African Voice had the privilege of accompanying Mr. David Cameron, Prime Minister to Birmingham when the PM made a visit to the DRUM art centre as part of the celebration of the Black History Month (BHM). The BHM had among other features over the years showed quite an input in the area of arts which has been a core feature of black history in Africa and in diaspora.
The culture of art, in its various manifestations, as history, painting, song and dance, music, story-telling, drama among others attracted the interest and attention of the PM such that his decision to associate with black heritage could not be lost on the youths and assemblage of artists and artistes that were on hand to welcome him and his entourage.
Significantly, it was one of those rare occurrences that African Voice, one of the media organizations on this trip, decided to hold back a little to give adequate vent to the visit and indeed the works of arts and facilities at Drum, Birmingham. If the prime Minister wasn’t doing this every year, it certainly did show that the Black History Month was certain to enjoy consideration of personal and political interest in his administration.
In Birmingham, the Drum plaza was not only presenting itself for a prime ministerial audience, it was also setting the stage for the prospects of the history of black heritage and contributions to Great Britain. It was an occasion that must not be lost just as well as the interest and political will of the Prime Minister need be sustained to take this acknowledgement to the next level. And this was how it all went from our Editor-in-Chief who was with him.
To mark the end of this year’s Black History Month the Prime Minister met with members of the African-Caribbean community in the West Midlands to highlight the vital role of Britain’s black community in supporting the country’s economic recovery.
Chiming with this year’s BHM theme of ‘social mobility and aspiration’ the Prime Minister joined local community representatives, entrepreneurs and business, faith and educational leaders to discuss how to best realise the full potential of Britain’s African-Caribbean communities – not just for the community but to the benefit of the entire country.
The Prime Minister spoke of the vital role of Britain’s Black community in the recovery with over 40% of Government-backed start up businesses from black and minority ethnic entrepreneurs, and the number of apprenticeships started by people with African-Caribbean heritage has trebled compared with the previous three years.
Marking the end of Black History Month the Prime Minister visited The Drum arts centre in Aston, Birmingham. As well as meeting with local community network he took a tour the BHM photo exhibition and spoke with young artists about their work.
Praising Black History Month the Prime Minister said: “I think Black History Month is still important and should still be backed – the whole point about Black History Month is it’s been trying to shift the dial and make sure there really is proper attention to black history and to black people in British history who have played such an important role. This was not stuff I was taught at school, so this is a real step forward.
Speaking about his vision for Britain’s diverse communities, the Prime Minister said: “My vision is for a country where people feel, whatever their background, whatever their race, whatever their creed, they can make it to the very top.
“You know, more than 40% of the people taking advantage of our start-up loans are from black and minority ethnic backgrounds. And I think that tells you something about the untapped reservoirs of entrepreneurialism in our black communities,” he added.
