Reclaiming Narratives: Celebrating UK Black History Month 2024

Black History Month in the UK commemorates the contributions of Black people, highlighting ongoing struggles against racism and inequality, and fostering reflection and education.

UK Black History Month 2024 will feature exhibitions and plaques honoring prominent Black figures and highlighting the enduring legacy of African enslavement.

Black History Month, established in the UK in October 1987, is the largest and most widespread celebration of Black culture and the historical and contemporary contributions of black Britons.

This year’s Black History Month, with the theme of “reclaiming narratives,” marks what campaigners describe as a significant shift towards recognizing and correcting the narratives of Black history and culture.

The theme underscores “a commitment to correcting historical inaccuracies and showcasing the untold success stories and the full complexity of Black heritage,” Black History Month UK magazine said.

In London on Tuesday, campaigners unveiled a blue plaque at 57 Castletown Road, West Kensington, where five influential Black figures stayed between 1928 and 1964: Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya’s first president; the Jamaican activists Marcus and Amy Garvey; Malcolm X; and Ladipo Solanke, a Nigerian-born anti-racism campaigner.

Hammersmith and Fulham Council’s heritage officer, Gaverne Bennett, highlights the significance of a plaque commemorating historic figures in Black History, capturing the broader history over the past 100 years.

Bennett, also a Leicester University PhD student who created the Black Literature timeline for the British Library emphasizes five individuals honored at UK Black History Month as inspiration for young people to change the country and the world.

Bristol’s 50 Plaques and Places exhibition honors transatlantic slave descendants who received financial compensation under the 1833 Slavery Abolition Act for property loss. Gloria Daniel and Sandra Daniel’s exhibition, titled Ashton Court, will unveil a symbolic and painful history of compensation for 4,424 African people by 19th-century Bristol alderman Thomas Daniel.

Gloria Daniel, founder of Teach Plaques, aims to bring 50 Plaques & Places to Ashton Court Mansion, a site with a history of enslavement, to confront the truth and honor the memories of African and Caribbean-born ancestors.

Other celebrations and events include a new festival in Birmingham called Niyo Fest, which will bring together tech, hair, and beauty brands to collaborate; and the play Slave: A Question of Freedom, which explores the life of the Sudanese author and human rights activist Mende Nazer, at the Quays Theatre in Manchester.