Black History Month
Events
We're hosting a month of events to celebrate Black History and culture this October. Learn more about what's happening in each week!
Throughout the month
Unlocking Our Sound Heritage - Black History Month Playlist
1 October 2024 – 31 October 2024, 8.00am – 7.00pm, Sir Bob Burgess Building, Foyer
Throughout October, in the Foyer of the Sir Bob Burgess Building, come and hear sounds clips of oral history interviews related to Black History Month.
- To learn more about the Unlocking Our Sound Heritage project and Save our Sounds programme, please visit Archives and Special Collections.
Book a Coaching Taster Session
1 October 2024 – 31 October 2024, online
Curious about coaching but not sure what to expect? Join one of our qualified coaches for a personalised 45-minute session, designed to meet your unique needs in a confidential and supportive environment.
- Book session at a convenient time throughout October by emailing Lisa Hallam (lisa.hallam@le.ac.uk)
Students’ Union & Opal 22 Exhibition
1 October 2024 - 31 October 2024, John Lewis and Partners, SU Square, Percy Gee
The Students’ Union will hosting a Black History Month exhibition curated by Opal 22. Opal 22 emerged from a profound commitment to preserving Black history and heritage, and work towards creating a future where Black British history is seamlessly integrated into the broader narrative of British heritage, and where Black artists and curators are empowered to thrive and inspire through accessible, innovative, and community-driven events.
Celebrating our Black History - A collaboration with John Lewis Leicester
1 October 2024 - 31 October 2024, John Lewis and Partners, Highcross Leicester
The University has teamed up with the Highcross shopping centre’s flagship department store John Lewis to celebrate Black History Month.
The collaboration shines a spotlight on Black history makers from the University who have made a significant impact, through an in-store exhibition.
The exhibition consist of story boards that showcase a series of case studies that were featured in the University’s Our 100 celebrations such as Esua Goldsmith becoming the first Black woman President in the Students’ Union, and Leicester student alumnus Sir Geoff Palmer who earned his knighthood for his work in science, human rights and charity. The story boards also feature more recent case studies in relation to Dame Maggie Aderin-Pocock becoming the University’s first Black female Chancellor, and the commission of a mural to commemorate the Windrush generation being commissions by our students from Leicester Law School.
The story boards will be on display from Tuesday 1 October in John Lewis’ first-floor shop windows. Inside the building, in the Place to Eat restaurant, posters from the University’s catering provider LSP, celebrating Black food innovators will also go on display. The University’s gospel choir, The Revival, will also perform in-store on Saturday 5 October between midday and 3.00pm. Visit the Leicester John Lewis Instagram page for more details.
Week one (1-6 October 2024)
ResLife Black History Month Movie Night
Thu 3 October 2024, 7.00pm, Freeman’s Common Cinema Room & Student Village Cinema Room
Join the ResLife Team for a movie night as part of the celebrations for Black History Month.
Black Voices in Concert: Singing in the Black Oral Tradition
Fri 4 October 2024, 7.00pm – 9.30pm, Attenborough Arts Centre
Black Voices is globally celebrated for their unique form of a cappella music, singing in the Black oral tradition. Their international following appreciates the simple beauty and power of the human voice they present and the open and free expression that singing in the Black oral tradition promotes.
In this special concert, Black Voices will present a mix of genres and styles including spirituals, blues, jazz, pop, gospel, reggae, folk and contemporary fusions, woven with stories of life through a journey of love, hope, social justice and truth.
Such is their critical acclaim and respect amongst the music industry, Black Voices has opened concerts for some of the greatest names in music including Ray Charles, Nina Simone, Hugh Masekela, Miriam Makeba, Laura Mvula and Take 6.
Black History Month Q&A with Tara Munroe, Arts and Heritage Coordinator
Fri 4 October 2024, 12.00pm – 1.00pm, Liberation Space, Percy Gee Building
A 30-minute talk from Tara Munroe, Arts and Heritage Coordinator, specialising in all that is Black Excellence, followed by a 30-minute Q&A session./p>
ResLife Black History Month Crafts Afternoon
Sun 6 October 2024, 12.00pm, Freeman’s Common Social Space & Student Village Hub
Join the ResLife Team for an afternoon crafts session as part of the celebrations for Black History Month../p>
Week two (7-13 October 2024)
Teaching Black History
9 October 2024, 2.00pm, Attenborough Seminar Block, Room 101
Join the School of History, Politics and International Relations and the Heritage Hub for a roundtable discussion with postgraduate and undergraduate students on teaching black history.
- Please contact the Heritage Hub (heritageuol@le.ac.uk) for more information on this event.
Black Excellence Leadership Forum 2024
11 October 2024, 3.00pm – 5.00pm, Loughborough Business School, Loughborough, LE11 3TU
ULSB Black Excellence (UBE) wish to share the upcoming Black Excellence Leadership Forum, a transformative event dedicated to celebrating and empowering Black leaders and aspiring leaders in Leicestershire. This year, we are proud to align the forum with Black History Month, embracing the theme 'Reclaiming Narratives.' Free to attend.
Hidden Figures (2016) Film Screening
11 October 2024, 5.00pm – 10.00pm, Ken Edwards Lecture Theatre 3
Join the Students’ Union for a screening of Hidden Figures, an adaptation of Margot Lee Shetterly’s eponymous book, which explores the lives of three female African-American mathematicians Katherine Goble Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson, who worked at NASA during the Space Race and their critical contributions to the first and subsequent U.S.A crewed spaceflights.
Certificate: PG
10,000 Interns Foundation (student only event)
11 October 2024, 5.00pm – 7.00pm, Peter Jackson Lecture Theatre, Brookfield, School of Business
ULSB Black Excellence (UBE) will be hosting 10,000 Interns Foundation, a well-known organisation that facilitates internships/placements for Black students. The Foundation have placed thousands of students across various industries/sectors since their inception. They will be giving advice on making applications that stand out. Interested students/alumni can register now.
WORD! and Renaissance One present Caribbean Woman: A Tribute Through Poetry, Words and Song
12 October 2024, 3.30pm – 5.00pm, Attenborough Arts Centre
An afternoon of spoken word, art, conversation and music that marks and showcases the power and creativity of Caribbean women in the UK arts scene, inspired by the powerful poem ‘Caribbean Woman’ by the late Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze MBE.
Featuring poetry by Valda Jackson MBE RWA (award-winning poet, sculptor, fine artist & designer of the Royal Mint 50p coin commemorating 75 years of Windrush), music and song by award-winning calypsonian Tobago Crusoe (Calypso Monarch and featured in Paddington movies) and multidisciplinary word & sound artist, Mellow Baku (“A must for all’ Courtney Pine OBE).
With co-hosting performances by Melanie Abrahams FRSA Hon FRSL and Kamisha Hawkins. Co-curated by Lydia Towsey and Melanie Abrahams – the event features outstanding British Caribbean artists who elevate ideas and encourage us to unwind and to respond.
To sign up for a PWYF workshop running 1-2.30pm and/or to share something as part of an open mic email hello@wordpoetry.co.uk. Work exploring black history and culture and/or by people of African Caribbean origin is particularly invited.
WORD! and Renaissance One present Caribbean Woman: A Tribute Through Poetry, Words and Song Workshop
12 October 2024, 1.00pm – 2.30pm, Attenborough Arts Centre
Word and Renaissance One Present: Resilience and Progressing Your Artistic Practice with Valda Jackson MBE RWA and Melanie Abrahams FRSA Hon FRSL. A conversational and practical space to think, plan and connect.
This workshop salon is for artists and creatives who are keen to address and to evolve their resilience, as part of progressing their career and practice. Within a space of solidarity, we will ask questions of ourselves that we may not often have the time or opportunity to think about. As part of the conversation, we will focus on what tools, mindset and habits we need to incorporate within our working and everyday lives.
ResLife Black History Month Let’s Eat Food Event
17 October 2024, 7pm, Freeman’s Common Social Space & Student Village Hub
Join the ResLife Team for their Let’s Eat Food events as part of the celebrations for Black History Month.
One Night in Miami (2020) Film Screening
18 October 2024, 5.00pm – 10pm, Ken Edwards Lecture Theatre 3
Join the Students’ Union for a screening of Regina King’s feature film directorial debut, One Night in Miami, which explores a fictionalized account of a meeting between Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown and Same Cooke at Hampton House in celebration of Ali’s title win against Sonny Liston.
Certificate: 15
Week three (14-20 October 2024)
Discover your personal brand
14 October 2024, 11.30am – 1.00pm, Sir Bob Burgess Building, Room 0.03
We are excited to welcome Lord Simon Woolley who will join us for an engaging session where you’ll discover how your unique personality traits shape your personal brand. Lord Woolley will be sharing personal insights into his lived experiences and how he has utilised coaching and mentoring during his career. You will be supported to utilise the DISC development tool to gain insights of your personal behaviour styles, communication preferences, and work dynamics. Delegates will improve self-awareness and foster stronger interpersonal relationships.
- An opportunity for Black staff and PGRs at all levels - book your place on one of The Coaching and Mentoring Academy events as part of Black History Month. Book your place.
Creative Coaching Workshop
16 October 2024, 2.00pm – 3.30pm, online
Discover the power of coaching through creative practices, artistic expression, visualisation and journaling as you envision your future self.
- To book please email Lisa Hallam, lisa.hallam@le.ac.uk
Tim Fowler: The Ground
18 October 2024 – 26 January 2025, 12.00pm – 5.00pm (Weekdays) / 12.00pm – 4.00pm (Weekends), Gallery 1, Attenborough Arts Centre
Leicester-based artist Tim Fowler will be showing a selection of paintings from his ‘Provenance’ series, which depict migratory plants that have followed a similar journey to his own DNA, from West Africa, via the Caribbean to the UK.
Entitled ‘The Ground’, after the name that many Bajans give to their gardens, the exhibition will also feature brand new work inspired by Fowler’s recent trip to Andromeda Botanic Gardens in Barbados.
The exhibition will be a continued evolution of Fowler’s large-scale paintings, combined with a personal exploration of his Bajan heritage leading back to its African origins through his botanical interest in migratory crops, traditional plants used by African slaves and those still used today by modern day Bajans. Fowler says it is important that the exhibition comes from a place of learning which represents his journey of discovery, referencing a darker colonial history as well as its cultural beauty.
To learn more about the gallery exhibit and the artist Tim Fowler, please visit the Attenborough Arts Centre
Sue Bishop: Reimagining Leicester’s Black Spaces: Using women’s memories of interracial romantic relationships to expand our understanding of the origins of everyday British multiculturalism between 1960 and 1990
18 October 2024, 3.00pm, Attenborough Seminar Block, Room 101 / MS Teams
The Centre for Regional and Local History and Centre for Urban History Autumn 2024 Seminar Series presents as part of Black History Month in partnership with the University of Leicester Heritage Hub, Sue Bishop’s Reimagining Leicester’s Black Spaces: Using women’s memories of interracial romantic relationships to expand our understanding of the origins of everyday British multiculturalism between 1960 and 1990.
Please email Angela Muir (am1074@le.ac.uk) or Roey Sweet (rhs4@leicester.ac.uk) for the MS Teams link or with any queries about the seminar series.
Week four (21-27 October 2024)
Students as allies for cultural change, by Carl Larsen (University of Liverpool)
23 October 2024, 1pm - 2pm, Maurice Shock Building, Lecture Theatre 1
Carl Larsen is a senior lecturer and programme director for Zoology at the University of Liverpool. He also has a keen interest in student EDI initiatives. He will be talking about his work in promoting race equity and diversification of the curriculum through working in partnership with students.
All staff and students are welcome to attend.
- Please contact Sue Shackleton (sue.shackleton@le.ac.uk) if you have any questions or would like to meet with the speaker
Black History Month Film Screening: Bringing Women’s Voices Back In: Gender and Oil Conflict in the Niger Delta
23 October 2024, 5.30pm, University Film Theatre (Attenborough Seminar Block)
Hosted by the Heritage Hub, join Dr Zainab Mai-Bornu for a screening and discussion of their research film Bringing Women’s Voices Back In: Gender and Oil Conflict in the Niger Delta, which highlights the comparative role of women in conflict settings and the key role played by women in the Niger Delta in organising important protests, adoption of nonviolence and concerns on environmental degradation and underdevelopment.
- Free to attend
Students’ Union Black History Month Activity Workshop
24 October 2024, 1.00pm - 2.00pm, Liberation Space, Percy Gee
One-hour activity-based workshop. This session will be designed to immerse participants in the history and culture they present, encouraging active learning and participation
Apittame Arts: Creative Writing - Afrofuturism
27 October 2024, 2.00pm – 3.30pm, Studio 1, Attenborough Arts Centre
Come, spend an afternoon writing and exploring your imagination. You don't have to be Shakespeare or Maya Angelou; all you need is a pen and some paper. You can create a world outside of the woes of everyday life. Together during this session, we hope to explore some creative writing and delve into the world of afro-futurism. All that is required from you is your presence and openness to share the work created in this space.
Luna Loves Library Day: The Musical
27 October 2024, 11.00am – 12.00pm / 2.00pm – 3.00pm, Attenborough Arts Centre
Join Luna and her Dad for an adventure among the library shelves in this exciting new musical for families.
Luna looks forward to one special day… Library Day! It’s the day when she discovers magic among the library shelves, from dinosaurs to mummies, from unexplained mysteries to monsters and magic. But for Luna, Library Day is also a chance to spend time with Dad, making it all the more special.
Based on the critically acclaimed book by Waterstones Children’s Laureate Joseph Coelho and illustrator Fiona Lumbers, join Luna and Dad as they discover magic and mystery, laughter and sadness and, through the power of stories, even start to mend their own history.
Adapted for the stage by award winning poet and author Joseph Coelho, with music and lyrics by family favourite David Gibb, Luna Loves Library Day is the perfect treat for children aged 5+ and their families.
Luna Loves Library Day is a co-production from Little Seeds Music and Z-arts.
Week five (28-31 October 2024)
Black Heritage Student Showcase
30 October 2024, 1.30pm - 3.00pm, George Davies Centre
- Call for submissions, this can be a presentation or creative piece. Please complete a submission form by emailing clsedi@leicester.ac.uk
Black History Month Film Screening: Terry’s GI Dad
30 October 2024, 5.30pm, University Film Theatre (Attenborough Seminar Block)
Hosted by the Heritage Hub, join the subject of the film, Terry Harrison, Director and Producer Jonathan Beamish, and historian Dr Liam McCarthy for a screening and post-event Q&A of Terry’s GI Dad; a film exploring Leicester resident, Terry Harrison’s emotional quest to trace his GI dad and learn about the lives of African American soldiers based in Britain during WWII, follow Terry his hometown of Leicester to South Carolina, Washington DC and the Northern Beaches of France.
- Free to attend
Black food innovators
As part of Black History Month, across various University catering outlets, Leicester Services Partnership (LSP) are celebrating Black food innovators and their contributions to better agricultural processes and food inspiration globally. The University are proud to offer food which reflects and includes the flavours, ingredients and processes founded by Black food innovators.
Unlocking Our Sound Heritage project - Black History Month Playlist
Throughout October, in the Foyer of the Sir Bob Burgess Building, come and hear sounds clips of oral history interviews related to Black History Month.