Amon Eunice Kokrasset
Eunice took over from Danny Keen in April 2021 as the Chairlady of Norfolk Black History Month. Eunice is also an Landlady of a pub and one of the founding members of the Norfolk African Choir. Black History Month affords us the chance to challenge what we learned in history, dig deeper, and find out the actual events of the past that were not taught in schools.“It has been 30 years since the death of Stephen Lawrence and we wanted to get together with other associations and groups including, the police, the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner and Norfolk Black History Month to commemorate Stephen Lawrence. It was important that we sat together to have a real think about how hate crimes and all these inequalities affect the community. So, today is to celebrate his life, what his life could have been and to also see how moving on to the future we can make things better together
Michael gyapong
Michael has been the treasurer of the Black History Month committee for the past 5 years. I have worked in the financial services for over 23 years. I am also a professional DJ mainly in the Latin and African/Afrobeats genre. I am keen fundraiser and raised funds for Medicins Sans Frontiers. It's an opportunity to spotlight and celebrate the achievements that Africans have accomplished in this country, despite the history of racism and oppression." We as a community can only learn if we learn from our past. We can only move forward if we learn and make sure we don't repeat these mistakes. We came together to celebrate the beautiful life Stephen Lawrence and his legacy. We honour the dignity and strength of the Lawrence family."
JUELS COPLEY
Juels is a recent appointment to the Norfolk Black History Month Committee and brings a range of professional skills as a result of working in financial services for 25 years. In her spare time, Juels is a chair of trustees for a local charity and sits on a number of case review panels as a volunteer for the Crown Prosecution Service and Norfolk Constabulary, focusing on hate crime and violence against women. Juels was part of the team to deliver the Stephen Lawrence Day event at the forum on 21st April 2023, and is now looking forward to assisting Norfolk Black History Month in delivering more events that supports and promotes, the interests of the black population of Norwich and Norfolk.
Alice Ndiaye
Alice is another recent appointment to the Norfolk Black History Month Committee and has worked in education for over 20 years, currently as a Local Authority Inclusion Adviser leading on RSHE and the Children’s Services Anti-Racism in Education strategy. She brings expertise in safeguarding, emotional health and mental well-being and is Stonewall trained and a Trauma Informed practitioner. She is also a governor at a federation of primary schools
In her spare time, Alice is kept busy by her two daughters who have grown up enjoying Norfolk Black History Month events; a chance to celebrate and explore their West African heritage. Thanks to her husband she knows the true origins of Jollof rice!
Alice has organised Black History Month events for Norfolk Schools using the guiding principles tweeted by teacher and author Jeffrey Boakye around celebrating cultures, recognising inequity and making positive change to redress the balance and repair and hopes that these can shape the committee’s future work. She is also keen to ensure that community voice informs the committee’s work and that barriers to engagement are addressed and removed as much as possible.