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Black History Month
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Black History Month 2020 Programme

Here you can find our events programme for Black History Month at Queen Mary. If you scroll to the bottom of the page you can also find other activities and ways to get involved. We will be adding to and updating this page throughout the month so stay tuned!

Black British History Seminars

When: Thursdays, 6pm (starting 1st October)
Where: Zoom webinar
Organiser: Rob Waters, School of History

Black British History: Concepts, Geographies, Debates covers all aspects of black British history from the ancient to the contemporary. Encompassing research from within and beyond the university, we bring together scholars, activists, artists and heritage practitioners to push the boundaries of this vital and growing field of historical enquiry. Book the first seminar: Black British History in Schools and Research here.

Life According to Maas Roy - a story of resilience

Reading and Q&A with Yvonne Archer & Stanley Roy Archer.
When: Postponed
Where: Live webinar (Link TBC)
Organiser: Carol Malcolm, EDI Team

Yvonne Archer documents the life stories of Stanley Roy Archer, her father. With Yvonne as narrator and Stanley Roy the direct voice, together they have written a memoir that is not only funny, dramatic and nostalgic, but is of substantial historical value to people in the Black diaspora. Today, his story gives you a slice of an enthralling story of a man who is short in physical stature, but larger than life in his daughter's eyes.

Interview with Arthur Torrington, co-founder of Windrush Foundation.

Where: View the interview recording here
Organiser: Laurence Gouldbourne, EDI Team

Laurence Gouldbourne, our Head of Equality, Diversity & Inclusion interviews Arthur Torrington CBE, a community advocate, and a co-founder (with the late Sam B. King MBE) of Windrush Foundation and The Equiano Society. Through Windrush Foundation, a registered charity, Arthur promotes good race and community relations, and designs projects that celebrate the history and heritage of African and Caribbean people.

Podcast: Black Germans under the Nazi Regime

Where: Listen to the podcast here
Organiser: Joseph Cronin, School of History

Compared to the Nazis' treatment of Jews, Sinti and Roma, LGBTQ+ and disabled people, we know very little about the experiences of Black people in Germany under the Nazi regime (1933–1945). Were they treated differently to other groups, and if so, why? This podcast/webinar will focus on the history of Black people in Germany and the ways in which Black Germans coped with the unique situation they faced in Hitler's 'racial state'.

Watch, Read and Listen

When: 7th October 2020, 6pm
Info: Register for the event here
Organiser: School of Business and Management

In celebration of Black History Month, this event is an interactive discussion about films, TV programmes, books, musicians, podcasts and audio books you would recommend, the reason for the recommendation and what these poignant works mean to you.

Be prepared to provide your perspective and learn about more phenomenal works to explore by black directors, writers, musicians, broadcasters and artists.

A Seat At the Table

When: 14th October 2020, 6pm 
Info: Register for the event here
Organiser: School of Business and Management

This Black History Month, a discussion about inclusion in Business and other industries is more important than ever. Be prepared to listen and provide your perspective on what Business and other industries must do to incorporate inclusion within the workplace and beyond.

New Directions in Black British History

When: Friday 16th October, 12noon
Where: Register for the event: here.
Organiser: Mile End Institute 

This live webinar will bring together three emerging researchers on Black British History.

The panel will discuss their current research, and will touch on their experiences of studying Black British History in the context of Black Lives Matter, Rhodes Must Fall, and COVID-19.

Panel:

Deanna Lyn Cook (History Hotline Podcast)

Deanna is currently finishing her MA dissertation titled: ‘We cannot agree to accept coloured women for service in this country’. Caribbean Women in Britain, 1939 -1990, as part of a Masters in Social Research: Economic and Social History at the University of Birmingham. She recently launched a weekly podcast called 'The History Hotline' where she discusses events and individuals that have shaped Black history in Britain.

Olivia Wyatt (Young Historians Project)

Olivia Wyatt is a Masters student at the University of Leeds whose current research focuses on ‘community’ and African-Caribbean women’s activism in Leeds c.1970-1980s. She is a member of the Young Historians Project - a non-profit organisation which trains young historians of African descent and works on projects that document neglected aspects of Black British history. She co-founded From Margins to Centre?: An undergraduate conference on marginalised histories - an academic space for undergraduate students across Britain to present papers on the intersectional histories of the LGBT+ community, disability, women, and Black and Asian people.

Satya Gunput (Birkbeck and Hisnameissatya blog)

Satya Gunput is a doctoral student in History at Birkbeck, University of London, funded by the Bonnart Trust. His research focuses on race, ethnicity and the afterlife of the Empire in 1970s Britain: specifically the different ways that New Commonwealth migrants and their children articulated new ways of belonging in Britain. His work has been published in History Workshop Online and Twentieth Century British History.

Chair:

Rob Waters (Queen Mary University of London)

Rob Waters is a lecturer in Modern British History at Queen Mary University of London. His book, Thinking Black: Britain 1964-1985 was published in 2019 by the University of California Press.

BreakThrough! Women’s Café Presents: Female Entrepreneurship and the possibilities 

When: 19th October 2020, 5-6:30pm
Info: Register for the event here
Organiser: School of Business and Management

We will be hearing from female entrepreneurs about: 

  • Their perspectives on Female Business, Entrepreneurship and Self-Employment and its challenges 
  • The importance of female business, entrepreneurship, self-employment and supporting black businesses  
  • Advice in taking that step and launching a business 

Julius Onah: Black Lives in American Cinema

When: Tuesday 20th October, 5pm
Where: Attend the event here
Organiser: Eugene Doyen and Guy Westwell, School of Languages, Linguistics and Film

Julius Onah is a Nigerian American filmmaker based in New York City. His work has screened at festivals around the world including Sundance, Berlin, Tribeca, London, Dubai, Los Angeles, Melbourne and Camerimage. He’s currently exploring storytelling around the world through his multimedia project Open Continents. Julius is the writer, director and producer of the feature films, The Girl is in Trouble (2015) and Luce (2019) and the director of The Cloverfield Paradox (2018).

 

Southall Black Sisters: Why Black Matters?

When: Tuesday 27th October 2020, 6-7pm
Info: Join the event here
Organisers: Eugene Doyen and Satya Gunput

Rahila Gupta is a freelance journalist, writer and activist. She is a member of Southall Black Sisters and chair of The Nihal Armstrong Trust. Her books include From Homebreakers to Jailbreakers: Southall Black Sisters, Provoked, and Enslaved, on immigration controls. Her articles are published in the Guardian, New Humanist, New Internationalist and Open Democracy. She is collaborating on, Why Doesn't Patriarchy Die? and visited Rojava, Northern Syria in March 2016 as part of the research for the book. She has edited and contributed to Turning the Page, an anthology of writings by the Southall Black Sisters support group.  

Satya Gunput (Birkbeck and Hisnameissatya blog)

Satya Gunput is a doctoral student in History at Birkbeck, University of London, funded by the Bonnart Trust. His research focuses on race, ethnicity and the afterlife of the Empire in 1970s Britain: specifically the different ways that New Commonwealth migrants and their children articulated new ways of belonging in Britain. His work has been published in History Workshop Online and Twentieth Century British History.

About Black Entrepreneurship

When: 28th October 2020, 6pm
Info: Register for the event here
Organiser: School of Business and Management

This guest panel event will include a series of black entrepreneurs/ business people including QMUL alumni who will discuss the following: 

  • Encouraging black students and students from diverse backgrounds to create businesses and start-ups and if they have done so already to promote them at this event 
  • The importance of allyship, empowerment and supporting black businesses 
  • Overcoming challenges and hurdles, in particular racial inequality and anti-racism with a focus on black enterprise and how this relates to the #BlackLivesMatter movement

Insta Takeovers 

INSTA TAKEOVER ALERT - QMSU’s Tiana Dinard-Samuel 

When: Wednesday 7th October 

Where: alumni_qmul_offical

Alumna and current VP Communities, Tiana Dinard-Samuel (Film Studies and Hispanic Studies BA, 2020) will be taking over our Instagram for the day as part of our Black History Month campaign. 
 
During the takeover, Tiana will be talking about her new role and aims for the upcoming academic year, including decolonising the staff body and curriculum, how the Students’ Union is celebrating Black History Month and about Black History Month from a personal perspective. 

 

INSTA TAKEOVER ALERT – Alumna Isabel Overton (History BA, 2016)  

When: Tuesday 20th October 

Where: alumni_qmul_offical

Alumna Isabel Overton (History BA, 2016) will be taking over our Instagram for the afternoon as part of our Black History Month Campaign.  

During the takeover, Isabel will talk about the podcast she launched with her two sisters, titled ‘Mixed Girls Diaries’; Black History Month and what it means in the context of this year; wider issues affecting Black communities and Isabel will also recommend Black creatives.  

 

INSTA TAKEOVER ALERT- Alumna Deanna Lyn Cook (English & History BA, 2018) 

When: Friday 23rd October 

Where: alumni_qmul_offical

Alumna Deanna Lyn Cook (English & History BA, 2018) will be taking over our Instagram for the day as part of our Black History Month Campaign. 

During the takeover, Deanna will talk about her podcast, The History Hotline, which acts as “a direct line to a better understanding of Black history and a place to have some really important conversations about how it has impacted the world today!” 

 

INSTA TAKEOVER ALERT - Academics in conversation 

When: Thursday 29th October 

Where: alumni_qmul_offical

Dr Charlotta Salmi, Lecturer in Postcolonial and Global Literature, Professor Susheila Nasta, Professor of Modern and Contemporary Literatures and Founding Editor, Wasafiri, and Malachi McIntosh, editor and publishing director of Wasafiri, will be concluding our Instagram takeovers as part of our Black History Month Campaign.  

 

Other activities and ways to get involved:

The Students' Union is also celebrating Black History Month, find out more here.

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