UCL marks Black History Month 2023

Black History Month is a time to uncover, recognise and celebrate the invaluable contributions of black people to British society. This year's theme, 'Saluting our Sisters', places the focus on black women, whose achievements have too often been overlooked or forgotten. 

Take a look at our events listing below – we'll be updating this webpage additional events as they are announced, so if you’re running an event that you’d like us to add please get in touch: internalcommunications@ucl.ac.uk.

Book recommendations

UCL Libraries are compiling a list of books that celebrate the history and contributions of black women in all their diversity or that will educate, challenge and empower us all to make the world a better place. Send in your book recommendations here!

In addition, the Library Liberating the Collections group have also created a Black Studies subject guide, which is an ongoing resource to highlight black scholarship in UCL Library's collections.

Events

2 October 2023, 6–8pm: IAS Book Launch: Black Boys

Join author Dr Clive Chijioke Nwonka for the launch of his new book 'Black Boys: The Social Aesthetics of Black Urban Film'. In person – free and open to all.

4 October 2023, 5.30–7.30pm: What now? Reducing domestic violence and reviewing refugee safety globally

Join international speakers, Dr Betty Okot and Dr Tenywa Aloysius Malagala for this Black History Month event that explores research findings related to projects focused on reducing domestic violence and reforming refugee safety. In person – free and open to all.

4–22 October 2023 and beyond: Ghosts of Solid Air

A UCL and AHRC-funded Augmented Reality (AR) experience, Ghosts of Solid Air launches on 4 October as part of the 67th BFI London Film Festival. This site-specific AR experience is designed for smartphones and takes place in and around Trafalgar and Parliament Squares in central London – just open the app on your smartphone and allow the voices to guide you through the story.

5 October 2023, 5.30pm–1am: Octo V Day Party

UOL ACS Presidents x Sherry Coco present Afrobeats, Amapiano, RnB, Hip-Hop & Bashment at a secret location. In person – various prices.

6 October 2023, 4.30–6pm: Camera Rolls and Mixtapes

Camera rolls and mixtapes: family history, analogue archives, and diasporic placemaking. In person – free and open to all.

10 October 2023, 6–8pm: Jayna Brown: Meditations on Black Feminism 

In this public lecture, Professor Jayna Brown will examine current and divergent trends in black feminism, followed by a response from Dr Christine Okoth (KCL). In person – free and open to all. 

10 October 2023, 6–8pm: IAS Book Launch: Race Is Everything

Celebrating David Bindman's latest book 'Race Is Everything: Art and Human Difference’. In person – free and open to all. 

11 October 2023, 5:30–8:00pm: Book tour: 'Die Standing' with author Elmer Dixon

Join this event to hear Black Panther Party Revolutionary and Global Diversity Consultant, Elmer Dixon, as he discusses his recently published book 'Die Standing' as we celebrate Black History Month. In person – free and open to all.

11 October 2023, 6–7.30pm: Black Youth Work and Higher Education: Radical Possibilities

In this seminar, three London based youth workers working specifically with Black 16–18-year-olds to exchange ideas on how the educational work undertaken by them within racially diverse communities may contribute to their knowledge and expectations. In person – free and open to all.

12 October 2023, 1–2pm: UCL Department of Earth Sciences Ethnic Diversity Network Black History Month event

This event will launch a zine on Decolonisation of the Curriculum in Geoscience, with presentations from its producers and event collaborators AstroNoir. Key issues relating to race and geoscience will be discussed, and the context of research and scientific endeavours within colonial history will be explored. In person and online, free and open to all.

12 October 2023, 6:15–7:30pm: The End of Affirmative Action: Impact on Diversity in US Universities

Join us for a discussion featuring three distinguished experts - Peter Arcidiacono (Duke University), Tiffany D. Atkins (University of Kentucky), and Mark Walsh (Education Week) - as they dissect the significance of the demise of affirmative action in US higher education. Online – free and open to all.

16 October 2023, 5:30–8pm: Damani Partridge: Blackness as a Universal Claim

In this talk, Damani J. Partridge will examine the possibilities and limits of a universalized Black politics. In person – free and open to all.

18 October 2023, 3–4pm: DoP Seminar: What can we learn from studying psychosis in diverse settings? Lessons from INTREPID & beyond

In this presentation Dr Tessa Roberts, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King’s College London, will explore how widening our view may change our understanding of psychotic conditions. In person and online – free and open to all. 

18 October 2023, 5.30–7.30pm: UCL Institute of the Americas Caribbean Series: Paul Clammer, Black Crown 

Discussion of Paul Clammer's Black Crown: Henri Christophe, the Haitian Revolution and the Caribbean’s Forgotten Kingdom. Online – free and open to all. 

18 October 2023, 6:30–8:30pm: Ignored Through Time: A discussion on the Overlooked Inventions and Artistic Creations of the Black Community

This event will bring together panellists to explore the historical contributions of those from Black communities to the Arts. In person – free and open to all.

18 October 2023, 2pm–2pm: UCL GOS Institite of Child Health Race Equity Group October event

Join us for a variety of events both online and in person at the ICH, including an exhibition at the ICH Balcony – free and open to all at UCL. For more information and to register please email ich.reg@ucl.ac.uk.

• 2pm: ICH REG update and Q&A – Leolin Price Room, Institute of Child Health or Join on Teams
• 2.30pm: Ask us anything! Join us at the ICH Balcony
• 2.30pm: Cinema (programme tbc) Lower Ground Floor Seminar Room
• 3.30pm: Bringing race equity to academia: Lessons learned, opportunities ahead – June Lloyd Room or Join on Teams

25 October 2023, 1–2pm: Inclusive Spaces: Decolonial and Restorative Policy

This Inclusive Spaces event will explore the importance of decolonial, intersectional feminist, antiracist, and other social justice theoretical frameworks for policymakers and governments dealing with entrenched racial inequality and other societal inequalities in digital technologies and artificial intelligence (AI). Online – free and open to all.

25 October 2023, 2–6pm: IAS Research Centres and Networks Fair

Learn about the wide range of interdisciplinary research centres and networks you could join to extend your opportunities for support and collaboration in your research. In person – free and open to all.

26 October 2023, 4–7pm: Black History Month @ UCL CS – "Saluting Our CS-isters"

An evening celebrating Black women in computer science and the future of AI and emerging technologies. In person and online – free and open to all.

26 October 2023, 5–6pm: Black History is World History

Dr Daniel James (TU Dresden) will speak at this public EDI and philosophy talk in celebration of Black History Month. Light refreshments will follow. Everyone is warmly welcome.  In person – free and open to all.

13 November 2023, 6–8pm: IAS Book Launch: Anteaesthetics

Join author Rizvana Bradley for the launch of her book ‘Anteaesthetics. Black Aesthesis and the Critique of Form’. In person – free and open to all.

15 November 2023, 5.30–7pm: UCL Institute of Americas Caribbean Seminar Series: Sheryllynne Haggerty 

A rare study of microhistory, Ordinary People, Extraordinary Times paints a picture of daily life in Jamaica against the vast backdrop of transatlantic slavery, war, and the eighteenth-century British Empire. Online – free and open to all.

20 November 2023, 5.30–7pm: Hans Kundnani: EU as a Racialised Project

Join us to discuss Hans Kundnani’s most recent book, Eurowhiteness: culture, empire and race in the European project. In person – free and open to all.

29 November 2023, 2–5pm: Mental health careers workshop for Black students

Mental health careers workshop for final-year Black undergraduates, hosted by the Race Equity & Ethnic Diversity group in the UCL Division of Psychiatry.

5 December 2023, 5.30–7pm: Multiracial Identities in Colonial French Africa: Race, Childhood and Citizenship

In this talk, Rachel Jean-Baptiste will explore the complexity of multiracial identities in Colonial French Africa. In person – free and open to all.

More information

• Black History Month website 
• Students’ Union UCL: Black History Month 2023
• Watch an interview with Students' Union UCL's People Of Colour Officers, as part of the Union's Sabbs on the Sofa series.
• UCL History's bespoke resource list: Watch, Read, Listen 
• UCL Sarah Parker Remond Centre for the Study of Racism and Racialisation: A focal point for scholarship, teaching and public engagement activities that are addressed to various problems of racial inequality and hierarchy.
• You might have seen UCL Astrea's 'Happy to Chat' benches around campus, dedicated to inspirational UCL women. Find out more about Dame Bernice Lake QC, the first woman from the Eastern Caribbean to be appointed Queen's Counsel.