Black History Month

Black History Month is now in full swing, and celebrated in Brent primarily through Brent Libraries.  Other authorities, such as Tory held Wandsworth, have rebranded this event as "Diversity Month" attracting a number of critical comments.  Personally, I would have thought the whole concept of Black History Month is really quite broad already since it encompasses the whole of sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean and black communities outside those core areas.  There is still probably a lingering idea as in Trevor -Roper's notorious quote that Africans have no history.  Indeed, such attitudes underlay the controversies over who built the ruins of Zimbabwe or shaped the famous Benin bronzes.  I think it would be quite complacent to imagine that such views have entirely disappeared.