Facing History Hosts Sarfraz Manzoor

My England: Confessions of a Moderate Muslim
Facing History and Ourselves Presents an Evening with Writer and Broadcaster Sarfraz Manzoor

LONDON – On 19 November 2009 at 6:30 p.m., Facing History and Ourselves hosted Guardian journalist, BBC documentary filmmaker, and author of the critically acclaimed memoir Greetings from Bury Park, Sarfraz Manzoor. The free community event took place at Deutsche Bank Winchester House. Manzoor discussed what it means to be a young Muslim living in Britain. He provided refreshing cross-cultural insights on family, friendship, class, politics, and other experiences that have shaped his understanding of what it means to be British. He connected with Facing History themes such as identity, citizenship, religion, and membership.

Also at the event, Facing History introduced its new resource “Identity and Belonging in a Changing Great Britain.” In a time when debates about national identity and integration have taken on increased urgency, this book is an essential resource for secondary school classrooms. Funded by Deutsche Bank, the book explores the relationship between the individual and society, and immigration and identity in the ever changing British context.

“Facing History provides teachers with the training and ongoing support they need to facilitate difficult but necessary conversations about racism, prejudice, and tolerance that encourage students to think critically about their own actions and decisions. This event is an opportunity to bring community members together to engage in some of the same conversations that are happening in Facing History classrooms worldwide,” said Michael McIntyre, Facing History’s programme coordinator. “Teachers can use Facing History to meet the requirements of the New National Curriculum for England—our pedagogy naturally supports the new curriculum’s cross-curricular themes of culture, identity and diversity, community participation, and creativity and critical thinking. Facing History also connects to government initiatives such as the duty to promote Community Cohesion, as well as Preventing Violent Extremism.”