Here's the latest column from the new leader of North Herts District Council, Elizabeth Dennis-Harburg.

Earlier this year she became only the second woman to lead NHDC in its 47 year history.

So, read on for the Labour group leader's must-read take here at Hitchin Nub News as she celebrates Black History Month

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October is Black History Month and I am proud to be an ally, and want to celebrate the often unheralded accomplishments of black Britons, including here in North Herts.[.B[

Everyone should be #ProudToBe authentically themselves.

I'll start with author Aminatta Forna. Born in Scotland in 1964 to a Sierra Leonian father and Scottish mother, the family moved to Sierra Leone where her father worked as a physician before getting involved in politics.

He was imprisoned and hanged for treason in 1975.

Her memoir The Devil that Danced on the Water discusses the murder and explores the anger and sadness felt at this event.

Many of Aminatta's novels have a theme of psychological trauma running through them as a result.

Her contribution to the Girl Rising film in 2013 is one of my favourite pieces.

Her character Mariama studies engineering and

strives to improve education opportunities for girls.

Mariama has real-world role models and advocates for her cause including Sia Koroma, then First Lady of Sierra Leone and biochemist and psychiatric nurse.

In 2017 Aminatta was awarded an OBE for services to

Literature.

Closer to home, James George Robertson was a GP and the first black rugby union player. Born in Banjul in the Gambia in 1854 to a British surgeon and Gambian mother, educated in Scotland he graduated in medicine in 1876.

He purchased a medical practice in Ashwell in 1894 where he acted as surgeon, medical officer, and public vaccinator.

Actively involved in the community, James became president of the tennis club, and was a committee member of the cricket club.

Scottish sports historian Andy Mitchell said: "It is intriguing that someone from an unusual background has come to the country and been accepted into society.

"There is virtually nothing to indicate that he suffered

discrimination due to his colour.

"This raises the question as to whether his social class allowed them to rise above racial discrimination."

He died suddenly in 1900. More than 300 people attended his funeral, and the procession included the Ancient Order of Foresters band with their banner showing what a well respected and valued member of the community he was.

Roger Britten arrived in England in 1848 aged eight, the adopted son of a British clergyman who's mission had been to bring a Christian education to liberated slaves in Guyana, before he ran out of funds.

The family settled in Royston, where the Reverend William Garland Barrett took up the pastorship of the John Street Congregational Chapel.

When the Barretts moved away, Roger, now 15, was passed to the care of a printer, John Warren (who launched a monthly free newspaper, the Royston Crow).Roger learned quick, taking work in London, Eyre & Spottiswoode, printers to Her Majesty's Stationery Office. Roger married Fanny Clark, a Royston woman.

He died in 1883 after a period of illness. The local newspaper ran a detailed obituary, recalling his youth: "Many will remember the little black boy...who...through his good temper and amiability, won the affections of those around him wherever he went."

Roger was Royston's first recorded black resident, and his legacy of hard work enabled his daughter to become headmistress at a London school.

Black people continue to shape our communities and inspire us.

It would be wrong for me not to acknowledge to phenomenal work of a boy from Manchester who grew up in a single parent household where his mother regularly sacrificed her own meals so her children could eat. Marcus Rashford knows what holiday hunger is.

And it is powerful and inspiring that he works charitably alongside his sporting commitments to help children whose stories he knows all too well.

I am proud of all our people and celebrate our vibrant black community this month and stand in solidarity with them this month and always.