Kicking Off Black History Month 2022 With Trailblazing 'Hidden Figures'

In 2022, Britain’s Black History Month runs from 1st to 31st October, and what

better way for twelve of our diverse young people on our incredible Youth Of

The World programme to broaden their horizons than by discovering a

pioneering historic Black figure and getting creative at the same time?

Art practitioner Nayna lit up their imaginations as she introduced colourful

collages centred on the inspirational story of NASA mathematician Katherine

Johnson, who blazed a trail for Black women in science all the way to the moon

and back.

Known as ‘the human computer,’ Johnson calculated the exact path for Apollo

11’s 1969 moon landing, but because she was an African-American woman

who experienced workplace discrimination rooted in racism, almost nobody

knew about her or her ground-breaking work in aeronautics.

Johnson died at 101 years of age in 2020, but not before she was depicted in

the acclaimed 2016 movie ‘Hidden Figures,’ which you should definitely go and

watch!

With Nayna, our young people were able to ‘shoot for the moon’ using simple

and straightforward art materials to help uncover their own ‘hidden’

ambitions, making the most of the ‘space’ to be creative.

Have look at their amazing collages below.

Then professional illustrator and animator Toby ( Tobbs ), and art volunteer

Loren from our partnership with Whitworth Art Gallery popped by to fire up

even more of the Afrocats’ creative vision with an introduction to stop-motion

animation!

Toby aims to promote positivity and kindness through his work, which

captured the heart of everyone in the room with his brilliant short films and

memorable handcrafted characters.

He let the Afrocats and kittens in on the secrets behind his creative process

and led them through the experience of making some fun stop-motion clips

with the Stop Motion Studio app – both with his friendly fuzzy props, and even

physical actions made by the Afrocats as they shot lines, circles, jumps, and

twirls in front of the camera.

Click the arrow to take a peep at the stop-motion antics below.

Wallace and Gromit have got nothing on the Afrocats!

Our young people came away with stars in their eyes feeling inspired and

motivated, and we know this has a huge positive impact on their lives when

they can’t always easily access these kinds of creative resources due to legal

status and financial obstacles.

Thank you to all who made the session a huge success, and we look forward to

seeing you next time!

Make sure to check out our social media channels below for the latest

news and goings on at Afrocats.