Each year since 1987, October is celebrated as Black History Month (BHM) in the UK. This national celebration aims to recognise and celebrate Black British achievement, and foster general knowledge and understanding of Black history.

The University is proud to celebrate BHM 2020 starting with it’s flagship “Brilliant and Black” event. On Thursday 1 October we are honoured to welcome Professor of Sociology, award-winning author, broadcaster and columnist Professor Gary Younge, to deliver this year’s keynote lecture titled ‘The Fire This Time’ – a look at the current state of race equality and the Black Lives Matter movement.

Patrick Hackett, Registrar, Secretary and Chief Operating Officer said: “Manchester is proud of its heritage as the first civic university and one with a collective commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion that – through excellent teaching, research and engagement – has fostered, for generations, an understanding and appreciation of Black history and culture.”

“We are delighted and proud once again to be joining this national celebration, as the University continues to work with our own and other communities in sharing knowledge and lessons learned from the past – in the hope that together we can help address systemic inequities and enable progress towards a more just society.”

Following the keynote address, Gary will be joined by Professor Nalin Thakkar, Vice-President for Social Responsibility, Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester and Naa Acquaa, alumna and former General Secretary of University of Manchester Students Union.

This year the event will this year be delivered via Zoom and live streamed via YouTube and Facebook. The event is open to all staff, students and members of the general public.

For full details and registration visit the Eventbrite page.