Black History Month
Black History Month 2026 provides us with another opportunity to recognise and share the outstanding contributions of Black people to Britain’s past, present and future. Oxford University will once again join in the event, exploring those contributions both globally and right here in our city and University.
Here you will find talks, initiatives and events for the general public, staff and students as well as resources and projects to be part of during Black History Month and beyond.
Black History Month Lecture 2026
The Iconicity of Africa with Professor Adom Getachew
- Thursday October 22, 5.00-7.00pm
- The Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities
Professor Adom Getachew will explore how, over the course of the 20th century, the continental image of Africa emerged as a symbolically freighted icon for a political project centred on racial solidarity and emancipation. The lecture will trace this development and consider the multiplicity of meanings that have come to cohere around the sign of Africa.
Events
Writing, Resistance and Black Achievement: A Fireside Chat with Lindsay Johns
- Friday 16 October, 5.15pm
- Lincoln College, Oakeshott Room
Join a Black History Month fireside chat with writer, broadcaster and Lincoln alum Lindsay Johns. The discussion explores a range of topics, including black achievement, the Clément Olympe Lavanne Prize in Modern Languages, Capetonian anti-apartheid novelist and freedom fighter Alex La Guma, and Johns’ new gig as UNCF’s Global Respondent.
Landé Belo: ‘The future isn’t neutral: Race, fairness and equality in the age of AI’
- Wednesday 21 October, 5.30-6.30pm
- Kellogg College
This lecture offers important insights for anyone interested in the ethical, legal, and social impacts of technology. Landé is an award-winning lawyer, theatre producer, director and writer and will draw on her expertise in global employment law and AI regulation to examine the opportunities and risks of AI through the lens of race, fairness and inclusion.
Tea and coffee offered from 5.00pm, followed by a drinks reception.
Empowering Leadership through Inclusion: A Black History Month Event
- Wednesday 21 October, 6.00-7.00pm (onsite check-in from 5:30pm, networking until 8.00pm)
- Saïd Business School, Park End Street, Oxford
Join us for a thought-provoking talk by Professor Doyin Atewologun, a renowned business psychologist and Founder and CEO of Delta Alpha Psi. In her talk, ‘The Leadership Opportunity: How everyday decisions shape organisational success,’ Prof. Atewologun will introduce the Cycle of Opportunity, an evidence-based framework that highlights differential career pathways between well represented and less represented professionals resulting from the cumulative impact of bias and ‘shadow processes.’
This event is a unique opportunity to gain insights into the critical role of leadership in shaping organisational culture and performance.
The Lady Ademola Lecture 2026
- Thursday 22 October, 1.00pm
- Online (hosted by St Hugh's College)
“We are here because you were there. A Postcolonial reflection on a migration journey from the Caribbean to Oxford University.”
Professor of Black Theology, Anthony G. Reddie will share a personal reflective journey to Oxford, charting his unusual route to the University, as well as sharing the latest thinking around the legacy of colonialism. A core memory growing up was an anti-racism poster on the wall with the phrase "We are here, because you were there." This in part helped galvanise his thoughts around belonging in post-Windrush Generation Britain.
More event information and registration
Black History Month Lecture: The Call and the Answer: Travel and Literature in the Work of Addie B. Hunton and Kathryn M. Johnson
Professor Mia Bay, University of Cambridge will give this year's Black History Month Lecture on 'The Call and the Answer: Travel and Literature in the Work of Addie B. Hunton and Kathryn M. Johnson'. Mia Bay is Paul Mellon Professor of American History and Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge. Her research focuses on the history of ideas about race, the intellectual work of black women, the study of African American approaches to citizenship, and the history of race and transportation.
- Thursday 29 October, 5.00pm
- Garden Quad Auditorium, St John's College
More event information
Black at Lincoln exhibition
The Black at Lincoln exhibition seeks to highlight the contributions of Black members in the Lincoln College community throughout its history: from the potentially first Black student to attend Lincoln, George Frederick Hall, to distinguished alumni, past fellows, our friendly porters, and students in the JCR and MCR. This exhibition features the personal stories, achievements, and artwork of our Black community members who have made wide-ranging impacts both in and outside the Lincoln community.
- Friday 6 November
- Lincoln College Berrow Foundation Building
Other resources
Race and Slavery in the USA
Five-week short course with Oxford Lifelong Learning
- Mondays, 4:30pm to 6:30pm
- Ewert House, Summertown
Why I research: Oxford's Caribbean Community
Oxford Lifelong Learning YouTube interview
To mark the beginning of Black History Month, Jeanie, a fourth-year DPhil candidate in English Local History at Oxford Lifelong Learning, shares her motivation for beginning her research, her experience being part of the Windrush Generation, and her contributions to the study of Oxford's Caribbean community.
Past events
Will be added to over the course of the month.
