Black History Month: Saluting Our Sisters
October officially marks the beginning of Black History Month UK. The month is a momentous occasion to recognise and celebrate the invaluable contributions of black people to British society.
This year’s theme is ‘Saluting Our Sisters’ and it highlights the crucial role that black women have played in shaping history, inspiring change and building communities. This year’s celebration will showcase pioneering black women who have made remarkable contributions to literature, music, fashion, sport, business, politics, social and health care, and more.
At NKD, we work with some amazing black women, internally working on our projects and programmes, but also through some of our marketing campaigns, so this month we want to throw it back to some of our favourite campaigns and say thank you for your contribution to our culture, our work and our campaigns.
Yasmin Thomas
For the month we kicked off our campaign spotlighting the talented Yasmin Thomas. Yasmin is a social media editor and writer with a demonstrated history of working in the media, entertainment and celebrity industry.
Collaborating with Yasmin Thomas, we’ve had the opportunity to create some really special and memorable content. We’re throwing it back to Windrush Day 2022 where we were lucky enough to learn about Yasmin’s family history and the impact and influence the Windrush Generation made in the UK.
Join us in looking back and saying thanks to Yasmin on this special animation and blog by clicking here.
Sharnade George
In week two, we gave a shout out to the inspiring Sharnade George for our Black History Month: Saluting our Sisters campaign. Sharnade is a Psychotherapist and founder of Cultureminds Therapy.
Her organisation, Cultureminds Therapy, is a mental health and a therapist directory, and their aim is to help individuals from all backgrounds, including ethnic minorities, to engage in healthy conversations about mental health and help support to seek professional care if needed. We had the great opportunity to collaborate with Sharnade and talk about what inspired her to create a wellbeing organisation and her aim to make a difference in the black and ethnic minority background community. Thank you for your contributions to our Black Health and Wellbeing campaign and thank you for the amazing work you do for the community.
You can read our interview with Sharnade here.
Rachel Kaliisa
For our third week of the campaign, we spotlighted our very own NKD’er Rachel Kaliisa. Rachel is a talented Business Development Manager at NKD. A huge part of the culture and a positive change maker; an integral part of our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging team and being a leader in getting NKD to certified Bloody Good Employer status – helping us to create fairer, safer workplaces for all people who menstruate.
As well as building lasting relationships with our clients, Rachel also works with our marketing team to create incredible work that feeds into our campaigns and content. Working on our NKD Podcast, The Ratio, Rachel interviewed former Civil Servant at the Ministry of Justice and Director of Krystal Alliance consultancy, Rob Neil OBE. They spoke on topics related to the world of work and Rob’s experiences progressing through the Ministry of Justice. Rachel, you inspire us everyday at NKD and we truly appreciate you.
Click here to watch ‘The Ratio Podcast’.
Lesley Owusu-Daaku
The final person for our Black History Month: Saluting Our Sisters campaign was the amazing Lesley Owusu-Daaku. Lesley is a legal counsellor working in the music industry, a career she embarked on after studying History at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
We had the opportunity to work with Lesley in 2021 for our Black History Month campaign ‘Proud to Be’. This campaign highlighted the importance of being proud to be black and we are so grateful for the energy and authenticity Lesley brought the screen. Lesley’s work and contribution within the music legal system support many music artists and organisations day-in and day-out. Lesley, continue to be… ‘coated in excellence’!
Check out our ‘Proud to Be’ short film here.
Let’s honour the legacy of black women, learn from their stories, and inspire the leaders of tomorrow. For more content like this, check out our Black History Month campaign last year, ‘Proud to Be‘.