Black History Month continues and throughout this month at MMCS, we continue to offer information to educate people about the lived experience of the UK Black community and to celebrate those making a positive change.

Exist Loudly – Tanya Compas is a social worker and the founder of Exist Loudly, a charitable organisation which supports the wellbeing of the Black LGBTQ+ community. She is also the organiser of Queer Black Christmas, providing celebration events and a safe space for those in the Black LGBTQ+ community who may not be able to go and celebrate Christmas with their families.

During lockdown, and with the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement globally, Tanya set up a crowdfunding campaign for Exist Loudly and she has so far raised £100k of donations. Her determination and passion for providing this lifeline for the community has earned her a Pride of Britain award nomination!

Watch Tanya talk about Exist Loudly and her reasons for establishing the initiative in the video within the article link here.

Black children must be able to believe in themselves. That’s what Black History Month is for, by Akyaaba Addai-Sebo for CNN – Akyaaba Addai-Sebo is the founder of Black History Month in the UK and here, he writes in detail about how the initiative came about in the late 1980s, and about the relevance and the need for Black History Month in 2020. “For Black History to matter, Black Lives must matter. For Black Lives to matter, Black History must matter.”

The Anthony Walker Foundation – Established in 2006 after the racially motivated murder of Anthony Walker in Merseyside the year before, his family set up the Foundation to establish a positive legacy in his name. The foundation tackles, racism, hate crime and discrimination in Merseyside and beyond through educational programmes and victim support services.

In a message on the Foundation’s website, Anthony’s mother Gee writes, “It was vital for us as a family that the memory and legacy of Anthony lives on, that all he loved and aspired to is not simply forgotten. ‘Don’t let my son’s death be in vain’ were words I spoke and these sentiments are as important today as they were in 2005.”

Donations to The Anthony Walker Foundation can be made here.

Finally, this short film from Sainsbury’s shows some of their employees talk about the importance for Black British History to be told, plus they talk about their role models who have made a positive difference to the Black Community.