“We Are Our History All Year Round” – LaToyah mcAllister-Jones on Black History Month 2022

LaToyah McAllister-Jones, Executive Director of St Pauls Carnival, gives her thoughts on this year’s Black History Month.

As we enter October and Black History Month, I find myself reflecting on what Black History Month means and how St Pauls Carnival has engaged with it over the past few years.

We said goodbye to one of our founding members, Mr Roy Hackett MBE, on the 16th September 2022. Roy’s passing had a profound impact on the African Caribbean community here in Bristol; his extraordinary life has touched so many in this city and beyond. It was a beautiful service bringing together so many people, many of whom are activists and change-makers. Bristol is a city of people not afraid to demand change. Roy’s own life story is one of challenge, resilience and taking a stand. 

His work as an activist on the Bristol Bus Boycott, along with Owen Henry, Audley Evans, Prince Brown and Paul Stephenson, paved the way for the first Race Relations Act in 1965. This changed the face of employment in the UK for those facing discrimination and the foundation of this act continues to inform our experience in the UK today.

St Pauls Carnival Chair and Executive Director Levi Roots and LaToyah McAllister-Jones with Roy Hackett and Barbara Dettering

The creation of the St Pauls Festival happened not long after in 1968, celebrating African Caribbean culture and encouraging social cohesion. This has grown into St Pauls Carnival which welcomes over 100,000 people annually onto the streets of St Pauls. All those people, as well as the team, artist, traders and children in the procession have all been touched by Roy’s life and his work.

When I sat in the church on Jamaica Street, I was hit by the enormity of this incredible legacy. His life is a spectacular example of our Black history and our impact here in the UK. Roy lived close by to where I live and we would often bump into each other in our local shop. He always had a story and a smile, often full of mischief. He carried himself with such humbleness, you might miss the scale of his impact. When I think about Black History Month this year, I think about how we ensure that the next generation continues to learn about Roy’s contribution, his activism and his commitment to his community. Our history must inform our future. As Roy said: “you’ve got to be in it to change it”.

As part of a project sponsored by St Monica Trust, our community engagement team made a film incorporating the stories of our Elders. Titled ‘Inna Wi Carnival: Reflections Of A Generation’, the film was screened on Carnival Day at the Elders’ Brunch and again at Encounters Film Festival to celebrate the start of Black History Month. We’re so proud of the reception it received and are busy thinking up ways to bring it back to your screens once again.

St Pauls community elders during filming for ‘Inna Wi Carnival: Reflections Of A Generation

St Pauls Carnival works in schools all year round to ensure that our history and experiences go beyond the traditional Black History Month of October. I see this as a critical part of our work and throughout the pandemic years, we have been developing our education work, expanding into secondary schools and partnering with community facilitators to train teachers.

Delivering talks, assemblies and training in schools this Black History Month

This October, I will be going into schools to talk to them about my experience of motherhood, the hope and aspiration for my sons as well as the fears I have for them as dual heritage boys. This is part of a programme we are developing at St Paul Carnival which focuses on storytelling to open a window on ‘living while Black’ – sharing our experiences, our hopes and fears that shape our lives as Africans in the diaspora. 

Black history is rich. It is also a shared history, complex and nuanced. October offers the opportunity to access these stories, but we are our history all year round. And that history must continue to inform the future.