For the first time, Black History Month was celebrated, today, in Portsmouth, with an event that took place at Friendship House in Elm Grove. Black History Month is intended to show how multi-culturalism can work to help combat racism.
To launch the proceedings there were short speeches for a number of speakers, amongst them being the Lord Mayor of Portsmouth, Councillor Frank Jonas, the Chief Constable of Hampshire, Alex Marshall, David Williams, the Chief Executive of Portsmouth City Council and Marie Costa from the African Women’s Forum. Also speaking was Jayanti Shah, representing Positive Message Ltd. I was also asked to say a few words.
The speeches took place in a packed room, with an audience representative of several different cultures.
There were several activities during the afternoon, with African drumming and dancing being very well received. Food was served while this was going on and there were also a number of stalls around the room, with displays from Victim Support, Disability Forum, the Gambian Society and Hampshire Constabulary as well as several others.
The event was closed with a short address from Waterlooville’s Chief Inspector Alison Heydari.
The Mayor of Havant's blog 