This week, Trinity students led a moving and thought-provoking whole-school assembly to launch this year’s Black History Month, exploring the national theme Standing Firm in Power and Pride through their own original poetry.
Organised by members of the African Caribbean Society (ACS) and Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Council, the assembly invited the whole school to reflect on identity, resilience and the power of community. “It’s a time for us to celebrate our identity and race as a community,” said EDI Prefect Josh, who introduced the event. “The stories of Black people have shaped our nation for centuries.”
Three students – Upper Sixth Madinah, Fourth Year Dami and Fifth Year Keaden – performed poems they had written, each one powerful and deeply personal. Madinah’s Sunflower celebrated strength and heritage, declaring, “I shine with my own rays, brilliant and furious.” Dami’s piece explored the beauty and responsibility of language: “Every word is a leaf in this world of trees.” And Keaden’s My Story urged unity and understanding: “Two wrongs don’t make a right, but two rights can make a change.”
The idea to take a more creative approach to this year’s assembly came from Madinah, who wanted students’ own voices to be at the heart of the event – and the response from staff and students was overwhelmingly positive. Well done to all the students who stood up to share their words.
Black History Month at Trinity began on Wednesday 1 October with a joyful steel pan performance and talk from Marlon the Pannist. Events continue throughout the month with a Literary Society talk led by Madinah on Toni Morrison and Miles Morales, a Biology x ACS Society session on sickle cell anaemia, an African drumming workshop, a film night screening Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse to raise funds for a sickle cell charity and a Poetry in the Library afternoon. Form-time activities are also helping students explore 36 influential figures from Black history, with Black History Month posters around school and a Black authors exhibition in the Library.
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