Black History Month Calendar

Mary Seacole

Mary Seacole was a British-Jamaican business woman and nurse who set up the "British Hotel" behind the lines during the Crimean War. Our very own Seacole building is named in her memory.

Women's Society - B.H.M. themed Discussion Group

Time: 3pm-5pm

Location: C250 - Curzon Building

People of Colour Society

Did you know the People of Colour Society is free to join? Get involved, and make your voice heard.

Ignatius Sancho

The first African prose writer published in England, Sancho became a financially independent male householder and the first known black British voter.

Olaudah Equiano

His autobiography became pivotal for the abolitionist movement. It describes near unfathomable horrors of captivity, before he purchased freedom around 22 years of age.

Ira Aldridge

Born in New York before the abolition of slavery, he immigrated to the UK in order to pursue opportunities impossible for a black man in the US. He went on to establish himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor throughout Europe.

Evelyn Dove

Dove was an internationally renowned singer, actress and star of the 1920’s cabaret scene. The daughter of a Sierra Leonean Barrister and his English wife, Dove studied at the Royal Academy of Music where she performed with some of the world’s top black entertainers.

Stuart Hall

Hailed as “the godfather of multiculturalism", Hall was a one of Britain’s leading intellectuals and political campaigners. He helped found the influential academic journal, The New Left Review.

Film Screening of Bullet Boy

People of Colour Society presents: Bullet Boy

Time: 2pm-4pm

Location: C486 - Curzon Building

Neil Kenlock

Since moving to Britain from Jamaica in 1963, Neil Kenlock has been at the forefront of documenting the black experience in the UK.

Sir Learie Constantine

Sir Learie Nicholas Constantine, Baron Constantine, MBE was a West Indian cricketer, lawyer and politician who served as Trinidad's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and became the UK's first black peer.

Joan Armatrading

Three-time Grammy Award-nominee Joan Armatrading was the first ever female UK artist to be nominated for a Grammy in the blues category.

Olive Morris

Morris was a prominent civil rights activist, spearheading antiracist activism in South London and Manchester. Olive Morris featured on the Brixton pound - a local currency launched in 2009.

Zadie Smith

Since the release of her debut novel when she was just 24, Smith has been regarded as one of the leading literary voices of her generation.

Sharing Stories

Presented by People of Colour Society and VP Equity.

Time: 4pm-6pm

Location: C321 - Curzon Building

Film Screening of A Moving Image

Presented by People of Colour Society

Time: 2pm-4pm

Location: C488 - Curzon Building

Mary Price

First black woman author published in Endland.

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was an English composer and conductor of mixed race; his mother was an English woman and his father was a Sierra Leone Creole physician.

Dianne Abbot

Member of Parliament for Hackney North and Stoke Newington since 1987. She was the country's first black woman MP as well as the longest serving black MP in the House of Commons.

Lennox Lewis

Lennox Claudius Lewis CM, CBE is a retired professional boxer who competed from 1989 to 2003. He is a three-time world heavyweight champion, a two-time lineal champion, and remains the last heavyweight to hold the undisputed title.

Mike Fuller

He was the first (and so far only) ethnic minority chief constable in the United Kingdom and the first black officer of chief constable-equivalent rank.

Sharing Stories

Presented by People of Colour Society and VP Equity

Time: 5pm-6pm

Location: SCT107 - Seacole Building

Film Screening of Babylon

Presented by People of Colour Society

Time: 2pm-4pm

Location: C420 - Curzon Building

Akala

Kingslee James McLean Daley, better known by the stage name Akala, is a British rapper, journalist, author, activist, poet and political activist.

Sislin Fay Allen

The first black woman officer was Sislin Fay Allen who served from 1968 – 1972. "On the day I joined I nearly broke a leg trying to run away from reporters. I realised then that I was a history maker. But I didn't set out to make history; I just wanted a change of direction."

Lenny Henry

Sir Lenworth George Henry CBE is a British stand-up comedian, actor, singer, writer and television presenter, known for co-founding the charity Comic Relief – he is also BCU's Vice Chancellor, and occasionally enjoys a drink at the Eagle & Ball!

Benjamin Zephaniah

Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah is a British Jamaican Rastafarian writer and dub poet. He is a well-known figure in contemporary English literature, and was included in The Times list of Britain's top 50 post-war writers in 2008.

Paul Stephenson

Paul Stephenson OBE is a community worker, activist and long-time campaigner for civil rights for the British African-Caribbean community in Bristol, England.

Claudia Jones

A radical political activist who arrived in Britain following her expulsion from the McCarthy-era US, Trinidadian-born Claudia Jones is best remembered by history as the mother of Notting Hill Carnival.

Film Screening of Belle

Presented by People of Colour Society

Time: 2pm-4pm

Location C420 - Curzon Building

It's not over...

Recognising Black history, experiences, and figures isn’t just confined to October – it’s all year round. Join the People of Colour Society today, and help make change happen!