Black History Month - October 2023 events

 

Colourful logo for Black History Month 2023, with images of lots of different black women

 

Black History Month ‘Saluting our Sisters’ Panel Meeting


Wednesday 25th October, 12:15pm-1pm

Location: Castle Hill Suite (Level 6, Schwann Building) or online via Teams 

Join panel members Serena Johnson, University of Huddersfield alumni, and Sophie Simpson, Directors of Conscious Youth CIC, an award-winning youth-led social enterprise based in Kirklees (About Conscious Youth - Conscious Youth), as we discuss ‘Sisters’ who have inspired the academic and professional journeys of our panel members, inspired by Black History Month 2023’s theme of ‘Saluting our Sisters’. Questions framing the discussion will include:

- Who are the 'Sisters' who have inspired your personal, professional, or academic journeys?
- Who or what facilitated your journey and ongoing steps toward leadership?
- What barriers have you encountered?
- What would be your message to other aspirational 'Sisters' regarding career progression and the journeys in leadership?

If you would like to attend the panel meeting in-person, please complete this MS form. Alternatively, for online attendees, please save the attached Teams link or contact the EDI team for an Outlook invite. 

 

Staff Choir Performance 

Thursday 26th October, 12:30pm-1:00pm 
Location: iPoint

Join us at iPoint as we celebrate the music and lyrics of Black artists with a performance from our Staff Choir, including: 'Proud' by Heather Small, 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough' by Tammi Terrel and Marvin Gaye and 'Soualle (Lullaby). Song sheets will be available on the day.

Black History Month Book Club 

Copies of our Black History Month book recommendations are now available through the University library! You can view these weekly recommendations on the Staff Hub - week one, two and three are published so far. The recommended books were selected from suggestions from our Black History Month Working Group members, as well as authors profiled by Black History Month UK. 

Week Four Books

Against White Feminism - Rafia Zakari book cover

Against White Feminism: Notes on Disruption - Rafia Zakaria

'Attorney and activist Rafia Zakaria shines a spotlight on the urgent issue of white feminism and the disparity between the needs and experiences of women from different backgrounds - revealing the fingerprints of white supremacy all over the feminist movement: from early suffragette campaigns right up to the divided and profoundly unequal world we inherit today. And she issues a powerful call to every reader to join her in building a new kind of feminism, lighting the path to emancipation for all.' (Penguin UK)

 

Love in Colour - Bolu Babalola book cover

Love in Colour - Bolu Babalola

A vibrant and expressive collection of short stories that reimagine classic beautiful love stories, borne from history and mythology: West African folktales, iconic Greek myths, Middle Eastern legends and stories from countries that no longer exist in the world...

'A high-born Nigerian goddess feels beaten down and unappreciated by her gregarious lover and longs to be truly seen. A young businesswoman attempts to make a great leap in her company, and an even greater one in her love life. A powerful Ghanaian spokeswoman is forced to decide whether to uphold her family’s politics, or to be true to her heart. Whether captured in the passion of love at first sight, or realising that self-love takes precedent over the latter, the characters in these vibrant stories try to navigate this most complex human emotion and understand why it holds them hostage.' (Daunt Books)

 

Homegoing - Yaa Gyasi book cover

Homegoing - Yaa Gyasi 

An award-winning, Sunday Times Bestseller and 'BBC Top 100 Novels that Shaped our World'!

'Effia and Esi: two sisters with two very different destinies. One sold into slavery; one a slave trader's wife. The consequences of their fate reverberate through the generations that follow. Taking us from the Gold Coast of Africa to the cotton-picking plantations of Mississippi; from the missionary schools of Ghana to the dive bars of Harlem, spanning three continents and seven generations, Yaa Gyasi has written a miraculous novel - the intimate, gripping story of a brilliantly vivid cast of characters and through their lives the very story of America itself.' (Penguin UK)

 

Black Mamba Boy - Nadifa Mohamed book cover

Black Mamba Boy - Nadifa Mohamed 

2010 debut novel from Somali-British author Nadifa Mohamed, the story follows 1930s Somalia's decades of war and upheaval, all seen through the eyes of a small boy alone in the world. 

'Aden,1935; a city vibrant, alive, and full of hidden dangers. And home to Jama, a ten year-old boy. But then his mother dies unexpectedly and he finds himself alone in the world.

Jama is forced home to his native Somalia, the land of his nomadic ancestors. War is on the horizon and the fascist Italian forces who control parts of east Africa are preparing for battle. Yet Jama cannot rest until he discovers whether his father, who has been absent from his life since he was a baby, is alive somewhere.

And so begins an epic journey which will take Jama north through Djibouti, war-torn Eritrea and Sudan, to Egypt. And from there, aboard a ship transporting Jewish refugees just released from German concentration camp, across the seas to Britain and freedom.

This story of one boy’s long walk to freedom is also the story of how the Second World War affected Africa and its people; a story of displacement and family.' (Women's Prize for Fiction)