Black History Month (BHM) is an annual celebration of the successes and achievements of the Black community and a time for recognising their impact in society.
The theme for Black History Month 2022 is, 'Time for Change: Action not Words.'
Our NTU community is proud to support Black History Month 2022 by hosting commemorative events and activities that are open to our students and staff. We are also pleased to share our educational resources with staff and students as part of our commitment to becoming an anti-racist institution.
We recognise that the Black history experience is not limited to one month each year, and have made a commitment to work year-round to host a diverse programme of events and resources to help create a more equal future for everyone.
Events and initiatives
We are very pleased to share our upcoming events and initiatives to celebrate BHM 2022. Browse the list and get involved in workshops, seminars, roundtable discussions and more.
Big Fat Black History Quiz (External event)
Monday 3 October 2022, 7.30 - 8.30 pm, Online
Curated by International Black History Month UK, this fun filled quiz is designed to test general knowledge on sport, music and history.
Wednesday 5 October 2022, 1 - 3 pm, Online
Following on from the great feedback and overall success of the ‘Racism and Mental Health’ workshop delivered by Great Minds Training, earlier this year, we have invited them to return and host a session focusing on race in line with BHM365.
Honouring the theme for Black History Month of ‘Time for change: Action not words’, this session will give colleagues a safe space to explore the topic of race, not only in conversation but also how to be an effective active bystander, and understanding the importance of changing attitudes towards institutionalised racism.
Women's Staff Network celebrate Black History Month
Saturday 1 October to Monday 31 October 2022, Online
For the Womens' Staff Network's contribution to NTU Black History Month 2022 celebrations let's each share a women's achievements and contributions to the UK and around the world. This years theme is 'Time for Change: Action not Words', let's take some time to highlight the many women that have embodied this over the years and are doing so for the future.
Submit your contribution on the Teams channel.
Please note: This is only open to NTU staff.
BHM Podcast - Mental health and motherhood: confronting racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare
Released Monday 10 October, 10 am
In this Black History Month (October 2022) and World Mental Health Day (10 October 2022) special, Dr Dung Jidong, a researcher in the Department of Psychology at NTU discusses the racial bias and discrimination facing black people in the UK when it comes to receiving mental health support, and how this affects African and Caribbean mothers in particular.
Dung discusses why these prejudices exist, and how his research is helping to support new mothers through postnatal depression and anxiety, and to give the children of African and Caribbean mothers in the UK the best start in life.
Diverse Zines Matter - Zine Making Workshop
Wednesday 12 October 2022, 2.30 - 4 pm, PAV026, Clifton Campus
Find out more about the history and theory of underground self-publishing, and get inspiration for creating your own one-page zine in this hands-on workshop.
Thinking Outside the Box - Cultivating the Shift (External event)
Friday 14 October 2022, 11.45 am - 2. 30 pm, Online
Online discussion around EDI, whilst raising the awareness of important topics such as; good mental health, wellbeing, resilience, mentoring and outreach.
Sir Willard White at University Hall
Tuesday 18 October 2022, 7 pm, University Hall, Shakespeare Street, Nottingham , NG1 4FQ
We delighted to welcome world-famous bass-baritone Sir Willard White to University Hall. One of the best-loved and most versatile opera stars of the last 40 years, Sir Willard's illustrious career has taken him to the most prestigious opera houses and concert halls throughout the world.
Sophisticated Racism: Navigating the Terrain (External Event)
Thursday 20 October 2022, 5.30 - 7 pm, Online
Dr Victoria Showunmi, UCL, welcomes you to this interactive online lecture, initiating a critical conversation around on understandings of sophisticated and every day racism.
NTU Sport Black History Month: Community, Connections, Change
Thursday 20 October 2022, 6 pm - 8 pm, Teaching and Learning Building , Clifton Campus
This in-person, roundtable event will welcome a number of guest speakers, including Angelina Osborne, co-author of 100 Great Black Britons. The event will both showcase and champion the achievements of black people in sport, with guests encouraged to share their own stories of influential athletes.
Tuesday 25 October 2022, 10 am - 12 pm, Online
Following on from the great feedback and overall success of the ‘Racism and Mental Health’ workshop delivered by Great Minds Training, earlier this year, we have invited them to return and host a session focusing on race in line with BHM365.
Honouring the theme for Black History Month of ‘Time for change: Action not words’, this session will give colleagues a safe space to explore the topic of race, not only in conversation but also how to be an effective active bystander, and understanding the importance of changing attitudes towards institutionalised racism.
Please note: This event is only open to NTU staff.
Exploring the power of networking
Tuesday 25 October 2022, 5 - 6.30 pm, LT5, Newton Building, City Campus
As part of the work of the School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment's EDI committee, staff and students are invited to hear from a diverse range of speakers exploring how to build strong relationships to benefit your career.
Sharing your inspirational black icons
Wednesday 26 October 2022, 12 pm - 2 pm, Newton Building reception, City Campus
Nottingham Law School is looking for personal narratives from students, staff and alumni of NTU for a research project. Contributions will be used to build a 'living history' exhibition and to inform a Black History event in January 2023.
The NTU Faith Team will have a pop-up stall in the Newton reception with Faith ambassadors engaging students and staff to share their black icons.
You can also submit a personal narrative of what 'Black History' means to you online at this link.
A new formation - How black footballers shaped the modern game
Wednesday 26 October 2022, 2.30 - 3.30 pm, PAV026, Clifton Campus
The focus for this informal, book-club style event will be A New Formation: How Black Footballers Shaped the Modern Game, edited by Calum Jacobs. Whether you've read the whole book, have just started it, or are simply curious about the unique role that Black British footballers have played in shaping the beautiful game both on and off the pitch, please come along (with a brew) for an open and inclusive discussion.
Reading flash mob to celebrate Black writers
Wednesday 26 October 2022, 12.30 - 1.30 pm, Chaucer Building, City Campus
Sit down with us to celebrate Black writing at our reading flash mob.
Bring a book by a Black writer, or pick up one of ours, and take an hour to enjoy reading together.
Come and read, discover and relax.
The 2nd International African and Caribbean Mental Health Conference
Saturday 29 October 2022, 9 am - 5 pm, Newton Building, City Campus
Conference themes:
- Trauma
- Suicide
- Self-harm
- Bipolar disorders and general topics on mental health to present at the conference.
Nottingham Trent Students’ Union (NTSU)
As a university and alongside the Nottingham Trent Students’ Union (NTSU), we are firmly committed to sustaining a highly effective learning and working environment characterised by fairness, equality of opportunity and the valuing of diversity.
Head to the NTSU website to explore their 'Black Futures' events this month.
Our African Caribbean Society, ACS, aims to educate and unite diverse students from NTU and the University of Nottingham, and The New Black Society strives to bring together a community of like-minded people with a progressive mentality to succeed in the face of adversity.
Share your personal narratives
What does Black History mean to you? Which are the key events in Black History? Who are your Black Icons? Who has inspired you?
Nottingham Law School is looking for personal narratives from students, staff and alumni of NTU for a research project. Contributions will be used to build a ‘living history ’ exhibition and to inform a Black History event to be held in January 2023..
Vote for your most inspiring scientist
Throughout the month, we encourage NTU students and staff to vote for their most inspiring black scientist .
Voting is open until October 29 2022, with the winners announced on Saturday November 1 2022.
What's more, by voting and entering their student number. NTU students will be entered into the draw to win Amazon vouchers.
Vote now!
Listen to our Black History Month playlist
Listen to our bespoke NTU Black History Month 2022 playlist on Spotify - and add your own suggestions to the list!
Black Leadership Programme
NTU's Black Leadership Programme is a collaboration between Nottingham Trent University (NTU) and Nottingham Trent Students’ Union (NTSU). The programme is designed to empower students to gain confidence and become resilient leaders through a series of hands-on events and community-building activities.
Successful applicants get access to valuable events and opportunities, building the skills to become effective leaders. Applications will open on Monday 10 October 2022.
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at NTU
NTU is dedicated to working to strategically advance equality, diversity and inclusion, and to support a culture of engagement underpinned by respect.
The University currently holds and is continually advancing our work in the Race Equality Agenda, Athena Swan Bronze Award (gender equality), Stonewall Diversity Champion (LGBT) and as a Disability Confident Employer.
The Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) team recognise that learning is vital to ensuring that our students and colleagues understand and are equipped with skills and competence to support inclusion and fairness. A dedicated space for self-education resources has been developed for our NTU community to benefit from. This online platform features educational videos, information articles, recommended reading lists and more, encouraging students and colleagues to continue to make informed decisions and continue to make an active contribution to making NTU an inclusive environment for all.
NTU staff have access to an Anti-Racism and White Privilege learning module as part of staff's essential learning, with an 'Understanding Racism' learning module available to all NTU students. Both offer the opportunity to explore and build an understanding of what Racism is and how it can be positively combatted.
We also encourage all our students and colleagues to participate in and complete the 2022 Race Equality Charter Survey that opens on 18 October and have their say on how NTU can continue to advance race equality.
If you have a general question for the EDI team at NTU, please email us.
Spotlight on Professor Veronica Pickering
To celebrate Black History Month 2022, we are pleased to profile Professor Veronica Pickering. Read more to learn about her remarkable career and achievements and how she feels about making history as the first black female to be appointed to the position of High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire
Our Research
Our NTU community of Researchers aim to break down barriers and tackle society’s problems. Meet some of our researchers who are working to celebrate, give agency and create a legacy for the Black community in Nottingham.
Panya Banjoko – Panya is a PhD researcher in NTU’s School of Arts and Humanities. Her thesis is around Politics in Poetry and the Role of African Caribbean Writers and Networks in the 1970s and 1980s. Panya is a key figure in Nottingham’s arts and culture community, establishing Nottingham Black Archive, which aims to collect, research and preserve Black history and heritage in the region and is the first organisation of its kind in the city.
Patricia Francis – Patricia is a PhD Researcher working across our School of Art & Design and our School of Arts and Humanities. Her research is a creative-critical analysis of the muting of dissenting women’s voices focusing on the women involved in the 1984-1985 miners’ strike and those involved in the Black Lives Matter movement.
Dr Dung Jidong - is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Psychology. His research areas include mental health issues among BAME (Black, Asian and minority ethnic) people, African cultural perspectives on mental health issues and Black & cultural psychology. His recent study has highlighted the significant gaps in support available to African and Caribbean communities struggling with their mental health in the UK, and will be offering a pilot programme of parenting workshops for these groups.
Sharon Monteith is Distinguished Professor of American Literature and Cultural History in NTU’s School of Arts and Humanities. Professor Monteith's interdisciplinary research focuses on literary activism, African American and Black British print and visual culture, the American South, the US civil rights movement and massive resistance to civil rights in the 1950s and 1960s. It also focuses on African American and Black British history, American literature and culture, feature film, documentary and art cinema, journalism and media cultures. Sharon’s most recent book is SNCC’s Stories: The African American Freedom Movement in the Civil Rights South (University of Georgia Press, 2020). Her current project is The Civil Rights Movement: A Literary History.
Don't forget to tag us with the hashtags below to share your involvement in Black History Month 2022!
#BlackHistoryMonth #BHM2022
As a university, we are proud to be a progressive and inclusive university, and we all have a part to play in tackling racism.
Read the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Edward Peck’s statement about the action NTU is taking to improve its knowledge, understanding and approach to racial equality.
For anyone who would like to self-educate, here are a set of articles that may help you as part of your journey.
If you would like to advertise an event, please contact business@ntu.ac.uk.