To celebrate Black History Month, Liberal Arts student Glory Oluwaseun has been awarded the Medway African Caribbean Association Young Black Achievers Award.
To celebrate Black History Month, Liberal Arts student Glory Oluwaseun has been awarded the Medway African Caribbean Association– MACA Young Black Achievers Award for her contribution to citizenship.
Her passion for research and activism has led her to design and co-ordinate a Black British Culture project for year 10 students at Chatham Grammar School, her alma mater, to learn about Black British history, culture and heritage while also learning practical research skills.
‘I don’t think one month should be all that you study, it should be part of every single day that you live and integrated into the main syllabus.’
Glory’s project has two aims to increase awareness of Black History as well as the opportunities in academia. ‘This will be a collaborative project with Professors, Lecturers with both MA and PhD students, supported by ambassadors. In the end, students will create their own research proposal based on what they have learnt.’
On joining the University of Kent, she led the Outreach Debating Programme, helping to develop resources and expand the programme to schools in Kent and Medway. She has also led on the Mentoring and University Insights Project for year 12 Black students at Chatham Grammar and Brompton Academy.
Whilst Glory thinks Black History Month is still relevant she finds it limiting.
‘I don’t think one month should be all that you study, it should be part of every single day that you live and integrated into the main syllabus.’
Glory wants black students to feel pride in their history, UK history that currently isn’t taught.
‘We learnt about US figures like Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King but not about UK figures. After all this is not just black history, it’s our history, this is everybody’s history.’
Ancient Africa and Transatlantic slavery is on her syllabus, as well as figures from the UK Civil Rights Movement in the UK and a contemporary look at Black Lives Matter.
The program will lead to the students to creating their own research proposal about a topic of interest that centres on Black British Culture. Students will be encouraged to develop a question and be given creative freedom in what they produce, ‘it could be a piece of art, a video, article or just a written piece.’
Education is about inspiring people.
Glory has a big vision for the project.
‘This is just a pilot project. We start with this class and my hope is that we expand and that it becomes a UK wide and a resource to help teachers create syllabuses that are more diverse and inclusive.’
Glory received her award at a special ceremony in Medway on the 23rd of October.
Glory Oluwaseun is studying for a BA in Liberal Arts.