Wolves Foundation highlights achievements of black people throughout history

As part of Black History Month, Wolves and the Wolves Foundation have teamed up to highlight the achievements of black people throughout history, as told through the words of club players and staff.

Several members of staff selected the figures, both historical and personal, who have been their inspiration, for the 33rd Black History month, which aims to examine the ‘social, cultural, economic and political progress Britain’s black community has made’.

Highlighting the achievements of black people through history also comes at a time when Wolves Foundation is aiming to encourage more progress in inclusion and diversity, by supporting the Premier League’s No Room For Racism campaign.

Sunday’s game against Newcastle was designated as the club’s fixture to support the initiative, and the foundation also hosted a call for participants featuring first team defender Ki-Jana. However, former players Matt Murray and Karl Henry – also one of the charity’s ambassadors – and Wolves Women striker Jamila Palmer featured during the build-up to the game.

For Black History Month, Kiya Wright, from the Wolves conference and banqueting team, and Jon Hunter-Barrett, head of academy coaching, both chose their inspirations to be family members who came over to Britain as part of the Windrush generation.

Kiya’s auntie Paulette Wilson, who sadly passed away in July at the age of 64, had to fight to avoid wrongful deportation back in 2017, and became a leading campaigner for all of the Windrush generation. She delivered a petition to Downing Street calling on the government to deliver justice to all those affected by the scandal.

“Once her situation was resolved, it became her life mission to help others who had also been victims of the Windrush scandal,” Kiya says of the lady who became known as the ‘Windrush grandmother’.

'Beautiful'

“She could have easily put it to one side and got on with her life, but she fought for other people – she was a beautiful person, inside and out.”

Jon’s nan, Una, came over from Jamaica in search of a better life, initially leaving her two children behind until she could support them, eventually building a new career in nursing.

“My nan would encounter faeces being smeared on the door, or someone would urinate through the letter box or the standard regular verbal abuse – that was in addition to the workplace racism that went on but still she rose up and faced each day as if it were her first day. That’s my inspiration,” says Jon.

Wolves Under-23s defender Michael Agboola pinpointed revolutionary apartheid activist Nelson Mandela as his role model, based on the way he stood up against racism in South Africa.

“I think we should see what Mandela did in South Africa and try to bring that to our own lives, by standing up for what is right and not just accepting the abuse or discrimination we face,” says Agboola.

A first team player will finish off the series, via wolves.co.uk, on Friday.