Thought for the Week - 9th October 2022

 

Dear Friends, 

October in the UK is Black History Month, observed annually as a recognition of the contribution and achievements of those with African and Caribbean heritage, it is also an opportunity to learn more about the lives of some of those forgotten names of history who contributed to society, like Allan Glaisyer Minns who was born in 1858 in the Bahamas and travelled to London to train as a doctor. He studied medicine at Guy’s Hospital and registered with the British Medical Association in 1884, moving to Thetford in Norfolk setting up his own medical practice in 1888. For more than 25 years, he had a career as a well-respected physician and community leader, and in the 1890s became the Medical Officer at Thetford Workhouse and an Honorary Medical Officer at the Thetford Cottage Hospital. As a health advocate, he promoted healthy living through environment changes such as improving sanitation and based on his environmental interests and research he published ‘Fresh Air & Common Sense’ in the 1900s. In 1903 he was elected to the borough council and one year later was chosen by his fellow councillors to be Mayor of Thetford, the first black person to become a British mayor. Minns’ story has become better known in the last 20 years, so much so that he has appeared in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography which states that because of his ‘education in the Bahamas, his medical training in England, allied to his hard work, this allowed him to build an important role in Victorian and Edwardian society, becoming a respected physician, a leader of his community, and the first black mayor of an English town.’ The Norfolk Records Office in its piece of Minns’ ends by saying that ‘Black History Month is a good time for Norfolk to celebrate Allan Glaisyer Minns and his extraordinary achievement’.    

Grace and peace,

Neil  

A Prayer for Black History Month

Lord God, we thank you for the significance of this month. We lift up and thank you for our black brothers and sisters who have shaped history. We thank you for the opportunity to learn and reflect particularly at this time, here and now. We pray that the learning happening in schools, homes and workplaces will be meaningful and deep-rooted. We pray for open hearts and minds, and spirits willing to learn and be transformed by you. May this month be a time of curiosity and sharing, conversations and celebrations, challenge and encouragement. Heavenly Father, help us to dig deeper, look closer, and think bigger. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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