What I Learnt from My #BHMHeroes Series  

October 2025 felt different. While many organisations seemed to pull back, treating Black History Month (BHM) as an optional “add-on”, I committed to something different.

I set out to post daily reflections on my #BHMHeroes, Black leaders who have shaped my world, who I am, and how I show up.

What followed was a lesson in the difference between intention and reality. The great Mike Tyson once said, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.” We often plan in times of peace and stability, but the real test is showing up despite life’s challenges. That’s what separates meaningful BHM engagement from performative box-ticking.

“We often plan in times of peace and stability, but the real test is showing up despite life’s challenges.”

Struggling to Show Up

The commitment to share my heroes daily was surprisingly difficult. Although I had prepared my list in advance, showing up consistently was hard - I even had to take a break along the way.

Researching each story brought a renewed sense of awe and admiration for every leader. It reminded me that when I think I’m sharing/teaching, I’m actually learning.

One realisation stood out: the relatively young age at which many of my heroes made their most significant impacts. Many were highly influential in their 20s, and tragically, many were unalived before they were 40. Their legacy represents an urgent, high-stakes example of human potential.

This hit me in the context of how organisations often delay investing in people or improving inclusion. There’s always something “more urgent,” always another crisis. But what happens if we only have today, this month, this year?

Impact Over Metrics

I also had to move beyond focusing on ‘posting for numbers’. Quantitatively, my BHM posts performed less well than my usual content but the qualitative impact was far greater.

Friends and clients told me they resonated with certain heroes, learned something new, or were inspired to read a book, watch a documentary or reflect on new information they’d found. That’s the true measure of impact, not an algorithm’s virality score.

“The distinction between a post that performs and a commitment that transforms is where most organisations fail.”

Too many organisations chase visibility over value. The cupcakes, patties and polished keynote speakers make great LinkedIn content, but what remains once the food is gone and the applause fades?

Corporate Silence and the Cost of Withdrawal

My observations on the corporate landscape this year were less inspiring. Many people noted a significant decline in activity, part of a wider trend of reduced investment and interest in EDI overall.

The impact of this can’t be understated. At a time when members of marginalised communities, particularly Black colleagues, may feel alienated, under attack and unsafe, companies should be stepping up, providing reassurance that they still matter.

Withdrawing investment now only reinforces the perception that this work was always disposable.

The Dangers of Performance

Post-2020, many corporate BHM celebrations have felt self-congratulatory. Organisations posturing as progressive while masking deep-rooted anti-Black issues within their own walls.

Awareness days are pointless, or worse, harmful, if the people they claim to celebrate feel undervalued the rest of the year. That’s not inclusion; that’s performance, and it’s deeply damaging.

For Black employees, there’s always a fine line between seizing visibility and becoming an unwitting participant in a harmful corporate façade, effectively serving as a human shield for toxic culture.

From Celebration to Structural Change

The key question isn’t if a company runs an event, but why, and who takes centre stage.

For many organisations, simply having an event is seen as success. But that’s a very low bar. Even the most toxic company can “do an event.” I’ve seen countless LinkedIn posts praising “amazing”, “fantastic”, “brilliant” BHM events, but never one calling out a bad one.

This suggests a worrying benchmark where visibility, not value, is the goal.

True success for an EDI event must be measured by the structural change it inspires:

- | - Who controls the agenda and budget? Is it led by Black voices or delegated to an overstretched HR team?

- | - What’s the purpose? Is it about learning Black history, addressing structural barriers, or celebrating existing talent?

- | - Is it integrated? Has the learning from BHM been woven into training, talent management, pay and performance, procurement, and supplier diversity?

“Black History Month should be a catalyst, not a comfortable shield.”

The inspiration behind my #BHMHeroes came from their constant, high-stakes commitment to change. The corporate world should honour their memory with that same intensity, rather than extracting palatable sound bites and cos-playing inclusion.

I’m not saying every organisation must celebrate Black History Month, that’s a choice. But for those that do, the real question isn’t how many people attended, it’s: what changed as a result of your event?

Final Thoughts

Black History Month isn’t about visibility for a moment; it’s about accountability all year round. If we truly want to honour those who came before us, we must move beyond performance and build the structures that make inclusion impossible to ignore.

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