Black History Month 2022
Time for change: action not words
"Black History Month is here! Black History Month is always an exciting moment for us as a community to come together to celebrate Black people, Black history, Black culture and the Black experience. This year we asked our community to participate in Black History Month to showcase the knowledge, talent and stories we have at Kingston. We have range of events such as lightning talks, workshops, performances, and digital installations for you to enjoy. All of which we hope will offer you something new and interesting to think about.
This year's national theme is 'Time for Change: Action Not Words'. It is a compelling reminder that our words are never enough if they are not followed by the actions to obtain the justice and change we seek. This year also marks two years since the beginning of the Black Lives Matter movement and is an apt reminder to reflect on what we have achieved in this time. As an institution, we made a strong commitment to taking action to improve the lives and experiences of our Black community, and we are encouraged with how far we have come in bringing actions to our words. However, we know our work continues. This month, we encourage you to personally reflect with us and others about what action you can take to support our community of Black students, staff, and alumni.
We hope you will journey with us throughout this month to 'Dig Deeper' and 'Look Closer' into Black History, and 'Think Bigger' about creating a more equitable and just future."
Tamara Reid, Inclusive Curriculum Consultants Programme Lead
Black History Month matters to me because it's an opportunity to engage with Black People, Black History, and Culture. It allows us a moment to celebrate us and our achievements as well as mourn all that we have endured and lost along the way. Most importantly to share this with others so our experiences don't continue to remain hidden or excluded.
Tamara Reid, Inclusive Curriculum Consultants Programme Lead
In societies that have long marginalised Black people, celebrations like Black History Month serve to draw attention to what is ignored. Though an imperfect solution, it's one that hopefully serves to inspire change whilst also highlighting incredible people and powerful events. Kingston University is part of a wider community, and the month of October is a chance for us to reflect, learn, plan and contribute towards positive change.
Dr William Essilfie, Lead for Student Academic Success
Events
Wednesday 5 October, 14:00-15:15 Keynote talks
Christian Facey, CEO at AudioMob,
Forbes 30 Under 30,
Kingston University graduate
Christian's online talk - Approaching life as if there's no ceiling - will explain how a failing ethnic minority student became the CEO of a multi-million dollar start-up before the age of 30, and the mindset developed to achieve it.
Winsome Pinnock,
Award-winning Black British playwright, gives a talk in-person.
Winsome will consider the global impact of the death of George Floyd and the challenge of achieving lasting change.
Wednesday 12 October, 10:00-10:15 – Lightning talk: Why does the continuation of HE support matter to black graduates early in their careers?
Suhayla Lahrichi Greenwood, Rochelle Watson and Aysel Salieva
Wednesday 12 October, 10:15-11:15 – Lightning talk: My career after University - Black biomolecular science students
Dr Simon Gould and Dr Ahmed Elbediwy
Wednesday 12 October, 11:30-12:10 – Rediscovering Rosa Parks - Digging into Civil Rights History
Helen Laville, Provost
Wednesday 19 October, 12:15-12:30 – Lightning talk: Elizabeth Dido Belle
Karen Lipsedge
Monday 24 October to Tuesday 1 November – Online digital display: International Black Scholars Programme
Reflecting on global engagement, climate change and anti-racist practice.
Tuesday 25 October, 10:00-11:00 – Workshop: Climate change through an anti-racist lens from the world to the classroom (and back)
Tania Dias Fonseca, Danielle Chavrimootoo
Monday 31 October, 9:30-16:30 - Festival of Learning Bitesize: Building Relationships, Breaking Barriers: Working together to address the Black Degree Awarding Gap.
Staff and students can sign up to these events via StaffSpace or MyKingston.
Black History Month gives us an opportunity to make time to celebrate and recognise the range of contributions Black and Brown peoples have made to our society. This year Black History Month also reminds us that now is also the ‘Time for Change'. As Rosa Parks, the African American activist of the civil rights reminds us that 'To bring about change you must not be afraid to take the first step. We will fail when we fail to try.' This is our time to work together as a Kingston Community to keep trying to bring about that change.
Karen Lipsedge, Associate Professor, School of Creative and Cultural Industries
Black History Month is more than a month for me. It is my 24/7, 365. It is my lived experience. That being said; it is the one time of the month I get to be unapologetically Black as my Blackness is appreciated in a different way and loudly accepted and acknowledged. I love to see my social media feeds lit up with historical facts, Black history tours, art and small theatre production events, markets and spaces populated with Black foods and Black vendors, and general spaces where Black people can thrive.
Paula Cummins, Senior Lecturer, Midwifery & Department Lead for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
Meet the student behind this year's Black History Month artwork
This year's artwork has been created by Sustainable Design student, Trusha Oza, who explains her design process:
"The BHM branding uses bright colours, playful and bold typography to represent the joy of decoloniality. I attended a workshop at the University of Westminster where we shared images and objects that bring us decoloniality joy. Participants shared powerful stories of strength, family, food, culture, etc which was the main inspiration behind the identity design. The design aims to evoke a positive feeling of decolonisation and at the same time show strength in fighting colonialism.
My process involved working with keywords, creating a visual mood board, sketching and finally working on Adobe illustrator to create logo options. I had the most fun designing this logo, the process gave me joy."
News carousel
Resources
- Black History Month UK official website.
- BBC Alt History: Writer and historian David Olusoga presents a series of short films exploring critical moments in Black British history from 1919 that have been forgotten or rarely discussed.
- TED talks: How to recognise your white privilege – and use it to fight inequality – Peggy McIntosh, Anti-racism activist, scholar.
- TED talks: The Danger of a Single Story – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
- White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack (PDF).
- Black Cultural Archives: Telling the story of the Black British experience.
Reading list
- Noughts and Crosses series by Malorie Blackman.
- Resisting Racism: Race, Inequality and the Black Supplementary School Movement by Kehinde Andrews.
- White: Essays on Race and Culture by Richard Dyer.
- Staying Power: The History of Black People in Britain by Peter Fryer.
- How To Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi.
- Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge.
Students and staff can find a wider list of resources and suggested readings by logging into the iCat online library with their Kingston University username and password.
