The Black Curriculum Visit Ghana 2025
The Black Curriculum Visit Ghana 2025 - Written by Lavinya Stennett
In May 2025, we screened our first short film - Omitted, a rich and compelling documentary exploring the theme of reparations in Accra, Ghana . The film was created at the APPG for Reparations in 2024, hosted by MP Bell Riberio Addy, and supported by The Repair Campaign, John Dower and Alex Renton. Interviews and conversations featured prominent historian Gus John, SOAS student Abel Harvie Clarke, climate justice activist Marina Xochtil, myself and author Malik Al-Nasir. Our aim was to create a short conversation on the need for reparatory justice to shine a light on the dearth of knowledge surrounding this topic especially in schools.
Currently, colonial histories are still optional across the majority of schools and specifications - both in UK and international curriculums mean that these histories are framed as marginal, and debatable. For students in the UK and across the world who follow a highly Eurocentric curriculum, without the framework of cultural histories and context, the realities of colonialism are underexplored or downplayed. The impacts of this on society affect all people and industries which become the incubators for further harm and division. Education really is our starting point and hope for society. Contrary to popular belief, reparatory justice is not limited to the Caribbean or the UK alone. Africa and especially West Africa was a site of the genocide of Africans which the tourism industries still With Over 160 countries worldwide choosing a pathway for learners through the British international curriculum, there is a duty within the rapid rise of fascism and geo-political shiftings to re-frame what students can and should be learning.
We chose to screen Omitted, in the home of Independence, which began first in the continent in 1957 with the Pan-Africanist leader Kwame Nkrumah, setting the motion for Ghana to become the gateway of Africa. I spoke more about our decision to start in Ghana on Joy News - Ghana’s leading news station. You can watch the segment here.
Working in collaboration with Reform Initiatives, the leading body for reparatory work on the continent and LOATAD (Library Of Africa and The African Diaspora) and XV Events, we brought together a community from all industries and ages - law to entertainment. The discussion ended on a high note, with attendees all thinking about connecting across practical ways to continue the education in relevant ways to their industries - food sponsored by Lets Feast and so much more.
We also went to 2 schools in Teshie and Tema to deliver workshops on the power of reading, and are currently working with 3 partner high schools across Accra on a debate competition on the theme of reparations for the Autumn.
The Black Curriculum are incredibly proud to share the film which will be released in October to continue in the theme of 2025 by the African Union (AU) as the "Year of Reparations’, and ‘Justice for Africans and People of African Descent Through Reparations’.
To come to our next screening of Omitted - in London - please email us here
If you are a sponsor or organisation looking to further the impact of our work here in the UK and abroad, I would love to hear from you.
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