“Standing Firm in Power and Pride” - Black History Month 2025

October marks Black History Month, and this year we’re embracing the theme “Standing Firm in Power and Pride.” It is a chance to highlight strength, resilience, and the trailblazers, both past and present, who have shaped history and continue to inspire change today.

Black History Month began in the U.S. in 1926 as “Negro History Week” and grew into a month-long celebration, arriving in the UK in 1987 thanks to activist Akyaaba Addai-Sebo. Since then, it has become a powerful moment to honour Black stories, achievements, and voices too often left out of mainstream history.

From the moral force of Martin Luther King Jr., to the journeys of the Windrush generation; from cultural pioneers to the ongoing activism of Black Lives Matter movement, this month is both a celebration and a call to action. It reminds us to learn from the past, amplify voices in the present, and build a fairer future together.

7 inspiring figures to celebrate this Black History Month

From pioneers who broke barriers to leaders shaping today’s world, these seven figures embody the strength and creativity of Black history. We are honouring them and recognise the past, lifting up the present, and committing to an equitable future for all.

Katherine Johnson (1918 - 2020), NASA mathematician

Born in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, US, Katherine Johnson showed a natural talent and passion for mathematics from an early age. One of the first black students in West Virginia’s graduate schools, she graduated summa cum laude at 18 with degrees in both mathematics and French. 

In 1953, she joined NASA (then NACA) as a ‘human computer,’ calculating the trajectories that sent Americans into space, including the first US manned orbital flight. She became one of NASA’s most inspirational figures.

I don’t have a feeling of inferiority. Never had. I’m as good as anybody, but no better.

Johnson lived to 101, earning numerous awards including the NASA Lunar Orbiter Award, three NASA Special Achievement Awards, and being named Mathematician of the Year in 1997. Kathrine Johnson was also a trailblazer in the quest for gender and racial equality, challenging segregationist policies and norms throughout her NASA career. 

She broke barriers for Black people and women, challenging segregation and championing STEM education throughout her career.

Claudia Jones (1915 - 1964), journalist and activist

Born in Trinidad and raised in New York, Claudia Jones became a fearless feminist, political activist, and pioneering journalist. In the US, she joined the NAACP and the American Communist Party, but her outspoken views led to exile in the UK in 1955, and, similarly to Gilroy, ended up here as part of the Windrush generation.

No peace can be obtained if any women, especially those who are oppressed and impoverished, are left out of the conversation.

In 1958 she founded the West Indian Gazette, Britain’s first major Black newspaper, campaigning for social equality and of anti-racist tone, highlighting patterns of anti-Black violence, racial harassment and prejudice in the UK.

A year later from launching the newspaper, she organised the first Caribbean Carnival indoors in London after violent riots broke out in Notting Hill a year later to, as she mentioned, ‘wash the taste of the riots from the mouths of Black people’. The carnival’s purpose was to celebrate Caribbean culture and challenge racism. This became the foundation of Notting Hill Carnival as it is today – the second largest street gathering in the world.

Jones represents a legacy of equality and justice. She is remembered as the “Mother of Notting Hill Carnival” and a pioneer of Black British cultural identity.

Albert Murray (1916 - 2013), essayist and social critic

The United States is not a nation of black and white people. Any fool can see that white people are not really white, and that black people are not black.

Albert Murray was born in Nokomis, Alabama, and grew up in a working-class household. He found out at a young age that his biological parents had given him up for adoption at birth. This experience shaped his philosophy of “choosing” one’s ancestors and associates in life, leading to a broader and inclusive view of culture and identity.

Murray became one of the most influential Black thinkers of the 20th century, challenging Black separatism and arguing that Black experience is central to American culture. He taught at Tuskegee University and served in the US Air Force from 1943, retiring as a major in 1962.

A gifted writer, Murray blended history, literature, and music to confront misconceptions about Black life. His 1970 book The Omni-Americans critiqued Black separatism and was hailed as the “most important book on black-white relationships”.

Legacy: Murray championed African American culture, reshaped conversations about race, and challenged ideas of racial pathology.

Beryl Gilroy (1924–2001), teacher and novelist

Beryl Gilroy was born in British Guiana (now Guyana) and moved to London to study in the 1950s as part of the ‘Windrush generation’ – people who migrated from Caribbean Commonwealth countries to the UK between 1948 and 1973 to help rebuild Britain after World War II.

Although a trained teacher, she faced widespread discrimination when applying for jobs but persisted and became London’s first Black head teacher in 1969 at Beckford Primary School in Camden. She later earned a doctorate in counselling psychology and an honorary doctorate from the University of North London for her work in education and writing.

Gilroy drew on her experiences for her writing, focusing on race, identity, and education, most notably in her memoir Black Teacher (1976), fuelled by the need to “put the record straight.”

In the tradition of Black women who write to come to terms with their trauma, or alternatively to understand the nature of their elemental oppression, I wrote to redefine myself and put the record straight.

Legacy: Gilroy paved the way for Black educators in the UK. Her writings remain vital for understanding race and schooling in Britain. There is a 15-metre mural outside West Hampstead Primary School (formerly Beckford) honouring her contribution.

Gil Scott-Heron (1949 - 2011), poet and musician

The first revolution is when you change your mind about how you look at things, and see there might be another way to look at it that you have not been shown.

Born in Chicago to a Jamaican-born father, Gilbert Heron, a pioneering soccer player, and Bobbie Scott-Heron, an opera singer and teacher, Gil Scott-Heron became a revolutionary Black artist and activist. His poetry and music fused political insight with streetwise rhythm, inspiring generations of Hip-Hop artists. Often called “the Godfather of Hip-Hop,” for helping to lay the foundation for rap music, he preferred to describe himself as a bluesologist, studying the roots and evolution of blues and Black music.

“The Revolution will not be Televised,” a line from his famous poem/song, captures his belief that real change comes from active participation, not passive media consumption.

Though never a mainstream star, his work has been sampled and referenced by Drake, Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar, Jamie xx, LCD Soundsystem, and others. His social and political commentary continues to resonate in pop culture and protest movements worldwide.

Maggie Aderin-Pocock (b. 1968), space scientist and educator

Science can be a great equalizer. It doesn’t matter where you come from or what your background is, if you have the curiosity and the passion to explore, you can make a contribution to science.

Born in London to Nigerian parents, Maggie Aderin-Pocock was inspired to study space after watching Star Trek as a child. Despite being diagnosed with dyslexia at eight, she earned a physics degree from Imperial College London in 1990 and a PhD in mechanical engineering in 1994, developing imaging techniques for spacecraft structures used in telescope design.

She has worked on major aerospace projects, including the Gemini telescope in Chile and satellite instrumentation, and later became a familiar face on BBC programmes like The Sky at Night, Horizon, and Stargazing Live. She has also authored popular science books for children and adults and is a passionate advocate for diversity in STEM.

Dr. Maggie is a role model proving science is for everyone. She encourages young people to pursue STEM careers and has received numerous awards, including an MBE and recognition as one of the UK’s 100 most powerful women by BBC Women’s Hour.

Marcus Rashford (b. 1997), footballer and activist

Born in Manchester and raised in a working-class family, Marcus Rashford plays professionally for Manchester United and the England national team. Off the pitch, he has become a leading social activist, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, he launched a campaign against child food poverty, successfully pressuring the UK government to extend free school meals for vulnerable children.

He has also tackled homelessness through the ‘In the Box’ campaign, distributing essentials to shelters with his mother, and promotes literacy through his Book Club by giving free books to young people in deprived areas.

I will encounter things designed to try to break my spirit, things that try to make me feel as if I don’t belong because of the colour of my skin. That is wrong, and I will do whatever I can, for as long as I can, to stop it; not just for myself, but for other people like me too.

Rashford’s philanthropy has earned him an MBE and an honorary doctorate from the University of Manchester. He exemplifies a young athlete using his platform to fight inequality and create positive change in society.

Black History Month is a time to celebrate the remarkable contributions of Black individuals. At Morson, we are dedicated to promoting equal opportunities for all staff and applicants by championing ED&I across the sectors we operate in. Every day, we strive to enhance diversity within our company and foster inclusive workplace cultures.