Young, Black, And Making An Impact

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The theme for Black History Month this year is ‘Time for Change: Action Not Words’. This means acknowledging and learning from the past, but not focusing on it. Knowing that to improve the future, we need action not words. That we need to come together around a shared common goal to achieve a better world for everyone. So we’re highlighting some of the young, Black people who are taking action and making a positive impact here in the UK!

ALICE DEARING

At 25 years old, Alice made history as the first Black female swimmer to represent Team GB at the Olympics. She also co-founded the Black Swimming Association in 2020, to change the future of swimming. Around 95% of Black adults and 80% of Black children do not swim in England, and one in four children who complete their primary education are unable to swim. The BSA wants to change that. They tackle inequalities and barriers that preclude African, Caribbean and Asian communities from participating in aquatics and promote the education of water safety and drowning prevention.

KWAJO TWENEBOA

Kwajo is a 23 year old activist, who campaigns for better housing conditions in the UK, by sharing videos of neglect on social media and shaming landlords into action. After years of living in poorly maintained properties, his family ended up in a flat in south London that was “in disrepair from the get-go: mice, damp, mould, you name it. It was falling apart”. However, it wasn’t until 2021, when Kawjo posted a tweet that went viral, that their housing association took action. He saw the power of social media, and started visiting his neighbours and posting videos of their living conditions, which he says were often far worse than his own. Now Kwajo spends his time speaking to people with the power to tackle these issues and has won national awards for this campaigning.

VEE KATIVHU

Vee is an education activist, author, YouTuber, and Founder of Empowered By Vee - a youth empowerment organisation that aims to bridge the gap between academic ability and self-belief. She uses her social platforms to help empower unsupported and underrepresented students to recognise their academic potential. She’s been named a Diana Award Legacy Award Recipient, a United Kingdom Rare Rising Star, a Diversity Champion, and has recently become a Young Leader for the Sustainable Development Goals at the United Nations.

MARCUS RASHFORD

Marcus not only puts his passions into playing a great game on the pitch, but he puts equal amounts of effort into his activism outside of football. In 2019 he set up the In the Box campaign with Selfridges to give homeless people essential items over Christmas. Then, in 2020, during peak COVID-19, he teamed up with FareShare to deliver meals to those in need, and spearheaded a huge campaign calling on the UK government to end child poverty, providing almost one million meals to children across the country. 

DOMINIQUE PALMER

Dominique is a climate activist, student, and leading UK environmentalist. She is part of Fridays for Future International - a global youth movement for climate justice, and Climate Live - global, youth-led concerts which harness the power of music to engage, educate, and empower! She organises climate strikes and actions, and works on mobilisation and international campaigns. For Dominique, climate justice is crucial and she campaigns for bold and systemic change from global leaders. She believes “in the youth spaces, there’s more focus on making it an intersectional movement looking at how the climate crisis is linked to other issues such as gender equality, Black Lives Matter and discrimination against people of colour globally.”