Foreword
That’s me sitting next to Sistah-artist Faith Bebbington at AoA’s 2005 FORWARD dinner. It is Faith who entrusts BAA with her wonderful sculptures for the brochure cover. Undoubtedly a beautiful soul, Faith carries her art into art galleries, community groups and classrooms.
Someone who no longer works in classrooms and whose photograph I could not lay my hands on, no matter how many different folk I tried, is Maria Nobel. Her family name really represents a woman who fought to keep Black historical facts on the education curriculum. Maria packed her bags and left Manchester in a considerably low-profile way at the end of last year. So even though I do not have her photograph, it does not prevent me from dedicating AoA 2006 to Maria Noble for her help and guidance on many levels and, particularly, for her input in setting up the Black History Trail.
I also want to acknowledge the support that Rupert Gaze has given AoA and BAA. He has now left the Imperial War Museum North to study as a doctor. His leaving is our loss but his career change will benefit many.
So here we are - another year. This is the fifth season for the North West-wide Black History Month festival. Each year the struggle to come through gets harder, but we manage it. Acts of Achievement is not the official BHM publication for the region. Like our Sistah publication Diverse Liverpool Magazine www.liverpoolblackhistory.co.uk , AoA brings together different types of venues, producers and community groups who are promoting BHM events.
Black Arts Alliance’s role is to give advice and to assist as requested, and this might be in finding an artist or simply helping with writing events copy. The partnerships that BAA has formed over the years will, we believe, be long lasting and, in time, will result in different types of work to achieve equilibrium for the arts and culture of our Black communities.
Maybe next year at the end of Proms in the Park, as part of Last Night of the Proms, the final sing-along will be the lyrics of Bob Marley. ‘It's one love, One heart! Let’s get together and feel alright’ and then, just as we all know, Black History will be part of the whole year and not restricted to just one month.
