'Celebrate black history all year round', says Black Lives Matter Leeds' Marvina Newton

Activist and mother-of-two Marvina Newton has been reflecting on a year which has seen a huge raising of awareness about the nature of racism worldwide following the death of George Floyd in America - but also on how much is still to be done.

She is the founder and CEO of Angel of Youths, a charity that aims to lift up young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to help challenge inequality, and is involved with a whole host of other community projects in Leeds.

The Black Lives Matter movement originated in America several years ago, but its impact grew massively this year - and Marvina has been at the forefront in Leeds.

Looking back on the changes this year, she said: "There is a sense of pride. There's been a big shift - you can almost feel it.

"It could be me being optimistic as I always want to see the positive, but I feel like there has never been a time like now for change."

Marvina has encouraged people who support BLM but may not be black themselves - 'allies' - to place supportive messages in their windows and many can be seen around different parts of the city.

She was particularly moved recently when seeing such a message in a neighbour's window where she lives in Bramley.

Black History Month has been celebrated in October in the UK for more than 30 years.

Marvina said: "It gives people the chance to unlearn some of the misconceptions they might have about the contribution of black people to the UK, the world and society."

She likened the UK ignoring parts of its history as being similar to a company which does not celebrate the achievements of all its staff - whether it be the chief executive, the admin staff or the cleaner.

"Leaving that out creates a big vacuum," she added.

Marvina said she was grateful for Black History Month, but if focused too on making lasting change, particularly at a local level.

She wants to help "decolonise the education system" and ensure black British history is fully embedded into the curriculum, rather than being left to the side until each October.

She said: "We want to create an anti-racist curriculum that shows the contribution of our communities," she said, adding that the best way to do it was by making it personal and local - "What do we do best? 'Leeds, Leeds, Leeds'."

Marvina has overseen a project at Angels of Youths which has depicted notable local black people at superheroes, so young people can see there is more to black history than huge cultural figures like Martin Luther King, or horrible passages from history, such as the transatlantic slave trade.

Marvina stressed that black history was for everyone, not just black people.

She added: "We all need education, unity and healing from our past to move forward together for our future."

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