Croydon’s Tory-controlled council’s miserable efforts to reflect and celebrate Black History Month have been branded “totally unacceptable” and “woeful”, with no publicity or materials distributed to what is left of the borough’s public libraries.
Inside Croydon has reported before how the council’s approach towards BHM was uninspired, unimaginative and blatantly tokenistic, which in a borough where 45% of its people identify as BAME – black, Asian and minority ethnic – may seem to be ill-judged, if not a deliberate insult to nearly half the people our council is supposed to serve.
This is nothing new.
As long ago as 2017, when the council was Labour-run, iC reported: “There was little advance publicity for the month’s activities…”, this time round, there was no advance publicity at all, “… and much of the initiative appears to have been delegated to Croydon’s BME Forum and other cultural groups – such as the David Lean Cinema Campaign, Lenses of Croydon and the Stanley’s Film Club – to pitch in with contributions towards the borough programme.”
Same again this year, too. The council doesn’t even have its own dedicated Black History Month page on its sub-standard website, and is directing the public to a voluntary group for more information and details of planned events.
Seven years ago, we observed: “Actual input from Croydon Council, therefore, is minimal, and often tokenistic. And this from a council which has a full-time “culture tzar” in Paula Murray, who had the £82,500 job created for her in the midst of a recruitment freeze last year.”
Lip-service: Croydon Mayor Jason Perry
Paula Murray is long gone, but the council’s half-baked, half-arsed approach to BHM is unaltered.
Now there’s probably some very good reason for the cash-strapped council’s BHM activities being a bit underwhelming. But what’s the excuse for the lip-service press release being at least three weeks late?
In yesterday’s long overdue council preview, they claim, “Croydon is celebrating Black History Month throughout October…”, apart from the first 10 days, obviously.
The council promises “a range of themed events including business, art, lifestyle and health”.
The council sees Black History Month as “a celebration and recognition of the impact that African and Caribbean culture has had on communities in Croydon”. And it passes the buck for doing so to a list of “partners”.
Inevitably, in this lip-service exercise, there were typically lip-service-style quotes from Jason Perry, the Mayor of Croydon. “Let’s ensure that we continue to celebrate black history, and reclaim narratives all year round,” Perry said, his own council having demonstrated that it is incapable of promoting those narratives even in Black History Month.
“We have the potential to inspire, educate and empower the next generations,” said Perry, with him and his council having abjectly failed in doing so.
Not so much ‘celebrating’ as tolerating: how the council got round to publicising Black History Month … at least three weeks late
Because when you get away from the council’s PR spin, and the reality is that Croydon is really doing nothing for BHM.
Inside Croydon was contacted by one of our loyal readers yesterday following a visit to South Norwood Library (one of those public libraries that Perry isn’t having closed).
“On approaching the library, I did not see anything in the windows marking Black History Month and in reception there were no leaflets or flyers nor even the tired old photographs of the likes of Nelson Mandela and Dr Martin Luther King and the like that the library has put on display for many years.”
The library visitor asked about this. The member of library staff told them that no Black History Month material had been sent to library. “A female colleague mentioned that there were ‘some books’ upstairs in the children’s library but that they had not had the time to put them out as yet.”
The disappointed library visitor notes: “For many years I have wondered how it is that Croydon’s offering is so pathetic compared to, for example, Brent… and what Lambeth does now.” Lambeth’s 2024 Black History Month brochures were on display at West Norwood Library a month ago, our library visitor assures us.
“To be honest, I cannot actually recall hearing of a meaningful Black History Month event organised by Croydon Council, let alone actually attending one, in the 34 years that I have lived in the borough.
“What I witnessed [this week] was totally unacceptable.” They also describe it as “woeful”.
They ask, “Is there any possibility that the council’s culture, leisure and libraries function can play a role in meaningful future Black History Month offerings that actually include some history, rather than merely celebrations of singing, dancing, cookery and the lives of generously melanated celebrities and athletes?”
We probably all know the answer to that, don’t we?
But if you are looking for genuinely inspired BHM events: Photography Forum returns with reggae and hip hop exhibit
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