The month of October has been celebrated as Black History Month (BHM) in the UK since 1987. This national celebration aims to recognise and celebrate Black British achievement, and foster general knowledge and understanding of Black history. The University of Manchester is proud to support and celebrate BHM 2020 and is involved with the delivery of a few events this year.

Brilliant and Black

From 2pm-4pm on Thursday, 1 October the University’s BHM celebrations kick off with our flagship event – Brilliant and Black. 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.

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

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

Windrush Legacy Day

The University of Manchester is proud to collaborate with the New Testament Church of God Faith Tabernacle in delivering a Windrush Legacy Day event on Saturday 10 October from 1pm-3pm. This virtual event incorporates BHM and World Mental Health Day celebrations. Speakers on the day include Bishop Dr Derek Webley, Co-chair, Windrush Cross-Government Working Group, Prof Dawn Edge, Professor of Mental Health and Inclusivity and Academic Lead for Equality Diversity and Inclusion at the University of Manchester, Dr Shubulade Smith (CBE) Linford Sweeny and Diane Mohahl (MBE). Activities include: youth and health and wellbeing activities, musical performances and visual presentations. The event will be available via Zoom

Register on the Eventbrite page.

Livestream at: www.ntcgft.org.uk/watch-online and www.ntcgbrooksbar.org.uk/watch-online.

Windrush Service of Celebration

On Sunday, 25 October from 3pm-5pm there will be a Windrush Celebration Service.

Fifth Pan-African Congress 75th Anniversary Celebrations, 15-18 October

For the past 12 months, we have worked hard to forge a tripartite University Initiative celebrating the 75th anniversary of the fifth Pan-African Congress (PAC) that took place in Manchester in October 1945. Despite, COVID-19, and the implications that a global pandemic has had on us all, our plans for the PAC October celebrations have continued, albeit in an online form and we are thrilled with the upcoming four-day schedule of events from 15-18 October.

The Manchester Centre for Public History and Heritage (MCPHH) will be hosting a public history talk on the evening of Thursday 15 October, also linked to Black History Month, with a talk by Ray Costello on what black lives were like in the region around the time of the congress. Ray is well placed as a historical researcher and former Adviser for Racial Equality for Liverpool Education Authority Schools Inspection Department.

On Friday 16 October there will be a series of city based activities culminating in a keynote talk by Professor Kwame Anthony Appiah, with expected contributions from Paul Gilroy and Afua Hirsch.

On Saturday 17 October there will be further conversations with academics with connections to Manchester that will take place at a number of physical venues and be relayed live digitally.

Finally, on Sunday the 18 October we are hoping to host a reflective discussion including our Chancellors and poet including Lemn Sissay, Jackie Kay and Carol Ann Duffy to close the celebrations.

There will be interactive coverage of events throughout the weekend using various digital media, and participation in all public events will be free to all. This enormously important event aims to celebrate the past and critically supports the Black Lives Matter agenda by publicly celebrating Black history.

A detailed blog on these events can be found on the Manchester Centre for Public History and Heritage website.