Celebrating Black History Month: Events on and off campus

From public lectures and inspiring talks from an Olympic champion – to the Summer of Soul , the University and Students’ Union have been celebrating Black History Month with a range of events on campus.

This year’s theme for the UK-wide Black History Month campaign is ‘Proud To Be.' It invites Black and Brown people of all ages to share what they are proud to be: Proud To Be Black, Proud To Be Brown, Proud To Be Black & LGBTQ+, Proud To Be Me.

The University and Students’ Union are committed to social justice, diversity and inclusion and welcome the opportunity to encourage staff and students to enjoy the feeling of being ‘Proud To Be’ during Black History Month.

Celebrating Black History Month provides a way to reflect on achievements and innovative contributions of black and brown people to the social, political and cultural development of the United Kingdom.

There’s still time to catch a few events:

Current and upcoming events/activities on and off campus:

* Wednesday 27 October 2021 (2-4pm): The Institute of Applied Ethics presents: Multiculturalism & the Limits of Liberalism with Professor Tariq Modood, University of Bristol. Book here.

* Thursday 28 October 2021 (4-5.30pm): Public Lecture Programme: Lessons from the Venture Smith Project: Professor David Richardson, Chandler Saint, Rob Forbes and Karen Okra discuss some of the lessons learned from the Venture Smith project on both sides of the Atlantic. Book your place.

* Wednesday 3 November: Teaching Excellence Academy: What decolonisation means to me: understanding the ethics, politics and practicalities of decolonisation. (Details of how to book will follow in due course, university email required to register).

* Thursday 4 November 2021 (4-5.30pm): Public Lecture Programme: Blood Legacy: Reckoning With a Family’s Story of Slavery: In this lecture, Alex Renton author of 'Blood Legacy: Reckoning With a Family’s Story of Slavery', shares a personal discovery of his family's involvement in the transatlantic slavery with contributions from Cecile Oxaal and Karen Okra. Book Your Place

For details of Black History Month taking place across the city in October, please visit the website.

Listed below, you’ll find a range of events and activities that have already taken place across the University, including the Students Union programme.

Events on campus to date have included:

* Teaching Excellence Academy: What does Black History Month mean for Higher Education?

* Proud To Be...Talk with Team GB Medalist Kye Whyte: The Students’ Union worked in partnership with the University to bring Olympic champion Kye Whyte to campus for a Black History Month talk attended by staff and students. President of Education, Peace, and President of Sport, Sian, hosted the event which saw Kye talk about his childhood, his ambitions and of course, the Tokyo Olympics. You can read more about this event later in the bulletin.

* Student Futures: BAME Higher Series Launch with Kye Whyte. Tokyo 2020 BMX silver medallist, Kye, gave a 20-minute online inspirational talk to students last week.

* The School of the Arts screened the recently-released film Summer Of Soul(directed by Ahmir ‘Questlove’ Thompson). The film is part music film and part historical record, created around an epic event that celebrated Black history, culture and fashion. The film was be preceded by a live interview with Aaron Casserly Stewart. Aaron is a jazz vocalist and former singer with the three-time Grammy Award winning group the ‘Sounds Of Blackness’ In 2012 he won an Image Award from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People civil rights organisation and he is the Executive Producer at Supa Qween Records, the Chair of Black Lives Matter Leeds, and acts as an advisor to the PRS Foundation.

* Alderman Sydney Smith Annual Lecture with Professor Douglas Hamilton. Professor Hamilton is an historian of the eighteenth-century British Atlantic empire, with a particular interest in the Caribbean and slavery.

Hull University Students’ Union Black History Month events:

* BAME Community Network: Students were invited to join their Student President Team: to meet, chat and eat with other students and get to know their student community. Find out more here.

* Hannah Awonuga Virtual Q&A: Hannah is a motivational speaker and owner of Rarity London, which is an inclusion and development coaching service that focuses on supporting female professionals throughout their careers. They aim to inspire, empower and motivate women to work hard to achieve their full potential. Hannah talked about her role, and how she got there. More information is available here.

* The HUSU Big Quiz: The HUSU Big Quiz was back to celebrate Black History Month. As well as the classic general knowledge rounds, the quiz will feature a special music round. All songs included in the music round will be created by black artists.

* Stitch A Statement: At this event, students had a go at stitching a statement related to Black History.

Show Racism The Red Card: At 11am students and staff at HUSU gathered outside Student Central – all wearing red to show solidarity for Show Racism The Red card.

* Social media: As well as these events, the Students' Union is gathering quotes from HUSU staff and students around the theme 'Proud To Be' and sharing them on our social pages. If there are any submissions, please email husu-marketing@hull.ac.uk.