SDLP councillor and Group Leader Martin Reilly
He was speaking after the SDLP motion to mark the International Decade received unanimous support from Derry City and Strabane District Council yesterday evening.
Said Cllr Reilly: “Derry City and Strabane District Council is committed to eradicating and ending racial injustice and anti-Black racism.
“Much good work has been undertaken by our staff and elected representatives in recent years.
“However, our call yesterday evening was about pushing further towards justice for black people who have been historically enslaved and oppressed and for this council to amplify the voices of black people in this council area and beyond.
“I am delighted that the Council chose to unanimously support the SDLP motion to recognise the International Decade for Peoples of African Descent and to support a range of measures within this decade to mark the progress we have made so far in the fight for racial justice and resolve to continue this fight until racism is eradicated in our communities and society.
“In bringing this motion, I had the pleasure of working with the North West Migrants Forum, the Horn of Africa Peoples Aids and the African and Caribbean Support Organisation NI and would like to thank them for their support.
“The focus of our motion was education. We know that through education, we can enhance the life of any individual who can access this gift.
“We therefore called on Council to work with schools and community organisations to ensure the educational histories and narratives of black people are properly taught and celebrated in schools across the City and District all year round.
“Black history must be properly taught in schools, not as something ‘useful’ or included as a token, but as an essential tool for tackling anti-Black prejudice and racism.
“Learning about our history is absolutely essential to understand the links between past and present and develop an understanding of the condition of being human.
“We have also called on the Department of Education to work with local, black-led organisations and the Black Curriculum organisation to review the Northern Ireland Curriculum to develop an anti-racism policy for schools.
“The decade should be formally marked at the end of 2024 to celebrate the progress made in moving towards racial justice, including by putting an education and celebratory programme in place with guidance from black leaders and the community in the city to formally highlight and promote the objective of the decade.”
