Inspired by this year’s theme of “Standing Firm in Power and Pride” for Black History Month, Victoria who works on our prison intervention team shares her reflections on discovering her own power and pride, and why teaching young Black men their history is so important.

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This year’s theme for Black History Month, Standing Firm in Power and Pride, reminds us why it is essential to teach our boys and young men about the leaders, activists, and pioneers who shaped our history. Their stories instil pride, belonging, and resilience. Qualities that are vital when so many young Black men today are made to feel disconnected, diminished, or defined only by struggle.

I think of Carol Anderson, whose book White Rage lays bare how racism and inequality are sustained through gaslighting and educational divides. Growing up in Trinidad and Tobago, like in much of the Caribbean, I was taught more about the history of our colonisers than of our own people. We learned nothing of Dr Eric Williams, our first Prime Minister, who stood before England to argue for independence. Nor were we taught about Nelson Mandela, who endured 27 years in prison to expose and resist the cruelty of apartheid; Bob Marley, whose music shook the world and carried a message of liberation; Malcolm X, who spoke unapologetically about Black pride and dignity; or even Mahatma Gandhi, whose fight for freedom shaped global justice movements. Imagine growing up in a country half Black and half Indian, yet never being taught about these voices of courage.

Instead, I grew up feeling the quiet pain of colourism that it was better to be white, or at least light-skinned. That undercurrent of inferiority lingered for a long time. As an adult, I chose to seek out the truth for myself, and in the work of these pioneers I found inspiration, healing, and a voice. Their lives taught me that pride is not arrogance but survival: a refusal to be erased.

If we do not tell these stories in our schools and in our homes, we risk leaving our children without the grounding they need to stand tall. The mass incarceration of Black men in the UK and America is not only about racism,  it is also about the erosion of pride and self-worth. Black History Month is our call to rebuild that pride and to teach the whole truth about history. Because Black history is history and history could not have happened without people of colour.

Victoria Toussaint
Prison Trainer