Proud to be: Black History Month
It is Black History Month in the UK and the theme this year is ‘Proud To Be’. Originally conceived in the United States, the United Kingdom began celebrating Black History Month in 1987 and to this day it has continued to be an annual event honouring black history and bringing awareness to the achievements of the black community and individuals.
At Kelly’s Cause we wanted to join in celebrating Black History Month by amplifying the voices of folks and companies in hospitality industry, who are leaders in supporting the black community.
Firstly we would like to shout about Black Minds Matter. Taken from the BMM website, their mission is;
To connect Black individuals and families with free mental health services — by professional Black therapists to support their mental health. To make this happen, we want to make mental health topics more relevant and accessible for all Black people in the U.K., removing the stigma and remodelling the services to be relevant for the Black community.
Here at Kelly’s Cause, anyone or organisation that aims to help provide mental health services to the community gets us so excited, for BMM to be providing FREE mental health services to the black community is incredible. If you are a POC seeking any mental health services we strongly suggest starting here.
https://www.blackmindsmatteruk.com/
Secondly we would like to shout about Ikoyi. Nigerian born, Iré Hassan-Odukale is the co-founder and managing director of this Michelin star restaurant. The restaurant was also just awarded ‘American Express One To Watch Award 2021’ which has now entered Ikoyi onto the world stage. In the UK we see a big presence of northern African food and we love to see Ikoyi using a heavy focus of their menu on sub-Saharan West African cuisine. We wanted to shout about the success of Ikoyi exploring different parts of African cuisine and congratulate Iré and his team.
Third on the list is our friend and absolute superstar Ifeyinwa Frederick. Ifeyinwa is the co-founder of Chuku’s, the world’s first Nigerian tapas restaurant. With awards ranging from 2019 Young British Foodie Awards to Forbes’ top 100 Female Founders in Europe Ifeyinwa, has from an early aged been recognised as an industry pioneer. In her own words, Ifeyinwa is “on a mission to positively rewrite the narrative surrounding Nigerian culture in the UK and build a community centred around good food and good vibes”.
Ps. Ifeyinwa has just written and launched a play called Sessions. Sessions explores the complexity of depression and the therapy process through the lens of a young black man called Tunde. Link provided for tickets below – see you there!!
https://ifeyinwafrederick.com/
Lastly, we would like to shout about Black CHEFS Collective. In an article by delish.com Black CHEFS Collective is described as;
The self-proclaimed revolution of the food industry. Black CHEFS Collective is an emerging not-for-profit movement designed to actively challenge the lack of black representation within the food industry as well champion black achievement.
In its early days, Black CHEFS Collective support over 300 black food creatives in hospitality across its platforms. We suggest everyone to keep an eye out for this amazing emerging organisation.
https://www.instagram.com/blackchefscollective/
We are all invited to join in on the celebration of the black community within our industry. In the spirit of Black History month and black amplification we encourage you all to join us in supporting, seeking out and promoting the places and people you’ve discovered this month and keep the love coming all year round.
