Black History Month has been celebrated in the UK for more than 30 years. It acknowledges signature moments in the history of the UK and is a celebration of the magnificence of cultural diversity and the enriching value in peaceful co-existence.

A number of events are taking place at the University of Nottingham this month in celebration of Black History Month, acknowledging history is being made not just during October but every minute, every hour, every day, every week and month.

At Nottingham we are committed to supporting Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) for our staff and students and we’d like to encourage everyone to get involved, join our celebrations and share details of the programme within their respective areas.

Highlights of the month include:

White Riot Film Screening

With a conversation with Roger Huddle, Co-founder of Rock Against Racism

Thursday, 14 October, from 6pm – 8.30pm at Lakeside Arts
Free to attend. Book for the film screening

Presented by UoN BAME Staff Network, in association with MIMM, “Rubika Shah’s documentary about the British organization Rock Against Racism is a compelling depiction of political organizing in the 1970s.”  (New York Times)

Join us for a film screening of ‘White Riot’, A documentary film which tells a powerful story of allyship through music. The film will be introduced by Vincent Wilson and followed by a live Q&A with Roger Huddle, Co-founder of Rock Against Racism

Content notes: Contains strong language and scenes depicting racism and racial slurs. 

On August 5 1976 at a concert in Birmingham the musician Eric Clapton began a short set with a racist monologue directed at non-white residents in the UK (foreigners), including Black, Arab and Jamaican communities.  Within a week Roger Huddle, Red Saunders, Jo Wreford and Peter Bruno registered their disgust at Eric Clapton’s words, and the growing influence of the National Front on the streets of the UK, by writing a letter to the New Musical Express (NME) and launching the Rock Against Racism movement.  Rubika Shah’s film ‘White Riot’ makes extensive use of archive footage to document the coming together of Black, White and Asian youth, under the musical umbrella of Punk Rock and Reggae, to counter growing racism and fascism in 1970s Britain. A key event in the Rock Against Racism movement, that provides a focus for the film, was a free concert in Victoria Park, London that attracted over 80,000 people. A major legacy of the concert and the Rock Against Racism movement is the path of empowerment for young people to work together and oppose racism in all its forms.

Black History Month Mini Symposium in Agriculture Science.

Thursday, October 14, 2021 from 4pm – 5:30pm
Register for this event

Dr Molly Muleya, Dr Bipin Pandey & Dr Diriba Kumssa will each speak for 20 minutes on their own research (nutrients, water use and fruits respectively) and personal experiences in Modern Agricultural Science, with time for follow-on questions.

This will be a hybrid face-to-face / Teams meeting in the Plant Sciences Lecture room (https://w3w.co/lucky.troll.worker), Sutton Bonington, University of Nottingham. (Join Teams Meeting )

If Black History Month Were Every Month

Monday 18 October, from 1pm – 2.30pm, Microsoft Teams Live
Book for the panel discussion

Join us for a panel conversation hosted by the Centre for Black Studies in collaboration with the UoN Black History Month Programme Board, and with speakers from different university backgrounds to talk about the value of Black History Month, and the imperative to go beyond “representation months” in order to change the environment and conditions for staff and students of the future.

This event will bring an interdisciplinary conversation to the role of Black History Month at the University of Nottingham and within the British university system. It will talk about race, gender, class, geographic representation amongst other intersectional concerns.  We will give space to interrogate the role of Black History Month and allow Black academics to reflect and imagine inclusive educational settings.

Excel in Science welcomes Miranda Lowe from the Natural History Museum

Monday 18 October, from 1pm – 2pm
Register for the session

Excel in Science welcomes guest speaker Miranda Lowe in Black History Month. Miranda Lowe is a principal curator and scientist at the Natural History Museum, London, looking after their oceanographic collections of corals, crabs and jellyfish. She presents lectures and publishes on both curatorial and scientific uses of Museum historical collections in current climate change research as well as decolonial approaches to this work. Her media work with creative industries allows her to link art, science, and nature to aid the public understanding of natural world. She is a founding member of Museum Detox, network for people of colour who work in arts and the heritage sector, championing fair representation, inclusion, and deconstruction of systems of inequality. She is chair of arts charity Culture&, trustee at York Museums Trust and Oxford University Museum of Natural History. Miranda recently won the Soc. Hist. Nat. Hist. President’s Award 2021 and listed in the BBC Women’s Hour Power List 2020: Our Planet.

Excel in Science is a new programme that has launched within the School of Life Sciences and aims to support our students and to tackle the fact that BAME students and those from disadvantaged backgrounds are under-represented in funded postgraduate research and hence remain under-represented in academia as a whole.

Steel Drum Band – Hipps Café

Tuesday 19 October from 12pm- 2pm

We will have a Steel Drum Band, be a part of this lively event and listen to fantastic sounds of a steel drum. Staff and students can also purchase Caribbean food from Hipps café. Escape with the sounds of the drums and imagine being sat on the beach somewhere in the Caribbean. This event is very popular so get to Hipps early to get a seat.

Soul Line Dancing – Medical School Foyer 

Wednesday 20 October from 12.30pm – 1.30pm

Be a part of this fun event. Charmaine who teaches soul dancing in the community has kindly agreed to come into the university and teach staff and students some dances . This will include Jerusalema, which has gone global on social media. There will also be an opportunity to be a part of a video.

Black History Month in the School of English

The School of English are hosting a number of events in celebration of this year’s Black History Month. They include a Talk from Dr Holly Maples and Dr Inge Dornan on ‘Breaking the Silence’, Poetry Reading with Theresa Lola and Dr Jessi Grieser discussing her research on the use of African American English (AAE) in constructing place identity for residents of a historically African American neighborhood of Washington, D.C.
Book your place here.

Black at Experian

Nottingham University Business School is working with the Black at Experian Network to deliver a series of events that support Financial Education and Inclusion as part of Black History Month. They include ‘How to build generational wealth through property and credit’, ‘How to build a successful business’ and a number of career insight panels.
Browse events and register here.

Black, Asian and Minority Careers in Science Virtual Event

Tuesday 19 October 2021, from 5pm – 6.15pm, Microsoft Teams
Register for the event.

Want to learn more about the careers of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic alumni from the Faculty of Science?

Join us for an online event where our panel of 5 alumni speakers will share their top careers tips for Science students and answer your questions.

This event might be of particular interest to Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic students in the Faculty of Science, but all students are very welcome to join us.

Is God black or is God white? A multifaith panel discussion on ethnic identities in faith

Wednesday 20 October 2021, from 2pm – 3pm, A03 Monica Partridge Building and online livestreaming via Echo360
Register for this event

A multifaith panel discussion on ethnic identities in faith followed by a Q&A session. As part of Black History Month the Chaplaincy and Faith Support Team will be hosting a multifaith panel discussion on ethnic identities in faith. The discussion will look at questions such as:

• How has ethnicity been portrayed in faith?
• How has that had an impact on our perception of faith?
• What can we learn from ethnic injustice within faith?
• What actions can we take towards greater inclusivity within faith communities?

Refreshments and goodie bag included for every attendee!

Black History Month Reading Group

Wednesday 20 October, from 4pm – 5pm 

Join University of Nottingham Libraries and Dr Hannah Robbins (Director, Centre for Black Studies) for a reading group discussion of a title from the Black History Month reading list.

Voting has finished and the chosen book is ‘Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race’ by Reni Eddo-Lodge. The book is available for free via NUsearch and the BorrowBox app from local libraries. Find out more.

The reading group will be hosted online and we’ll be discussing the book in more detail as well as our other favourite titles. There’s still time to sign up for the reading group event.

The Director General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (Dr. Trilochan Mohapatra) will present an overview talk on modern agricultural research.

Thursday 21 October, from 2pm – 3pm
Register for this event

Dr. Trilochan Mohapatra, Director General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research leads an organisation with 101 ICAR institutes and 71 agricultural universities.

Graduated in Agriculture Science from Odisha University of Agricultural Technology, he completed his master’s and doctoral program in Plant Genetics from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi.

He underwent post-doctoral training in Rice genomics in the University of Arizona, USA, and Clemson University Genomics Institute, South Carolina, USA.

Dr Mohapatra has served as the Director (and Vice-chancellor) for two prestigious Indian institutes: The Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi and The National Rice Research Institute, Cuttack, Odisha.

This hybrid event takes place on the Sutton Bonington Campus of the University of Nottingham. Face-to-face Location:  https://w3w.co/blueberry.neatly.weeknight (Charnwood Room A32) and on Teams (Join Meeting )

A Conversation on Race and Health Inequalities

Thursday 21 October, from 2pm – 4pm
Register for this event

Join Dr Habib Naqvi, Director of NHS Race and Health Observatory for a conversation on Race and Health inequalities within the United Kingdom.

It has been recognised for several decades that black and minority ethnic peoples in the UK experience profound health inequalities; further highlighted by the Covid-19 pandemic. A disproportionate number of BME health professionals also experienced greater mortality and morbidity – Why is this? What are the precursors? How can we address these inequalities? What is the role of structural, institutional, and individual racism?

These are some of the issues we hope to address with this conversation. A number of pre-submitted questions will be addressed throughout the talk, and there will also be scope for further questions and answers, depending on time.

UoN Libraries- Share your recommendations for our Black History Month reading list 

Browse staff and student book suggestions with our Black History Month reading list.

Do you have a suggestion for a book that is missing from the list? Let us know.
Submit your suggestion

Panya Banjoko – Building in Justice

Thursday 21 October, from 1pm – 2pm
Register for the session

Join multi-award-winning poet, Panya Banjoko for a fascinating insight into the Black presence within the historic building, architecture, and spaces of Nottingham’s National Justice Museum.

Panya’s research focuses on uncovering international colonial links and historic connections with Black people, whose stories are less researched and whose voice or connection have been missed, silenced, or hidden in previous research into the site.

This presentation is a fantastic opportunity to explore Panya’s ongoing research and some of the lesser-known stories that have been uncovered so far.

Panya Banjoko is patron for Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature and the founder of the Black Writers Network based in Nottingham.

An online conversation with Ken Kamoche, author of ‘Black Ghosts’. 

Friday 22 October at 2pm
Click here to join the meeting

As part of Black History Month, Nottingham University Business School are delighted to welcome you to an online conversation with Ken Kamoche whose novel, Black Ghosts, has just been released in the UK (an earlier edition was published some years ago in Kenya). As Ken also researches the Africa-China business nexus, he will do a reading, discuss this work of fiction and other related aspects of the Africa-China engagement. The event will be hosted by Musa Mangena.  Below is a synopsis from the publisher: 

Dan Chiponda earns a scholarship to study in China and reluctantly leaves Zimbabwe for an uncertain future. While stoically dealing with racial abuse in a country where Africans are known as black ghosts, he is too timid to engage in the money-making schemes available to students. Yet he remains haunted by the weight of his mother’s expectations, encapsulated by the image of the African fish eagle. But the best he can do is a safe job in a bar run by the enigmatic Wang. Things take a dramatic turn when Chinese students pour into the streets in an orgy of violence to drive Africans out of town. Dan’s first impulse is to escape to Zimbabwe but the pressure from his family and the love for his girlfriend Lai Ying force him to stay put. In the aftermath of the riots, tight rules force the foreign students to create innovative ways to see their girlfriends, and in the midst of all this, Lai Ying gets pregnant and secretly procures an abortion. Nothing will ever be the same again.

Let’s Dance Salsa! – Medical School Foyer

Tuesday 26 October from 12pm – 2.00pm

Ever wanted to have a go at Salsa?  This event is a great opportunity to experience this amazing social dance. Learn to dance with one of our fantastic dancers Cleon. So, bring your dancing shoes and a smile on your face as he will get you dancing.  The Afro Caribbean National Artistic Centre will also come along and bring in some tasty food.

Exile, Magic and Power

Wednesday 27 October, from 6pm at Lakeside Arts
Register for this event

Join world-leading storyteller Jan Blake for a tale like no other. Using the powerful story of Exile, Magic and Power – which is told by griots across West Africa but is rarely heard in the UK – about the legendary 13th Century Malian King Sundiata Keita as the bedrock for the piece, Jan and her team will work together to try out different ideas, technologies and ways of interacting with audiences to forge an exciting new path for Digital Storytelling.
Pay what you can.

Black History Month Film Screening: ‘Get Out’

Wednesday 27 October at 5pm.  B63, Law and Social Sciences Building, University Park
Book for the film screening

Rachel Fyson and Cath Williams, are delighted to invite you to watch the film screening followed by a discussion of the issues it raises. Free ‘cinema–style’ refreshments will be provided.
About ‘Get Out’: Chris, an African-American man, decides to visit his Caucasian girlfriend’s parents during a weekend getaway. Although they seem normal at first, he is not prepared to experience the horrors ahead. (Written and directed by Jordan Peele). Film Screening (running time:144 mins).  Watch the trailer.

Black History Month Film Night in The Nest, Sutton Bonington Campus.

Thursday 28 October 2021 from 5pm – 8pm
Register for this event

As part of our Black History Month celebrations we will be screening Hairspray (2007) in The Nest@The Barn in partnership with UoNResX. This ‘wonderfully camp’ musical is set in 60s Baltimore and explores themes of body positivity and empowerment over a backdrop of historically inspired racial and gender tensions and stereotypes.

You do not need a ticket to come but the event is only available to those with UoN student/staff ID. Food starts at 5 (African themed – feel free to bring your own contribution) – no charge so come early, once it is gone …it is gone. Film starts at 5:30pm.
Also… Queen Latifa, Zac Efron, John Travolta and Christopher Walken – need we really say more?

The Nest is at https://w3w.co/contacts.sofa.health.

Lakeside Arts Events celebrating Black History Month

Lakeside is proud to host a fantastic range of events throughout October celebrating the talent, stories and contributions of black artists. Engage with powerful stories highlighting significant individuals and movements that influenced change historically and contemporaneously. Our programme includes *Rubika Shah’s documentary about rock against racism White Riot, musical theatre for family audiences about Josephine Baker, innovative storytelling from world-renowned *Jan Blake; and sharply honed comedy from Loyisa Gola.
See what’s on and book tickets now.