Black History Month’s theme in the UK is Standing Firm in Power and Pride Paulette Hamilton, Labour MP for Birmingham Erdington writes: This year’s theme … is deeply personal to me, not just as Birmingham’s first Black MP, but as a woman who has dedicated her life to fighting for health equity in our communities. … Read More
Black History
Red Line for Gaza: why does the UK government still sell arms to Israel?
On Saturday 6 September a couple of friends and I marched in support of Red Line for Gaza. The march was organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (not to be confused with the UK government’s proscribed Palestine Action). This report suggests there were 300,000 of us; this one that there were 20,000. Certainly thousands marched … Read More
Samara Joy
In one of the first Proms of this 2025 London Season I heard Samara Joy. I’d never heard her before but she truly is a joy. She’s only twenty-five, her vocal range is amazing and the only sad thing is she’s not planning to come back to Europe for the foreseeable, although she’s got gigs … Read More
Hidden Histories with Nova Reid
Nova Reid, producer, author, truthseeker and all-round remarkable Black woman, has made a podcast with Audible about other remarkable and unsung Black women: women who not only survived enslavement and unimaginable racism, but who thrived. It’s called Hidden Histories and, as Nova says, it explores the lives of: Pioneers, journalists, and rule-breakers – remarkable figures … Read More
Our view of the world is distorted – so our worldview is distorted
A big thank you to Black History Studies and Mark Simpson, Director of Operations, for the title of this piece and for his insight into the ways different world maps have been put together and how they affect our view of the world. On the first evening of the Introduction to Black Studies course Mark … Read More
Black History Month; Black History Studies and Nova Reid’s Student Confession
October is Black History Month in the UK. But obviously Black History should be taught and celebrated every day of every year in history lessons in our schools, in everyday conversation, in stories, in music and song, in any way at all, everywhere in our lives. The theme this year is Reclaiming Narratives #reclaimingnarrativesbhm : … Read More
ORIGIN: Ava DuVernay and Isabel Wilkerson on CASTE
If you haven’t seen ORIGIN – Ava DuVernay’s film about Isabel Wilkerson’s life and why and how she came to write CASTE – I urge you to. If you have seen it, I’d love to know how it made you feel, what it made you think and, most importantly, what it made you do or … Read More
If the son of a Klu Klux Klan leader can become an Anti-Racist, everyone can
It takes 25 minutes to watch this video. It takes a lifetime to remain committed to anti-racism. But this person’s journey from white supremacy to anti-racism shows us just how essential it is that we all begin that journey. Click on the image below to get to the Hard Talk programme interview. The book is … Read More
I’m breaking up with my shame, on Valentine’s Day
There are studies that show what happens to couples on Valentine’s Day: the less attachment-avoidant among us fare better, as you might guess, and some of us break up. But what if the relationship is between a person and an emotion? My shame and I have been strongly-attached for decades. But now we’re breaking up. … Read More
Black History Month, and David Olusoga
October is Black History Month in the UK, but David Olusoga, historian and broadcaster, and many many others, including me, think it’s well past time that British history included everyone who’s part of the UK’s history wherever it’s taught, read or written about. Our history is a shared history, a history that belongs to all … Read More
Windrush, 75 years on
Seventy-five years ago, on 22 June 1948, HMT (His Majesty’s Transport) Empire Windrush arrived at Tilbury Docks, on the River Thames. She was named, as many empire ships were, for a British river, in her case the River Windrush, a small Thames tributary. Windrush brought 492 passengers to Britain from several Caribbean islands including Jamaica … Read More
Blue Plaques for Black People: Nubian Jak Community Trust
For this Black History month, here’s an organisation which celebrates Black history throughout the year and throughout the land. The Nubian Jak Community Trust (NCTJ) installs Blue Plaques to acknowledge and remember notable Black people. It was founded in 2006. It also develops learning and educational resources about the plaque recipients for schools and colleges. … Read More