Nearly Forgotten: The Power of Black History Month

William ‘Bill’ Allen, Plymouth’s first black Lord Mayor, 1942



Look, black is beautiful; black is excellent.
Black is pain, black is joy, black is evident
It's working' twice as hard as the people you know you're better than
'Cause you need to do double what they do so you can level them
Black is so much deeper than just African-American
Our heritage been severed, you never got to experiment
With family trees, 'cause they teach you 'bout famine and greed
And show you pictures of our fam on their knees
Tell us we used to be barbaric, we had actual queens
Black is watchin' child soldiers gettin' killed by other children
Feelin' sick, like, "Oh shit, this could have happened to me"
Your mummy watchin' tellin' stories 'bout your dad and your niece

- Black, - British Grime Rapper, Dave. 2019



‘’Dad, I’m stuck in town, and there is a racist protest going on – and I’m afraid I’m going to get stabbed'' my son texted

It wasn’t that far-fetched. 

Violence had broken out in the city centre of Plymouth; six people were injured, riots broke out, and the city was in shock. 

Last month, October, was Black History Month. 

I’ve heard over and over, directly and indirectly:

 ''why do we have to celebrate Black History Month?''

I will answer the questions using two stories from my city of Plymouth. 

On 15 July 1890, William Alexander Miller was born. 

He was the son of a freed slave from the West African country of Sierra Leone and an English mother. 

Against all odds, he became a member of various councils during the 1930s and is credited with introducing the first electronic showrooms in the city. 

Then, the war struck.

In 1938, during the second world war, the threat of air bombardment from the Nazis escalated. 

The central council took some actions, but Bill Miller needed to think about the measures went further. 

So he took it upon himself to organise an unofficial evacuation of women and children. 

Instead of getting praise, he got arrested and was thrown into prison. 

But he was released after a severe reprimand,  and guess what? 

His actions were justified when Plymouth got severely bombarded, and the population halved from 220,000 to 119,000 within months. 

He was called the ‘’poor man’s lawyer’’ for his concern for the ordinary working class. 

The death toll would have been far worse had he not acted.

As a testament to his influence, his son, Claude Miller, became Plymouth’s first black Lord Mayor. 

I did an unofficial survey of scores of people throughout the city, both black and white. 

Nobody had ever heard of Bill Miller. The legacy of his massive contribution to the city of Plymouth had been buried with him. 

Until his memory was resurrected during a campaign by a few prominent black leaders in the city, who sponsored a project called Hidden Figures, which served to unearth (literally) the massive contribution of BAME immigrants to the city. (https://www.hidden-figures.co....)

Then there was the footballer Jack Leslie.  

Jack was born in 1901 in Canning Town, London and was England's first (and only)  black professional player during his time with Championship side Plymouth Argyle. He enjoyed a 14-season spell and remains one of the team’s most prolific goal-scorers after almost a century. 

He was called to play for England, but the offer was inexplicably withdrawn. No reason was given. 

Later in life, he told a journalist in an interview: 

‘’They must have forgotten I was a coloured man.’’

After he retired, he spent the remainder of his career cleaning the boots of white players. 

Again, this was the first time anyone had heard of him. 

That changed in 2022, following the George Floyd protests, a crowd-funding effort that raised £100,00, and a petition signed by over 500 people. His statue was commissioned outside Home Park, Plymouth Argyle’s official stadium. 


Without these efforts to decolonise British History, the memories of these gallant men who changed the course of history for Plymouth would have died with them. 

And that is just for a small city in the south west of England. 

And that, my friends, is the reason for Black History Month. 

And for us living in their shadows, what legacy do we plan to leave for our children?

‘’If we don’t tell our story, it will be told for us’’ 

Ghetts, Autobiography, 2021. 

Whilst you're here: 
1. Work with me. I can public-speak, mentor, write or consult. Hop onto www.stevenadjei.co.uk for a taste, read what people say about my work, and holler at stevenadjei@me.com for a chat. I'd love some feedback on the above article as well.
2. Buy my book. You won't regret it. It's won several awards and has been a #1 Amazon best-seller in EIGHTEEN different categories in multiple countries. (https://amzn.eu/d/3rHZVFw)
If you already have, I'd love an honest review on Amazon. Reviews really do help us out.:)-. Please watch this space for information on my second book, Chasing Permanence.
3. Talk to me: I won't judge. My strongest values are empathy and resilience, and as someone who's been through much pain, I can work with you to help overcome (or manage) your business pain and turn it into victory.
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Rooting for you, 

Steven