October is Black History Month in the UK — a chance to learn about Black creatives, heroes, and campaigners from the past, as well as be inspired by the Black figures and industries of today. There's a whole lot going on in London — we've picked some highlights.
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Black History Month walks and talks
- Black History Walks host a number of walks in October, exploring everything from Windrush to Black presence in Tate Britain (various dates in Oct)
- The writing of Caribbean migrants including Samuel Selvon, George Lamming and Linton Kwesi Johnson is explored in the Writing After Windrush lecture at Barnard's Inn Hall (3 Oct)
- Family historian Paul Crooks is at Battersea Library, offering drop-in sessions where you can trace your African Caribbean heritage (5 Oct)
- Vanley Burke, 'Godfather of Black British Photography' comes to the National Portrait Gallery to discuss his project The Making of Black Britain, with Diane Louise Jordan (6 Oct)
- Award-winning historian Professor Kate Dossett explores the women of the Harlem Renaissance in a talk at Barnard's Inn Hall (5 Oct)
- London's streets, legendarily 'paved with gold', also run with the blood of enslaved people — discover the links between the City and the slave trade on the eye-opening Slave Trade Money Trail Tour (7 and 28 Oct)
- The Natural History Museum is running a day of inspiring talks by Black scientists covering everything from the Eastern Caribbean Volcanic Arc to the dinosaurs that stalked what is now Africa (8 Oct)
Black History Month music, theatre film and comedy
- Croydon's Fairfield Halls screens the 2021 film Respect, about the life and times of the great Aretha Franklin (4 Oct)
- Young violinist Randall Goosby teams up with pianist Zhu Wang, to perform music from three Black composers (Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, William Grant Still and Florence Price) at the Southbank Centre (13 Oct)
- A slew of great Black comedians — including Richard Blackwood, Slim and Rudi Lickwood — raise the roof at Hackney Empire's Pioneers of Comedy shebang (21 Oct)
- The legendary PP Arnold (of The First Cut is the Deepest fame) performs at Boisdale of Canary Wharf (25 Oct)
- Catford's Broadway Theatre puts on two Windrush 75 shows in one, with a staging of The Front Room: a Windrush Legend — followed by music from the era played live by the The Freedom Band UK (28 Oct)
Black History Month markets and fairs
- Get down to Brixton's Black Farmers' Market, established 'to restore the cultural and historical communal atmosphere' of the area (8 Oct)
- There's three days' worth of food, crafts, dance and music at inilford Black History Month Food Fair (13-15 Oct)
- Goldsmiths in New Cross hosts the Black Book Festival, celebrating writers and publishers from the African Diaspora (21 Oct)
Black History Month exhibitions
- Coinciding with the release of Atinuke and Kingsley Nebechi's book Brilliant Black British History, there's a free exhibition at Brixton's Black Cultural Archives (5 October-28 Jan)
- Lagos, Peckham, Repeat is on right now at Camberwell's South London Gallery, and explores Peckham's identity as 'Little Lagos'. It's free. (Until 29 October)
- Claudette Johnson, a founding member of the Black British Arts Movement, is the focus of the current exhibition on at the Courtauld Gallery — Claudette Johnson: Presence is a retrospective showing off 30 years' of her large-scale drawings of Black men and women. (Until 14 Jan)
- St James' Piccadilly has just unveiled a set of artworks by Trinidad-based artist Che Lovelace, dedicated to Quobna Ottobah Cugoano, a former enslaved man, who ended up living in London and campaigning against slavery. It's free to go and see them, and they're a permanent installation.
Londonist on Black history
Check out our articles on Black history in London:
- "I Had Never Seen A Train Before!" Memories Of A Windrusher Arriving In London
- A Black History Tube Map
- 10 Black Women Who Changed London For The Better
- Wilston Samuel Jackson: A Plaque For The UK's First Black Train Driver's At King's Cross Station
- Who Were The First Black Footballers At Every London League Club?
- This Botanical Map Of Brixton Spills Unsavoury Truths About Slavery
- 10 London Locations Linked To Slavery
- London's Best Walking Tours: Black History Walks
- This Map Of Black History In London Charts Slavery To Black Lives Matter
- Black London: 10 Sculptures, Murals And Plaques To See
- 8 Remarkable Vintage Images Of Black Londoners
