While our US counterparts might celebrate Black History Month in February, in the UK, October is when we choose to highlight the black pioneers past and present who have had a hand in shaping British culture. It’s also an exciting time to look at which ways companies are engaging with the month and if applicable, encouraging their users to do the same. 

In that vein, it’s been great to see Instagram has partnered with some of the UK’s most iconic black voices for their campaign #ShareBlackStories – an initiative which looks to highlight the stories of black contemporary artists and those that came before them. 

Ashley Walters (AKA Asher D) despite riding high on the Top Boy wave took the time to highlight the work of British actor Lennie James who first hired a young Walters for his first acting role on the BBC. 

J2k, TooBlessed and George the Poet have also been involved with the former using his video to highlight the work of grime artists that came before him, namely Wiley. 

The initiative, however, isn’t just focussed on Black British musicians, stretching to all corners of the media spectrum, Instagram has also worked with Vick Hope, Dane Baptiste and FAULT Favourite fashion designer Walé Adeyemi.

Trevor Johnson Director of Market Operations at Instagram – who himself has a long history of uplifting and emboldening black British voices in the UK has this to say of the campaign  “Instagram is a place where diverse communities connect and share things that matter most to them. This is particularly true for the black community, with over 16.6 million people using hashtags like #blackexcellence and #blackgirlmagic. We hope more people will be encouraged to follow Ashley and J2K’s lead and share the black stories that are important to them on Instagram – via IGTV, Stories or a post.”

With new artists continuing to contribute to the #ShareBlackStories initiatives on Instagram – why not share your own on the platform? And if you’re inspired to learn more about Black British Stories within the fashion industry, why not check out our piece on Exploring The Impact The Windrush Generation Played On British Fashion Here