We celebrated Black History Month 2022 with a new schedule of exciting activities including talks, focus groups, film screenings and more.
We were pleased to join up again with the Students' Union to celebrate Black History Month with a new series of events in October. Events throughout the month included workshop sessions, focus groups, talks with alumni and public figures, film screenings and more.
All events were free and open to staff and students. Black History is for everyone!
In 2021, our Black History Month activities focused on the theme "Proud To Be", with exciting talks from public figures, discussion panels and celebrations of student talent with an art exhibition and music night.
February is America’s Black History Month, and we worked with our American colleagues from our Global Academy of Liberal Arts (GALA) network on events across February.
Dr Jermaine Ravalier, Reader in Psychology, led our Black History Month celebrations in October 2020. Our events and celebrations were based on hearing the experiences of prominent and ordinary black people in the UK, and also focused on what we can do across the country in varying industries to improve conditions for black people.
In 2020, the Black Lives Matter campaign brought the difficulties that Black people in the UK and overseas routinely face into sharp focus.
BHM 2022 events
"Black children are more likely to live in poverty... Black students do worse in our education system. Black students make less progress in school between ages 11 and 16, meaning despite starting high school at a relatively similar level, they make much less progress than almost all other ethnicities. The same happens in Higher Education (Universities), where we perform less well despite having the same entering grades as our peers."
Dr Jermaine Ravalier, Reader in Work and Wellbeing, Psychology
Fairfield House is a cultural centre in Bath, with the important historical background of being the former residence of Ethiopian Emperor Haile I and family, and headquarters of the exiled Ethiopian Government, during Mussolini’s invasion of Ethiopia, 1936-1941.
We're proud to partner with Fairfield House on Black History Month and other initiatives. Fairfield House is home to Imperial Voice Radio, who are also partnering with us on Black History Month.
“At Fairfield House we believe Black History Month is vitally important, and every month at Fairfield is Black History Month. We believe that Black history is not just about the past that is beyond living memory, but also about the everyday. Black history is continually being made, and it is as important to tell the stories of the Black experience today, as those in the distant past. You all have stories to tell, and at Fairfield House and Imperial Radio we are passionate about those narratives being heard."
Dr Shawn Sobers, Fairfield House Trustee
