Last Friday, Bancroft’s Afro-Caribbean Society proudly presented their first ever event with the theme of Carnival. This exciting new celebration of ethnic diversity at Bancroft’s School was completely student run. It encompassed an exciting line-up: an interview with Mary Seacole, Sammy Davis Jr, and Jesse Owen to teach the audience about these prominent black historical figures, a powerful slam poem entitled “How to Define Beauty” by Tolu Abisogun, a spectacular soul song performed by Faith Kargbo, and a Senegalese entertainer called Papis who played the drums for us – just to name a few of the highlights.
Beforehand, everyone gathered togther to eat at the barbeque, which was accompanied by the West African special Jollof rice, Caribbean patties (ackee and salt fish being the most popular flavour), as well as tropical cocktails.
The lively atmosphere of the Carnival brought together people from different backgrounds to celebrate Afro-Caribbean culture, whilst raising as much money as possible for The Sickle Cell Society, which aims to provide the best possible care for those affected by this horrible disease. This was our chosen charity due to the fact that sickle cell is found more frequently in people of African heritage because these geographic regions are most prone to malaria. The gene variant for sickle cell disease is related to malaria, not skin colour.
A student who took part added “It’s great that I can have the opportunity to share my roots with the rest of the Bancroft's community. Especially as we [black students] are such a minority at this school. It's important that our culture is not overlooked."
By Angela Okafor, Bancroft's School
