The University of Nottingham is celebrating Black History Month with music, public lectures, open discussion and much more.

Throughout October, the University will run a diverse range of events focussing on Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) culture, history and people. All of these events are open to the local community as well as students and staff, and many are free.

Exploring BME culture and history

Highlights from this year’s programme include:

• Learning in Womanist Ways – Dr Jan Etienne, Birkbeck, University of London, discusses her book exploring the benefits of lifelong learning for black Caribbean women who came to Britain in the 1950s and 1960s. 6pm, Friday 7 October, Nottingham Lakeside Arts
• “Unspeakable things unspoken”: Transatlantic Slavery, a public conversation – a conference examining the ways in which slavery has figured in British public history. 9.30am-9pm, Wednesday 12 October, Nottingham Contemporary
• Black Power at 50! – a film festival celebrating the 50th anniversary of Stokely Carmichael’s infamous slogan, “All power to the people”. 11am-6pm, Saturday 15 October, Nottingham Contemporary
• Black History Month celebration – live music with internationally-acclaimed artists including Natalie Duncan. 8pm, Saturday 15 October, Nottingham Contemporary
• The Slave’s Cause – a talk by world-leading slavery historian Manisha Sinha about how enslaved people’s resistance radicalised the abolitionist movement. 6pm, Wednesday 19 October, Clive Granger Building
• Beyond the Walls: murals as activism – the team behind the new Pathways Black History Mural lead a public conversation about murals as activism, followed by a screening of new film Beyond the Walls. 6.30pm-8.30pm, Thursday 20 October, New Art Exchange
• Let’s play vinyl – join Sound System Culture to play your old reggae records on this Heritage Hifi. 2-10pm, Sunday 23 October, Rough Trade
• Generation Revolution – screening of the film Generation Revolution and discussion with directors Usayd Younis and Cassie Quarless, and Bo Olawoye and Jacob Oti of Black Lives Matter UK: Nottingham Activists. 6.30-9pm, Thursday 27 October, New Art Exchange

For a full events programme and links to register, take a look at the poster gallery on the University’s People and Culture blog.

Bringing events out to the local community

This year marks the fourth of the University’s annual Black History Month celebrations, which began in 2013 and have been growing every year since. The 2016 programme sees events organised by the University’s People and Culture Team and the Centre for Research in Race and Rights with involvement from academics across the institution. The celebrations offer the opportunity to reflect on the history and achievements of BME communities.

Val Watson, Chair of the University’s BME Network, said: “Black History Month is a chance to celebrate the culture and history of BME communities, and the University is very proud to be a part of this.

“This year, we’re partnering with local organisations such as Nottingham Contemporary, the New Art Exchange, Rough Trade Nottingham and the Broadway Cinema to bring our events out to the local community. There’s a rich history within Nottingham’s BME community and we’re hoping that by making these events accessible to as many people as possible, we’ll hear some fascinating conversations.”

The University’s Centre for Research in Race and Rights (C3R) has contributed a number of events to the programme. Professor Zoe Trodd, Co-Director of C3R, said: “I’m really proud of the University’s programme for Black History Month. C3R is part of the University’s Research Priority Area (RPA) in Rights and Justice, the world’s largest cluster of rights and justice scholars. Co-leading this RPA and C3R has shown me that we are not just the UK’s global university and its most sustainable campus, we are also a civically engaged, socially conscious university. We are a university that embeds itself in society and engages locally and globally. Our Black History Month programme gives us a chance to celebrate some of that work with our campus and city communities.”

Get involved…

For updates throughout October, email peopleandculture@nottingham.ac.uk to be added to the University’s mailing list, and follow @UoNPandC on Twitter. Visit the University’s People and Culture blog for news, events, comment and more throughout October blogs.nottingham.ac.uk/peopleandculture