After Aicha’s speech, students split off to enjoy the many lectures, workshops, seminars and films on offer throughout the day.
With talks from The Black Curriculum, a musical workshop about a 1700’s play, Inkle and Yarico, Diversity in Art workshops, folk dancing around a may pole, Paralympic sport, the launch of a student designed “Diversity app” and much more; there really was something for everyone.
We were even joined by two female police officers from the Met, who spoke about how the police force has changed over the last century, from having its first female officer in 1918, to its first Black female officer in the 60’s, first Asian female officer in 1971, and finally, in 2017, its first female lead, Cressida Dick.
The day closed with our second keynote speaker, Baroness Grey-Thompson who gave an inspiring talk based on her experiences since becoming a wheelchair user at a young age and her time as an athlete, as a cross-bench peer and member of the House of Lords since 2010.
Baroness Grey-Thompson retired from athletics after racing at no less than five Paralympics and has since focussed on campaigns for sport and disability rights.
After an enlightening Q&A session with students she left her audience with an important piece of advice,”Find something you love doing and work hard at it. It will make a massive difference to your life.”
Thank you to everyone involved for making PIE2 2021 such a memorable and thought-provoking day.