October is Black History Month in the UK — a chance to learn about Black creatives, heroes, and campaigners from the past, as well as be inspired by the Black figures and industries of today. There's a whole lot going on in London — we've picked some highlights.
![Black History Month London: A portion of a Black History tube map](jpg/tfl_image_-_black_history_tube_map_extract_1-2.jpg)
Black History Month walks and talks
- Black History Walks host a number of walks in October, exploring everything from Windrush to Black presence in Tate Britain (various dates in Oct)
- The writing of Caribbean migrants including Samuel Selvon, George Lamming and Linton Kwesi Johnson is explored in the Writing After Windrush lecture at Barnard's Inn Hall (3 Oct)
- Family historian Paul Crooks is at Battersea Library, offering drop-in sessions where you can trace your African Caribbean heritage (5 Oct)
- Vanley Burke, 'Godfather of Black British Photography' comes to the National Portrait Gallery to discuss his project The Making of Black Britain, with Diane Louise Jordan (6 Oct)
- Award-winning historian Professor Kate Dossett explores the women of the Harlem Renaissance in a talk at Barnard's Inn Hall (5 Oct)
- London's streets, legendarily 'paved with gold', also run with the blood of enslaved people — discover the links between the City and the slave trade on the eye-opening Slave Trade Money Trail Tour (7 and 28 Oct)
- The Natural History Museum is running a day of inspiring talks by Black scientists covering everything from the Eastern Caribbean Volcanic Arc to the dinosaurs that stalked what is now Africa (8 Oct)
![A young man in a smart blue suit poses in front of a glassy building](jpg/randall-goosby_-1.jpg)
Black History Month music, theatre film and comedy
- Croydon's Fairfield Halls screens the 2021 film Respect, about the life and times of the great Aretha Franklin (4 Oct)
- Young violinist Randall Goosby teams up with pianist Zhu Wang, to perform music from three Black composers (Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, William Grant Still and Florence Price) at the Southbank Centre (13 Oct)
- A slew of great Black comedians — including Richard Blackwood, Slim and Rudi Lickwood — raise the roof at Hackney Empire's Pioneers of Comedy shebang (21 Oct)
- The legendary PP Arnold (of The First Cut is the Deepest fame) performs at Boisdale of Canary Wharf (25 Oct)
- Catford's Broadway Theatre puts on two Windrush 75 shows in one, with a staging of The Front Room: a Windrush Legend — followed by music from the era played live by the The Freedom Band UK (28 Oct)
![Black History Month London: A poster for the inilford food festival](jpg/inilford.jpg)
Black History Month markets and fairs
- Get down to Brixton's Black Farmers' Market, established 'to restore the cultural and historical communal atmosphere' of the area (8 Oct)
- There's three days' worth of food, crafts, dance and music at inilford Black History Month Food Fair (13-15 Oct)
- Goldsmiths in New Cross hosts the Black Book Festival, celebrating writers and publishers from the African Diaspora (21 Oct)
![A woman in bright Nigerian clothes riding a horse down a high street](jpg/adeyemi_michael__entitled_-still-__2018_-1-_-1.jpg)
Black History Month exhibitions
- Coinciding with the release of Atinuke and Kingsley Nebechi's book Brilliant Black British History, there's a free exhibition at Brixton's Black Cultural Archives (5 October-28 Jan)
- Lagos, Peckham, Repeat is on right now at Camberwell's South London Gallery, and explores Peckham's identity as 'Little Lagos'. It's free. (Until 29 October)
- Claudette Johnson, a founding member of the Black British Arts Movement, is the focus of the current exhibition on at the Courtauld Gallery — Claudette Johnson: Presence is a retrospective showing off 30 years' of her large-scale drawings of Black men and women. (Until 14 Jan)
- St James' Piccadilly has just unveiled a set of artworks by Trinidad-based artist Che Lovelace, dedicated to Quobna Ottobah Cugoano, a former enslaved man, who ended up living in London and campaigning against slavery. It's free to go and see them, and they're a permanent installation.
Londonist on Black history
![Black History Month London: Britain's first black train driver: a Black man leans from the cab of a steam train](jpg/wilston.jpg)
Check out our articles on Black history in London:
- "I Had Never Seen A Train Before!" Memories Of A Windrusher Arriving In London
- A Black History Tube Map
- 10 Black Women Who Changed London For The Better
- Wilston Samuel Jackson: A Plaque For The UK's First Black Train Driver's At King's Cross Station
- Who Were The First Black Footballers At Every London League Club?
- This Botanical Map Of Brixton Spills Unsavoury Truths About Slavery
- 10 London Locations Linked To Slavery
- London's Best Walking Tours: Black History Walks
- This Map Of Black History In London Charts Slavery To Black Lives Matter
- Black London: 10 Sculptures, Murals And Plaques To See
- 8 Remarkable Vintage Images Of Black Londoners