Article first published on Sunday 1 October 2023
This year’s theme for Black History Month is “Saluting Our Sisters” and so we want this month to amplify the voices of Black women at King’s, celebrate the race equality initiatives happening across the university and to inspire tangible progress for race equality.
Throughout the month we will be sharing and promoting fantastic activities happening across the university and would love to hear from you about what you’re doing.
If you have anything planned for Black History Month that you’d like us to promote, please complete this form.
Events taking place across the university this month include:
NMES Black History Month 2023 – Taking Ctrl: From Potential to Power
Wednesday 4 October, 13.00-14.00, online
Join NMES for an incredible online event in celebration of Black History Month. Get ready to be inspired as we explore how individuals can harnessed their potential to create real change and empower their communities.
Join us for an incredible discussion with Dr. Anne-Marie Imafidon who will draw on her portfolio career across industry, academia and entrepreneurship to shed light on the power every one of us has to change the status quo, impact positive change for ourselves and our communities, future-proof ourselves and build a better tomorrow, no matter where we are in our own careers.
More information and sign up
Stolen Tools
Thursday 5 October, 18.00-21.00, Guy's Campus, Great Maze Pond Henriette Raphael London SE1 1UL
The official Launch event for the Anti-Racist Journal, allowing everyone from any background to get together and learn about Stolen Tools.
More information and sign up
SSPP celebrates Black History Month 2023 - 'Saluting Our Sisters' Exhibition
Tuesday 17 October - Wednesday 1 November
Visit SSPP's exhibition from 17 October to 1 November that highlights the crucial role that Black women have played in shaping society, inspiring change and building communities.
We pay tribute to Black women who have made extraordinary contributions across various fields from literature and music to fashion, sports, business, politics, academia, social care, and healthcare. The exhibition will showcase the remarkable achievements of Black women and highlight their diverse and profound impact on society.
More information
"Amplified voices: saluting sisterhood" - Black History Month 2023 at King’s Business School
Wednesday 18 October, 18.00-21.00, Bush House
In honour of Black History Month, we are thrilled to announce a collaboration between the National Black Women's Network and King's Business School. We invite you to join us for "Amplified Voices: Saluting Sisterhood."
This event is a tribute to the milestones black women have achieved, an exploration of the battles fought along the way, and a celebration of the generations uplifted by trail-blazing black women.
Further information on the event and how to sign up
Celebrating Black History Month
Wednesday 18 October, 16.30-20.30, Bush House Lecture Theatre 1 (S) 1.01
King's Diversity and Inclusion in IT (DIgIT) & King's Estates & Facilities Race Equality Team invite you to join us, while we celebrate Black History month, by Saluting our Sisters.
Guest speaker Beulah Coomb (nee Smith), born in Jamaica in 1948, will share her life journey from Jamaica to Manchester in 1957, her teenage years, and her career. She'll also discuss her book "My Uncle Robert – The True Story Of A Forgotten Jamaican World War 1 Soldier," focusing on her mother's brother.
After is a screening of "Harriet," a film about heroic abolitionist Harriet Tubman's escape from slavery and her missions to liberate slaves through the Underground Railroad.
Sign up now
Decolonising Computer Science
Thursday 19 October, 11.00-14.00, River Room, Strand Campus
Join us for an in-person event at the River Room on the Strand Campus where we will explore the critical topic of decolonising computer science. The event will begin with King's History Professor Richard Drayton providing some background on decolonisation.
Then, PhD Student in Responsible AI, Mackenzie Jorgensen, will interview Professor Drayton about the implications of decolonisation for the computer science field and computer science researchers before a Q&A from the audience. Lastly, informal discussions will follow over lunch.
Please note that we are oversubscribing the event, so please be early or on time as space is first come first serve. We look forward seeing you there!
Sign up to attend
Diversifying the Maths Curriculum
Friday 20 October 12.30-14.00, River Room, Strand Campus and online
We are delighted to invite you to a lunch talk by Dr Claudia Garetto on the topic of diversifying and decolonising the curriculum.
This event is organised for Black Mathematician Month by the Department of Mathematics Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Departmental Committee. All King's staff and students with an interest in mathematics are welcome to attend. This is a hybrid event, please sign up for the in-person or online ticket when you register.
Find out more and sign up
Exploring the experiences of carers from Black communities
Tuesday 24 October, 18.00-19.00, location TBC
As part of Black History Month, Dr Juliana Onwumere from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King's and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust will facilitate an online panel discussion focussing on the experiences, wellbeing and unmet needs of carers from Black communities in the UK, including young carers.
The discussion will also look at the role some of key charities and the different resources they have on offer can play.
Joining this discussion will be representatives from Carers UK, Rethink Mental Illness, Mental Health and the Arts, and Carers Trust alongside those with lived experience.
Sign up now
Special College Eucharist at the Strand marking Black History Month
Wednesday 25 October, 13.10-14.00, College Chapel, Level 2, King's Building, Strand
Alexander Douglas (Lecturer & EDI Lead in Department of Music; Assistant Secretary for Theology and Race for the Society for the Study of Theology) will be preaching and curating a special programme of music for this service of Holy Communion.
All students and staff from all faiths and traditions are welcome. For more details, contact: chaplaincy@kcl.ac.uk
Find out more about our Sermon Series for the College Eucharist
Black History Month Lecture and Q&A: 'Writing a Caribbean History of Britain'
Wednesday 25 October, 15.00-16.30, Bush House South 4.04 (Bush House Lecture Theatre 2)
The History Department's 2023 Black History Month Lecture will be delivered by Dr. Christienna Fryar, historian of modern Britain, the British Empire and the modern Caribbean.
She is currently writing Entangled Lands: A Caribbean History of Britain (Penguin/Allen Lane). Dr. Fryar is a scholar and broadcaster who was selected in 2020 as a BBC Radio 3/AHRC New Generation Thinker, and has taught at SUNY Buffalo State, the University of Liverpool, and Goldsmiths, University of London.
Her Black History Month Lecture will pose a series of questions about how we write British history at a moment when history is under threat.
Book your place now
Equality, Diversity & Inclusion: Black Women in Academia
Wednesday, 25 October 18.00-20.00, Nash Lecture Theatre (K2.31, King's Building)
King’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion team invite you to join Dr Ellen Clark-King and Temitayo Lawal (Women's Higher Education Network) to talk about the experiences of Black women in academia. Temitayo will be discussing the barriers Black women face in higher education, drawing on her own experiences as a PhD candidate at UCL and her work on leading the vital '100 Black Female Professors NOW' campaign. This event has been designed to reflect this year’s Black History Month theme (Celebrating Our Sisters).
The main discussion will be followed by a Q&A session chaired by Dr Ellen Clark King, allowing the audience opportunities to ask questions.
It is free to attend but space is limited. If you have any access requirements, please contact diversity@kcl.ac.uk.
Sign up to attend
SSPP Celebrates Black History Month 2023 - Movie Night: Hidden Figures
Thursday 26 October, 19.00-22.30, The Exchange, Bush House, Strand Campus.
In honour of this year's BHM theme 'Saluting Our Sisters', SSPP will be screening the film Hidden Figures (PG) which tells how brilliant African-American women working at NASA served as the brains behind the launch into orbit of astronaut John Glenn and so turned around the space race.
The visionary trio - Katherine Jonson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe) – crossed all gender and racial lines to inspire future generations.
Sign up now