Nassin Watson, Assistant Programme Manager
In high school I studied history only as far as was required. I dropped the subject as soon as I could, relieved that I no longer had to remember the date that the cotton mill was invented. Only recently have I discovered the power of history, and in particular undervalued and lesser known histories. How we remember our history shapes our identities, our communities, our world.
To me, celebrating Black history means recognising and raising awareness of the contributions of Black individuals, communities, and societies in driving and finding innovative solutions to the problems we face locally and globally. I strongly believe that history can be a powerful tool to challenge stereotypes and provide a lens through which people, young and old, can glimpse their own potential.
Haru Majengwa, Researcher
In my very biased opinion, Black history is incredibly important to innovation. Naturally, my bias is based on a lot of my early groundwork and impressions of what it means to improve or create a product stemmed from a childhood in the Sub-Saharan African country of Zimbabwe. During this time I frequently witnessed people thriving through adversity, by being creative and innovative. Every morning on my way to primary school, observing the streets led me to recognise that some of the greatest innovations are rooted in survival.
As part of Challenge Works, celebrating Black History means acknowledging that appreciating the diversity and inclusion of Black innovators leads to better quality outcomes. Examples of this across the continent include a Ugandan inventor, Brian Turyabagye, who has created a biomedical smart jacket that can accurately diagnose pneumonia four times faster than a doctor. Additionally, Nigerian inventor, Osh Agabi, has created a device that fuses live neurons from mice stem cells into a silicon chip – for the first time. The device can be used to detect explosives and cancer cells. Imagine what this could mean for the future!
Franklina Owusu-Brobbey, Programme Coordinator
Celebrating Black History within Challenge Works feels different to most other years. Namely because of the nature of our work, we are exposed to innovators coming from all walks of life. This year, I have worked on projects with teams that aim to inspire young people from across the country to consider entrepreneurship as a viable option for their futures or even on a project designed specifically to target primarily Black innovators. Within Challenge Works, we are fortunate enough to interact with leading minds on how to make challenge prizes more inclusive across a range of demographics.
Using challenge prizes to spotlight and draw on diverse minds requires intentionality and focus to include untraditional voices to ensure long-lasting and meaningful change. That is why we must all share the burden of seeking to change the status quo and ensure that the future is one that seeks to build on the learnings of the past.
Gabriella Kisoi, Programme Coordinator
For me, celebrating Black history has a significant role in evaluating the future we are creating for the next generation of Black change-makers. This Black History Month is particularly special to me because as a Black African woman entrepreneur, I have the incredible opportunity to currently coordinate Challenge Works’ Afri-Plastics Challenge. This is a programme dedicated to supporting solutions that tackle plastic mismanagement in a way that promotes the empowerment of women and girls across Sub-Saharan Africa.
It means the world to me that the organisation I am a part of is consistently championing the use of social business as a force for good in my home region. This is precisely what celebrating Black history signifies to me – leveraging the successes of our past to create pathways for the future – and sharing our stories is where it all begins.
