Consciousness of Black History Month is alarmingly low at Kingston University, with an exclusive survey conducted by The River finding only three out of 10 students were aware of the celebration and its relevance to the present time.
The results of our survey are particularly worrying, considering Kingston’s predominantly white demographic; the 2021 census found around 70% of residents in Kingston are Caucasian and may be ignorant of the importance of celebrating Black achievements and culture.
Ckyra Laurence, the current Vice President of the Kingston Students’ Union and a former Afro-Caribbean Society (ACS) President, acknowledged that the lack of awareness around Black History Month was an issue, suggesting the university could be doing more to celebrate the important milestone.
“There was nothing that was really done outside of the ACS when I was a student here; there wasn’t much effort in the past, and some of it was quite disrespectful,” Laurence said, implying that the lack of coverage suggests a broader and more critical issue.
A Kingston University spokesperson said: “Kingston University actively celebrates Black excellence throughout the year with curriculum development, mentorship programmes and ongoing work to amplify diverse voices across our institution. We are proud of our continued participation in the Advance HE Race Equality Charter Mark, having achieved Bronze renewal in May 2024.”
They continued on to say, “The University actively works to improve the representation, progression and success of staff and students from minority ethnic backgrounds. Our comprehensive action plan demonstrates our commitment to addressing inequality and creating meaningful, lasting change.”
Laurence credited the low awareness in part to the lack of Black student representatives within the student committee. “The student reps were mostly white, and it was like: ‘How can you understand how we feel?” she explained.
Students and union representatives both believe that increasing the celebration of Black achievements is vital for raising and spreading awareness.
Rebecca Promise, a student at Kingston University, emphasised that this focus is a “necessity”.
“Black History Month helps Black students bolster each other and can be a breath of fresh air when surrounded by negativity,” she said.
Former Kingston University Biomedical Sciences student Victoria Agyarko agrees that more needs to be done to raise awareness.
She passionately advocates for any historical remembrance and significance, which both directly tie into the concept of victory and celebration for Black students.
“Black History in its essence is about black wins because every moment in history that we remember is a win within the black community,” she explains. “It means that sacrifices of those in the past were not in vain, and they were able to leave a legacy, that they were able to leave a mark that can never be wiped away.”
Agyarko believes that addressing the gap and lack of awareness requires a fundamental and gradual process of change in the way we communicate, stating that we want to increase awareness.