Cancer ambassador Ore Oduba listen to the experiences of four young Black cancer survivors and patients, learning about the impact both being young and Black had on them when they were diagnosed with cancer.
• Held a DEIB Knowledge Hour on Black History Month which you can watch here

These activities demonstrate our commitment to our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging strategy, but we recognise this is just the start and there is much work to be done. This Black History Month at Young Lives vs Cancer, we will be:

Holding a Brave Space on White Allyship Brave Space. This will be a space designed for people who consider themselves to be white allies, or who want to learn more. The session isn’t designed to be a step-by-step guide to being a white ally – instead it is designed to unpack and interrogate the concept, understand the risk being ‘nice’ poses, and explore action.

Co-hosting a Special Black History Month ‘Watch Party’ event with our partners Teenage Cancer Trust.

Holding a listening session for Black Staff. A safe space for Black staff only, aimed at collecting information about the experiences of Black staff at Young Lives vs Cancer with a view to taking more targeted and strategic action.

To close the month, we will be holding an anti-racism action-planning session. A space to reflect on a month of learning during Black History Month and join together with colleagues to turn words of allyship into tangible actions.

The theme for this month is ‘Time For Change: Actions Not Words’, I encourage anyone reading this to show up and contribute to getting the work done.