Supporting Black History Month 2020

During October’s #IAmBlackHistory Black History Month, Intercultural Youth Scotland took over our Instagram each Monday and showcased and celebrated some of Scotland's most talented, Black young people.

Our followers had the opportunity to watch incredible performances and interviews with Courtney Stoddart, Segun Oyebanjo, Mariama Bah and T-Kidd.

Courtney Stoddart

Courtney is a poet and performer and shared her own experiences of growing up in Scotland and journey to finding her creative voice, saying

“I’m using it to challenge things that I don’t agree with and which have massively impacted me as a person.”

You can watch Courtney Stoddart’s powerful performance on our Instagram.

@amapoetica - Courtney Stoddart

Segun Oyebanjo

Segun Oyebanjo, an aspiring musician living in Edinburgh, spoke about his experiences of being a Black creative in Scotland, saying

“It seems that there is a new wave of creatives trying to work together and help everyone to come up at the same time.” While the community and support he found is vital, Segun stressed that there still needs to be more opportunities for Black creatives.

You can watch Segun’s performance here.

@shogunshato - Segun Oyebanjo

Mariama Bah

The third week featured a beautiful song performance by actor and singer, Mariama Bah. Mariama spoke about her experiences growing up and getting involved in the creative field, sharing what makes her feel powerful,

“seeing how my family worked through so much bad stuff that happened to them, seeing how they pushed through…really inspired me to do my best and work hard all the time.”

@itsmariamabah - Mariama Bah

You can watch Mariama’s performance here.

T-Kidd

Glasgow-based rapper, T-Kidd closed off the month with his performance accompanied with sharing his views on being a Black creative in Scotland. Speaking frankly about the difficulties as well as the positives, he said

“being a creative and being from Scotland is not something that people usually think of. When I say I’m a rapper from Glasgow, people are like – wait, what?”

You can watch T-Kidd’s performance here.

@officialtkidd - T-Kidd

Each interview was full of creativity and passion, and underlined the importance of representation and exposure to a diverse range of experiences. At Young Scot, we are committed to ensuring our work includes young people from all backgrounds and experiences. It’s vital for us that the voices of every community inform our projects to ensure we meet the evolving needs of young people in Scotland.

You can follow the conversation via the #IAmBlackHistory and find out more about the work of Intercultural Youth Scotland.