Black History Month is local

Alice Marcelino

Oct 7

2 min read

Black history belongs to the whole world. But you always find it somewhere specific: on a particular street, in a kitchen, a classroom, a church hall or a dance studio. This season, we’re setting off on a six-month journey across the water between Britain and Portugal, and we’re starting with the people who look after that history best: local communities.

One month, many beginnings

The idea began in the United States, where historian Carter G. Woodson launched Negro History Week in February 1926, so this year marks a full century of organised Black remembrance.

Canada recognised February as Black History Month nationally in 1995.Britain held its first Black History Month in October 1987, and has marked it every October since, with its own focus and themes.

Britain this year: honouring our communities

This October, Black History Month UK has chosen the theme “Honouring Our Communities”, recognising the volunteers, teachers, nurses, carers and community leaders whose everyday contributions shape, support and sustain Black life across the country.

The most important Black heritage sites in Britain are not always museums or monuments. Often they are a Saturday school, a barbershop, a carnival band rehearsing in a community centre, or a family recipe that has crossed two oceans.

Portugal: a young celebration of a very old history

Portugal’s Black History Month (Mês da História Negra) is still new. Lisbon has marked Black History Month (Mês da História Negra) each February since 2024 through a programme led by the Embassy of Canada, with the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA), and the Lisbon City Council, guided by a committee that includes Afro-Portuguese community figures.

In February 2025, a celebration at the Capitólio in Parque Mayer honoured athlete Naide Gomes and musician Tito Paris, and paid tribute to the late Johnson Semedo and Georgina Ribas.

If you’ve never heard of Georgina Ribas, you’re not alone, and that’s rather the point. She was born in Angola in 1882 and moved to Lisbon as a child. She studied at the National Conservatory, taught music, and became a leading figure among the African intellectuals living in the city in the early twentieth century, including in the leadership of the Liga das Mulheres Africanas.

Community is the Archive

All through this series, we’ll be introducing you to the individuals and organisations that keep our communities thriving and deserve your support well beyond a single awareness month. Here are the first two.