On 31st October, FURD marked Black History Month with an evening celebrating the contribution of African players to English football from the late 19th century onwards.
The event showcased the `Out of Africa`documentary film and accompanying exhibition produced by Centre Spot CIC, a social enterprise based in West Bromwich, as part of its Heritage Lottery-funded `Out of Africa`project. The package also includes a school`s pack containing activities and lesson plans that link to many strands of the national curriculum at Key Stage 2 and 3.
The documentary and exhibition went really well, with an audience ranging from white school children to African adults, including refugees. Some of the audience came in Hallowe`en fancy dress, including witches and Frankenstein!
The documentary helped inform the audience of football contributions by African people, with some fascinating and rarely seen archive footage. After the documentary was shown, we had the honour of Manny Abbeyquaye of Centre Spot answering questions from the audience. He then quizzed everyone on the documentary and exhibition. The audience that attended had enjoyed the evening and had all learned something new about the contribution of African people to English football.
To end the night we had some hot food and drinks served with a general discussion amongst all the audience about topics related to the Out of Africa documentary, and members of the audience were presented with special Out of Africa T-shirts.
Centre Spot has donated the exhibition to FURD, and it is now available for loan from our Resources and Information Centre, along with the documentary and school`s pack.
We also now have some copies of the DVD and small copies of the exhibition (A3) that we can pass on to a good home. Please contact us if you`re interested.