The 'largest Black History Month celebration ever' will be hosted in St Helens, Merseyside, after the Reform UK council leader announced the local authority would not observe the annual event.
Last week, Cllr George Woodward, the Reform leader of St Helens Council, said the council would not take part in any celebrations. He said: "We don't care if you're black. We don't care if you're Asian. The only thing that matters is if you love our country and respect British culture. Moreover, it's not appropriate for celebrations to centre on one skin tone. To be frank, it's racist and divisive."
Council leader criticised over decision
The council leader, who has also withdrawn support for Refugee Week and LGBT Pride events since his party took control of the council in May, was described as being "obsessed with culture war nonsense."
Labour St Helens MP David Baines said: "Calling it a 'subversive woke movement' tells you everything you need to know about Cllr Woodward and his twisted world view. Since becoming Leader he has spent a worrying amount of time attacking minorities."
Community plans major celebration
Following the council leader's statement, some in St Helens are now planning a major Black History Celebration in the town. Emma Bamber, one of the leaders of the Laziz Project, a St Helens-based organisation which supports refugees and asylum seekers, is helping organise the event.
The organisation previously put on a special Refugee Week event after the council withdrew support for that celebration. Now Emma and others are preparing for a Black History Month event on Saturday October 17 at St Helens Minster.
Announcing the event on social media, Emma said: "We were told Black History Month is 'woke' and 'racist'. So we're going to throw a huge celebration right in the heart of St Helens."
She explained: "Last week was the usual: tackling homelessness, supporting people in destitution, running our community lunch and our asylum support service, building on our partnerships with charities and organisations across St Helens and the city region, supporting the most vulnerable in our society. Just the usual. By Friday we were ready to take our foot off the pedal and slide gently into the weekend. Our Council Leader had other ideas."
"He decided to (in his words) 'poke the hornets' nest' by announcing that St Helens Council would no longer support Black History Month. Cue a weekend of social media whack-a-mole and a tirade of hate."
Event details and response
Emma said that "louder than the hate came the support," adding: "Message after message, call after call, organisation after organisation saying the same thing: nope. Not on our watch."
The event on October 17, which runs from 1pm to 4pm, will include dance, traditional clothes and "an afternoon of pure joy and the largest Black History Month celebration we have ever hosted."
She added: "Hate, division and racism will not succeed in our town. We stand up and we say no to hate."
