Projektinformation

Beskrivning (abstrakt)

AfriStadi, the Africa Research Forum for Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Helsinki will establish Black History Month (BHM) as a platform for disseminating societally relevant Africa research in Finland and the Nordic countries, combating widely held negative stereotypes on Africa through fact-based dissemination events and through showcasing the contributions of African Diaspora members to society and knowledge production in Finland and the Nordic countries. We consider this a crucial contribution to sustainable development in Finland, since the inclusion of minoritised and racialised members of Finnish society are recognised as fundamental to creating equal prospects for well-being in a participatory society with sustainable local communities (Finnish Environment Ministry vision for 2050). Our activities will result in substantially increased awareness of African perspectives on sustainability-related issues in safeguarding cultural, linguistic and biological diversity and in the acknowledgement of longstanding Nordic entanglements with Africa which are of great importance for global sustainability.
BHM is an annual event celebrating African Americans since 1926 in the US, where it is held in February. The festival is also established in the UK and Ireland, where it takes place in October. While occasional BHM events have taken place in Finland, for instance films screenings organised by the American Embassy, no concerted and highly visible event series has celebrated BHM in Helsinki or at the University of Helsinki. Afristadi will establish BHM as a regular event at the University of Helsinki to be held every year in in October. The project is funded by a societal impact grant from HELSUS.
StatusSlutfört
Gällande start-/slutdatum01/01/202331/12/2023