Black History Month at BGU

Throughout Black History Month, October 2024, BGU will host a variety of events that celebrate the local, national, and global contributions of Black People to various areas. Storytelling, film night, lectures, and a fashion show are among these events.

As per the best tradition of public engagement, these sessions are intended to educate, entertain, and challenge existing ideas and knowledge.

Full Schedule of Events

Scroll down to check out this years events and to reserve your tickets!

Dig Deep, Look Closer Think Bigger.

Iconic people

For BHM 2024 we have chosen to highlight three incredible people, who make or have made, a difference for the Black community.

Tina Turner

Born Anna Mae Bullock; (November 26, 1939 – May 24, 2023) Tina Turner was a singer, songwriter, and actress. Known as the “Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll”, she rose to prominence as lead singer of the husband-wife duo Ike & Tina Turner before launching a successful career as a solo performer in the 1980s.

Her 1984 multi-platinum album Private Dancer included the hit song “What’s Love Got to Do with It”, which won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and became her first and only number-one song on the Billboard Hot 100. She later embarked on the Break Every Rule World Tour (1987–1988), which became the top-grossing female tour of the 1980s and set a Guinness World Record for the then-largest paying audience in a concert (180,000).
Tina sold more than 100 million records worldwide, becoming one of the best-selling recording artists of all time. She received 12 Grammy Awards, which included a Lifetime Achievement Award and three Hall of Fame inductions. She was the first black artist (and first woman) to be on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. Rolling Stone ranked her among the 100 Greatest Artists, and the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and on the St. Louis Walk of Fame. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, was a 2005 recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors and Women of the Year award.

Idris Elba (OBE)

Idrissa Akuna Elba OBE (born 6 September 1972) is an English actor, rapper, singer, and DJ. An alumnus of the National Youth Music Theatre in London, he is known for roles including Stringer Bell in HBO’s The Wire (2002–2004), DCI John Luther in the BBC series Luther (2010–2019), and Nelson Mandela in the biographical film Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013).

Idris appeared in American Gangster (2007), Obsessed (2009) and Prometheus (2012). He portrayed Heimdall in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, from Thor (2011) onwards, and Bloodsport in The Suicide Squad (2021), set in the DC Extended Universe. Elba has also voiced characters in Zootopia, The Jungle Book, Finding Dory (all 2016) and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022). He made his directorial debut with Yardie (2018).
In 2016, Elba was named in Time’s 100 list of the Most Influential People in the World. As of May 2019, his films have grossed over $9.8 billion at the global box office. Apart from acting, Elba performs as a DJ under the moniker 'DJ Big Driis' or Idris and as an R&B singer.

Benjamin Zephaniah

Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah (né Springer; 15 April 1958 – 7 December 2023) was a British writer, dub poet, actor, musician and professor of poetry and creative writing. He was included in The Times list of Britain’s top 50 post-war writers in 2008. His work drew on his lived experiences of incarceration, racism and his Jamaican heritage.

He won the BBC Radio 4 Young Playwrights Festival Award in 1998 and was the recipient of at least sixteen honorary doctorates. A ward at Ealing Hospital was also named in his honour. His second novel, Refugee Boy, was the recipient of the 2002 Portsmouth Book Award in the Longer Novel category. In 1982, he released an album, Rasta, which featured the Wailers performing for the first time since the death of Bob Marley, acting as a tribute to Nelson Mandela. It topped the charts in Yugoslavia, and due to its success Mandela invited Zephaniah to host the president’s Two Nations Concert at the Royal Albert Hall, London, in 1996. As an actor, he had a major role in the BBC’s Peaky Blinders between 2013 and 2022.
A vegan and animal rights activist, who self-identified as an anarchist, Zephaniah supported changing the British electoral system from first-past-the-post to alternative vote. In 2003, he was offered appointment as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) but publicly rejected the honour, stating that: “I get angry when I hear that word ‘empire’; it reminds me of slavery, it reminds of thousands of years of brutality, it reminds me of how my foremothers were raped and my forefathers, brutalised”.

For further learning and listening, check out the Early Childhood Studies team at BGU podcast:

(2023) S2 Episode 1- Black History Month Special- The power of books

(2023) S2 Episode 2- Black History Month

Our BHM events are free and open to the public, please see below for further details.*

*Please note the 'Black Scientists: Past and Present' event is for schools only.

Week 1

BHM is Here! Tombola

Monday 30th September

11.30am - 1.30pm

Hardy Foyer

You do not need a ticket for this event, open to everyone!

Black British Authors of the 18th Century

Thursday 3rd October

Doors open at 4.45pm, talk starts 5pm

The Venue

Week 2

Hergé, Tintin and Colonialism

Monday 7th October

Door Open 10.30am, talk starts 10.45am

Hardy Lecture Theatre

Black Scientists: Past and Present*

Wednesday 9th October

1pm - 2pm

The Venue

*This event is open to school parties and individual school students only. If you would like your school to attend please contact gemma.gazi@bishopg.ac.uk. If solo students would like to attend, please contact sheine.peart@bishopg.ac.uk

Week 3

Story Telling and Craft activities

Tuesday 15th October

From 9.30am

Ermine Library

You do not need a ticket for this event, open to everyone!

The Empire Windrush: Exploding the Myths

Tuesday 15th October

Doors open 4.45pm, talks starts 5pm

Hardy Seminar 2

You can now watch the full lecture here.

Story Telling in the Community

Thursday 17th October

From 10am

Ermine Library

You do not need a ticket for this event, open to everyone!

Film Night - The Color Purple (2023)

Friday 18th October

Doors Open 5.45pm, film starts 6pm

The Venue

Week 4

Afrocentric Fashion Show (& entertainment)

Monday 21st October

Doors open 6.30pm, show starts 6.45pm

Students' Union

There will be a display and sales of Afrocentric designs, accessories and hair products during and after the show downstairs.

Big Fun Basketball Sport Celebration

Wednesday 23rd October

16:30-19:30

Main Sports Hall

As part of BHM 2024 the BGU Basketball team invite you join in the Big Fun Basketball Celebration. If you see yourself as the next Andrew Sullivan or Dominique Allen or just want to have fun on the courts, this event is for you. Bring your friends together and make a team of 5 to take part in our fun knockout event. If you are finding it hard to make a team, just show up on the night and make a team with other members of the BG community. If you are not sure about playing, still come along to cheer on the teams.

There is a shared, mystery goodie bag prize for the winning team. Take out your trainers and dunk your way to fame.

Please contact Mahamadou Kamissoko, basketball captain at b2201882@student.bishopg.ac.uk for further details.