October 27, 2025
I am grateful for the opportunity Black History Month presents to intentionally pause to honour the struggles and celebrate the achievements of Black people throughout history. People who fought, created, dreamed, and persisted against overwhelming odds. It reminds me that the freedoms and rights that are enjoyed today were not given. They were earned through courage, resistance, and sacrifice. It is also a time for learning, and a month that inspires me to carry that legacy forward as an anti-racist ally.
This year’s theme, ‘Standing Firm in Power & Pride,’ encourages us to look back on the past but also calls upon us to look ahead to the future and see what is needed in the months and years ahead. This is particularly pertinent when, in many parts of the world, progress is being rolled back. This year marks 60 years since the UK’s first Race Relations Act, a landmark moment in the ongoing journey towards racial justice and equality. But there is much more to do.
This year, we have a timely prompt about the need for and the power of protest. I am reminded that across Britain’s modern history, Black activists have spoken out, stood firm, and demanded change. They organised boycotts, led campaigns, built networks, and changed systems that denied justice. Their courage shifted opinion, reshaped laws, and inspired new generations to act.
The legacy of these Black activists shapes me as I seek to be the best anti-racism ally I can. It is a pleasure, as well as a challenge, to interrogate my own power, privilege and bias. It is an honour to collaborate with others to actively oppose systemic racism, working together to advocate for change in political, social, economic, and cultural life.
I also have the privilege of leading All We Can as we strive for a world where every community has the power, dignity, and resources to lead their own future! We recognise that we are all made in the image of God, each worthy of equal value and dignity. God wills the flourishing of creation and human community within it. We believe that in solidarity with others, we are called to challenge injustice, dismantling structures that perpetuate inequality. Seeking racial justice is central to this.
We recognise that power and resources are often held in the wrong hands, which holds individuals, local organisations, and communities back. We are committed to decolonising aid and philanthropy, supporting models and approaches that shift power into the right hands.
Our commitment to the decolonisation of aid calls upon us to be conscious about the way we use our power, the value we attach to the wisdom in local contexts, and how we challenge injustice in the spaces we live and work. It is this personal conviction that has become a collective commitment for us as All We Can to challenge colonial legacies, power imbalances, and structural racism that undermine equity and local agency.
In practical terms, the decolonisation of aid is both a process and an outcome of transforming our mindsets, behaviours, and practices to actively stop reinforcing narratives and actions rooted in supremacy, racism, marginalisation, and inequality. Instead, we facilitate locally led development across all levels of our work, including within All We Can, partner organisations, and the communities they serve.
We imagine a future where justice, dignity, equality, and shared power form the foundation of development. In this future, communities define their own paths, have the resources to thrive, and are recognised as the rightful leaders of their development.
We choose to be bold enough to imagine this world, and brave enough to build it!
