RG Celebrates Black History Month

Happy Black History Month! The Multicultural Network at RG is using Black History month as a platform to celebrate and educate. We’ll be taking over our EP!C newsfeed each Friday in October to inject some “Feel Good” vibes in the form of posts and activities to have you moving your feet either to the rhythm of the beat, or the nearest shop to tantalise your tastebuds! 

Join us, as we inspire, challenge and enjoy what this month has to offer, with the focus on making RG a more informed, accepting and inclusive place to work. 

What is Black History Month - a brief history 

Black History Month is a month-long celebration of the achievements of Black people throughout history right up to today. Although you can celebrate Black History year round, the official observance is in February in the US and October in the UK. It is an opportunity for everyone to learn about the history of the Black community while also making strides to eradicate the inequality that still exists in society today. 

This year’s theme is “Time for Change: Action Not Words”  and has been chosen to highlight the somewhat frustrating burden often placed on Black People of not only experiencing racism and discrimination, but also being expected to fix it! 

The 2020 Black Lives Matter protests internationally saw many individuals and businesses state their commitment to tackle racism, and the time was taken to learn about the Black experience as well as understand the importance of being an ally, and what that truly means. It has been widely acknowledged that whilst this is a great step forward, it won’t change institutional racism, and that now is the time to really put those words into action. 

It is important to remember that Black History Month isn't just a month where this all comes into focus, but instead, a month where it is highlighted and the unfortunate reminder that there is a need to still have this moment in time every year in our society to recognise the contributions of Black People. 

Black History Month and RG

So, what does putting words into action mean for us? As the Multicultural Network, we know that there is much to be celebrated from the Black culture, but also a lot to learn as well. Our network homepage has an updated list of learning materials, books, videos and podcasts that you can access in order to learn more. 

But learning isn’t just limited to education. We all learn in different ways - hearing, smell, taste, touch - and our posts over this month should leave your senses buzzing with new experiences. We look forward to bringing you RG voices, sharing their best loved foods, music and much more! 

We, (like the other RG networks), use the position, power and opportunity we have in order to educate others and gain allyship in order to dismantle any injustices within the business (and out of it as well - we hope), and we know that we do a good job. There are supportive networks, systems and processes in place to keep us all safe, but sometimes things go a little awry as no one is perfect. 

But this is exactly where the theme of this year's Black History Month comes into play. In an RG world where we are already doing our best and being the best person, team, organisation we can be. Now is the time to dig a little bit deeper and do better. 

Do more. Go harder. Listen more. Learn more. Understand more. Speak more. Challenge more. Now is the time to really put your actions into play. 

So join us as we celebrate Black History and our mission to be unified in championing an environment where we can embrace and celebrate the differences in race, ethnicity, and belief.