October is Black History Month and the University of Liverpool has a range of events and activities taking place – designed to raise awareness of marginalised figures from the past and champion equality for the future.
The theme of this year’s Black History Month (UK) is ‘Celebrating our sisters’, paying homage to black women who had contributions ignored, ideas appropriated, and voices silenced.
On social media, the hashtag #WEMATTER is being used to highlight the crucial role that black women have played in shaping history, inspiring change, and building communities.
One of the black female figures being recognised by the University this year is Henrietta Lacks, an African-American woman whose cancer cells, used without consent, have led to breakthroughs in vaccine development, cancer research, chromosome counting and genome mapping. An exhibition in the Harold Cohen Library will recognise her legacy throughout October.
Henrietta’s story will also be explored in the event ‘Bioethics of being Black in Science and Medicine’, featuring Yok’elengi, a traditional band from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Aminita Francis, the multi-nominated actress who played Henrietta in the play Family Tree. This event is hosted by the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, in partnership with Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, and will take place in the Tung Auditorium on Thursday 12 October, from 6.15pm. Tickets can be pre-booked and cost £3, with proceeds going to charity.
On Wednesday 4 October, 2-3pm the Guild will be hosting their first Black Students’ Meet Up of the year. This is a chance to discuss unique issues that affect Black students at university and to consider what you as Black students want from your student community. This session is open to Black students only and there will be free refreshments and pizza. More Guild events will be publicised very soon, once final details have been put in place.
On Thursday 5 October, 5.30-7.30pm, a panel event entitled Tackling our colonial legacies through restorative action will take place at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. Panel members include Ama Biney, Stephen Small, Jason Arday and Laurence Westgaph, and this free Q&A session will be accompanied by African food and refreshments.
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We’ve launched a University WhatsApp Community to help students keep up-to-date this academic year.
The Community is for all students at the University. We’ll post to the Community a couple of times a month about upcoming events you might like, new volunteer opportunities and University news and updates.
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Centre for the Study of International Slavery
Meanwhile the Centre for the Study of International Slavery has released its Black History Month events programme. All events are free but please register in advance. Their programme features:
CSIS Presents: Emily Zobel Marshall’s Bath of Herbs
Thursday, October 19, 5-7:30pm at the Bluecoat
Dr Emily Zobel Marshall is a renowned academic, will be speaking at Bluecoat about her newest publication, Bath of Herbs. This publication is a beautifully crafted, honest and thoughtful collection of poetry that explores the complexity of mixed-race, hybrid identities and relationships to the English and Welsh mountains, fells, rivers, and shorelines from an ‘othered’, unmappable, positionality. Refreshments will be provided. Books will be on sale at the event and Emily will sign your copy following her presentation.
CSIS Presents: Toussaint Louverture: The Story of the only successful slave revolt with Nic Watts and Sakina Karimjee
Tuesday, 24 October, 5-8pm at the University of Liverpool
This is the impassioned and beautifully drawn story of the Haitian Revolution and its incredible leader: Toussaint Louverture. The text of this graphic novel was originally a play by C. L. R. James that opened in London in 1936 with Paul Robeson in the title role. For the first time, black actors appeared on the British stage in a work by a black playwright. The script had been lost for almost seventy years when a draft copy was discovered among James’s archives. Now this extraordinary drama has been reimagined by artists Nic Watts and Sakina Karimjee and CSIS is thrilled to bring this artistic creation to Liverpool. Books will be on sale at the event and the authors will sign your copy following their presentation. Refreshments will be provided.
Festival of Social Science: CSIS Presents a Screening of Turning Point
Wednesday, 25 October, 5-8pm at FACT Liverpool
Turning Point tells four comedy melodramas from the early 20th-century British West Indies. The work is inspired by oral history research with ordinary Black men and women who reimagined themselves with a new (defiant) Black pride and aspiration, that shaped the childhoods of our Windrush generation. Refreshments and nibbles will be provided. The event is sponsored by the ESRC Festival for Social Science which is an opportunity for anyone to explore topics relating to social science, from health and wellbeing to crime, equality, education and identity, through events run by researchers from UK universities. The 2023 festival is taking place from 21 October to 17 November 2023.
What’s on elsewhere
Elsewhere in the city, there is plenty to get involved in. Here’s a taster of just some of the Black History Month events taking place across Liverpool:
- Black, Female, Scouse exhibition at Liverpool Central Library. October to February 2024.
- Creative Writing Workshops for children and young people, by The Windows Project, various venues from Sunday 1 to Tuesday 31 October.
- Slavery and St George’s – Who Lies Here? A lecture from Malik Al Nasir, author, poet and academic, on Sandbach, Tinne and Company and those buried at St George’s Everton. Sunday 1 October.
- Lecture from Alan Smith, Liverpool City Council’s Head of Heritage Preservation and Development, on the roles of William and John Gladstone and their association with slavery. Monday 2, 9, 16 and 23 October, 10am.
- Inspirational Black Scousers. A guided tour covering stories of some of the many inspirational Black British people connected to Liverpool. Wednesday 4 – Sunday 22 October, 11am and 1.30pm.
- Identity Crisis, Phina Oruche’s one-woman play at Hope Street Theatre. Sunday 8 October.
- The Great War to Race Riots Walking Tour The highly popular 1919 Race riots walking tour returns for Black History Month, exploring the murder of Charles Wotton and the social and political backdrop of these tragic events. Saturday 14 October.
Visit our dedicated Black History Month web page for more information on the events and activities taking place at the University and beyond throughout October.
More events from our friends and partners
You can also find the details of Black History Month events across the city on the Culture Liverpool and National Museums websites.