Celebrate the influence and achievements of Black people
Black history month Art competition
Article dated: 27/06/2023
Primary school pupils from across Merseyside are invited to design a poster to celebrate Black History.
Organised jointly by Merseyside Police and partners, the competition spans the 5 boroughs of Merseyside (St Helens, Wirral, Sefton, Liverpool, Knowsley) and is supported by the International Slavery Museum Liverpool.
Find out more by watching this short video
What is Black history month?
October is Black History Month in the UK, an event that has been celebrated nationwide for more than 30 years, to recognise the contributions that people of African and Caribbean backgrounds have made to the UK over many generations.
Now, Black History Month has expanded to include the history of not just African and Caribbean people but Black people in general.
Merseyside police have created a poster to give students some inspiration - with figures who made positive difference.
These include:
Frank Arthur Bailey
Frank was a Guyanese-British firefighter and social worker who is known as being one of the first black firefighters in the United Kingdom. In 1953, he moved to London and came across a Fire Brigades Union (FBU) delegate who told him that black people were not employed by the fire service because they were "not educated or strong enough", though he challenged this by applying as a firefighter. In 1955, he was accepted and became one of the first black firefighters in the UK
Mary Prince
Mary was the first Black woman to publish an autobiography in Britain. Back in 1831 her life story, The History of Mary Prince, A West Indian Slave, revealed the horrifying truths of the slave trade and helped the movement to end slavery.
Dr Oliver Lyseight
Oliver migrated to England from Jamaica in 1951, was the founder of one of Britain's largest black majority churches, and was a spiritual leader to the "Windrush generation", the first Caribbeans to emigrate in significant numbers to post-war Britain, notably in 1948 on the HMT Empire Windrush.
Lilian Bader
Lilian Bader one of the first Black women to join the armed forces. Throughout her life, Lilian was vocal about racism and prejudice in Britain and strived to ensure that the contribution of Black military personnel was acknowledged in British history. Referring to her family’s involvement in the British military and the lack of recognition they received, she noted:
“Father served in the First World War, his three children served in the Second World War.
I married a coloured man who was in the Second World War, as was his brother who was decorated for bravery in Burma.Their father also served in the First World War.
Our son was a helicopter pilot, he served in Northern Ireland.
So all in all, I think we’ve given back more to this country than we’ve received.”
Why get involved?
It's a great opportunity for primary school pupils across Merseyside to get involved to celebrate the influence and achievements of Black people who have contributed and influenced shaping the UK.
What will your school get out of it?
The winning school from each borough will have the artwork branded on Police vehicles across Merseyside and a tour of the International Slavery Museum with the winning artworks been displayed at the museum.
There will also be an opportunity for all the winners to attend Merseyside Police Headquarters for a tour, introductions with the command team and opportunity to be interviewed by the media team.
The competition is open to all primary schools across Merseyside, maximum of 3 entries per school, with a winning school for each area announced in 1st half of the autumn term.
Format of your school’s artwork
Submit your entry via email as a digital copy - either a good quality photograph or a scanned version of the artwork either A4 or A3, landscape or portrait.
Please keep file size to a maximum of 5mb and state your school’s name and which area the school is from when submitting your artwork.
Please ensure that any images of family or friends that your students may decide to use have their permissions and don’t breach copyright laws.
Please also advise participants not to include politically divisive content so the artwork doesn't have to be censored.
Send entries to [email protected] by 21 July 2023.
The following link can be used as resources for students preparation Legacies of transatlantic slavery | National Museums Liverpool (liverpoolmuseums.org.uk)