Black History Projects – Year 9

Mei H-T and Amelie L’s women soldiers of Dahomey project

Amelie: I created 5 crochet dolls with their respective clothing to represent the five main different types of women in the army. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about these amazing women as you only really see male armies when looking back through history. This women’s army can be such an inspiration as a result of their unfailing courage and devotion. The army was based in Africa in Benin and was one of the best armies at the time.

Mei: I decided to create an art quilt depicting the leader of the women soldiers of Dahomey, Seh-Dong-Hong-Beh. I chose her due to her reputation as a fierce and ruthless leader of the army. I was inspired by textiles artist Bisa Butler as she depicts black people celebrating black life. Her use of vibrant colours and traditional kente fabrics from Ghana, which is the modern name for the Kingdom of Dahomey, inspired me to create the piece celebrating Seh-Dong-Hong-Beh’s life. Finally, we created a booklet on the army looking into their daily lives and how they worked as a unit and separate specialised areas.

Eleanor R’s banner of Black women through history

Eleanor: for my history project, I thought it was important to recognise all the women through Black history, whether they were well know or not. This is why I made bunting and researched Black women to put on it. There are a total of 28 women on it, which is only a tiny proportion of the millions of Black women who have inspired over the years. What I thought was interesting about it was the range of countries that were represented and the range of professions and ages that are also shown.

I think it is a great disappointment that this area of history is hidden away in the UK; all the women who have changed the world that no-one knows about, like the Queen of Sheba and the Black Mambas. I hope my project helps educate people about these great women and that Black History Month becomes a regular part of the syllabus.