At the end of last month, we were given the opportunity to host our first in-school workshop of the academic year with students of Black heritage in one of our partner schools. It ran after the students watched our very own Black History Month film – a film that celebrates Black history, rooted in joy and pride and whose content and words capture Black history reflections submitted by Black students and scholars based in the South West UK at our partner schools and our University.

This day it was myself and four others from the team walking into the school, and I can say we all felt nervous. The purpose of this workshop was to launch our reciprocal learning (‘mentoring’) scheme in Exeter schools. It felt like so much more than the planned activity; it felt like the beginning of something new and a chance to reinforce the pride that the film showed.

Once we settled into the classroom, the school’s art room, we set it all up. Each of us brought a tote bag to set up with, our B-HUGs reciprocal learning kit; within the bags we had speakers (on which we played afrobeats, amapiano and music by Black musicians), and as well as traditional African fabric, each different but equally as beautiful. For days we had been preparing to get ready for the session, each discussing our goals and boundaries, all wanting to strike the balance between guidance and mentorship with openness. I believe that, though we all said different things, we all agreed that the most important thing we wanted to do was give the young people something we all need – a safe space for youth to be Black in a time where there is much negativity around us.

We all sat at our tables waiting for the students to enter, and once everyone had started. We kicked off by playing a game of ‘SPLAT’ (or ‘Bang’ as some of us called it). I can certainly say that it set the energy high and filled the room with laughter and chatter. Nothing brings people together like trying to stay in a game!

Afterwards, we kicked things off by each having three of students at our table. Each of us then asked our table the simple – yet meaningful – question, “what makes you proud of your identity?”. For a moment my table was all quiet. Sometimes, we aren’t always invited to reflect out loud on what makes us proud about our Black roots, often when we hear about Black history its negative. But soon the young people started to participate. Next thing I knew, we all started talking about our memories, traditions and food. What immediately struck me was despite the different backgrounds at my table – Nigerian, Sao Tomean, Gambian and Angolan – we all seemed to have so many overlaps. We had a similar history, we all had intricate and beautiful hairstyles, all had our variations of stew and most important, all were united in resilience.

As the session went on, initial walls came down, and confidence started to bloom. It was amazing to see how the young people felt comfortable speaking up about their dreams and aspirations – some doing so shyly, whilst others boisterously. Listening to them made me realise even more how important mentorship is. Sometimes, I feel like we forget that by just being there to open the doors to these conversations plants a seed that might otherwise have been left unexplored and unwatered. Being a minority does not mean having to lack community.

After this first workshop, I realised that our work at B-HUGs was more profound than I could have ever imagined. Particularly as it was done as Black History Month came to an end. Usually, we just hear about it once, but the Black students never seemed to be touched and that’s when I realised that B-HUGs is needed to make sure that everyone feels uplifted and recognised in every part of the year. Not just one assembly a year. I believe that by having these workshops, it moves Black joy from being limited to just a month, to something that eventually is embedded. And I can say that I look forward to seeing what we can achieve.

-Ana