Black History Month 2020

The story of Black History Month begins in 1915, half a century after the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery in the United States.

Since 1976, every U.S. president has officially designated the month of February as Black History Month. Other countries around the world also devote a month to celebrating Black history. In the UK we celebrate Black History Month every October.

But what is Black History Month and why do we recognise it? 🤔

Originally, Black History Month in the UK was founded to recognise the contributions that people of African and Caribbean descent made to the UK over generations, but now this has been expanded to include the history of all black people. It was first launched in London in 1987, as a way to challenge racism and spread knowledge as black history was not taught in schools.

Today Black History Month is a way to celebrate the achievements of black people, and to educate people and have discussions about black history. So how can you celebrate Black History Month in the workplace, and what is the best way to amplify black voices and allow them to tell their story? ✨

User Generated Video is a great tool for storytelling, there’s no need for big video budgets and an elaborate script! Don’t believe us? Check out these amazing campaigns which were released for Black History Month.

Trustpilot - Celebrating Black History Month

Turstpilot is kicking off #BlackHistoryMonth 2021 in the US with a series of User-Generated Videos featuring their Trusties sharing their views and opinions of Black History Month and what it means to them. Their first video is starring Jason Major, Global Senior Talent Acquisition Specialist from Trustpilot’s NYC office.

Buzzfeed - What Does Black History Month Mean To You?

Buzzfeed released this great video just in time for the start of Black History Month 2020! This video is a very informal chat with some employees who work at Buzzfeed. It works so well as it’s really relaxed, the people speaking are at home and it’s not really scripted - the director just asks some questions to prompt a conversation.

HSBC - Black History Month

“Diversity is a fact, inclusion is an act” Chima, HSBC

This video from HSBC was released as a part of a video series for Black History Month, each video focused on an employee and what the month means to them. The video really showcases the company culture within HSBC, and shows how progressive and inclusive they are trying to be.

Coventry Building Society

This Black History Month, Coventry Building Society will be sharing clips of what Black History Month means to their employees. Having a video where people can talk freely about what Black History Month means to them is a brilliant way to amplify those voices and tell those stories, and it gives the brand a very human side.

Using crowdsourced video for telling a story around Black History Month is really impactful as it allows the person to just speak about their experience as people of colour, what the month means for them and be truthful about their worries and hopes. It allows us to learn more, be better and strive for diversity and inclusion everywhere. It is important, now more than ever for companies to be commemorating their employees regardless of background and race, and to listen to them and create a company culture which is not only diverse, but also inclusive.