Black History Month: Proud To Be with Dave Kavanagh
To celebrate Black History Month, Sheffield United Community Foundation would like to shine a light on Community Health Coach, Dave Kavanagh. This year’s theme for Black History Month is “Proud to be” and focuses on celebrating being black or brown and inspiring and sharing the pride people have in their heritage and culture – in their own way, in their own words.
Dave is of mixed heritage – Irish, English and Afro-Caribbean and has been working for the Participation & Inclusion strand of the Foundation since 2019 and helps deliver sessions for Joy of Moving, United in Health and Football Camps.
Black History Month
On why Black History Month is important to Dave, Dave said: “It is an opportunity to celebrate and tell the true history of black people and African/ Afro-Caribbean heritage. It is important as many people have a poor understanding of black heritage.
“Many think that it started and ended with slavery, which is so wrong! We have had many great civilisations and empires as well as political leaders, inventors and much more.”
Proud to Be
On this year’s Black History Month theme of ‘Proud to be’, Dave said: “I am proud of my black heritage because we have an incredible identity and culture. We have amazing food, music and a history that deserves to be celebrated and taught to others!”
Barriers
Dave has faced many barriers from being black, such as challenges in the workplace and having judgements made about himself in public.
To help overcome these challenges, Dave tries to challenge people’s logic and educate them. These barriers give Dave the motivation to work harder and prove that he is capable.
“I am proud of building relationships with participants to encourage a healthy lifestyle!” “I try to be a good person in society and respect others” says Dave.
Role Models
There are many black role models that people can look up to and celebrate. On his own role models, Dave said: “Dr Martin Luther King Jr is someone who I truly admire and look up to.
“He taught us that we can win over hate, but we must be an example of peace and lead by example and that’s an amazing thing.”
“To judge a person on the contents of their character and not the colour of one’s skin. If we all did this the world would be a far better place.”
Sheffield United Community Foundation will be celebrating Black History Month across all our programmes and projects. For more information about what we will be doing, follow us on social media @CommunitySUFC and keep an eye on the news section on our website.