Black History Month 2022 - Recommended List

For Black History Month, the team have curated a list on work that celebrates, embodies or shines a light on Black history, experiences, and voices.  

These digitised and meticulous collections by the Black Cultural Archives (BCA), in collaboration with Google, depicts the movements, milestones, and figures that make up ‘the story of the Black British experience’. Using photography, art and rich narrative, the collections take you through the inception of the BCA, the fight for educational opportunity and equity, the Black power movement, uprisings, the journey and lives of the Windrush generation, and so much more. It is a valuable and important window into Black British History. 

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Learn more about the story behind ‘The Woman King’, a 2022 historical film about the Agojie, the all-female warrior unit that protected the West African Kingdom of Dahomey, with this syllabus that charts the history of the all-female regiment that emerged during the eighteenth century. The open educational resource aids the study of the historical period and themes explored in the film, particularly of the experiences of 'women warriors' that can help us better understand the history of West African women and Black women in the Americas.  

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African textiles were a major form of expression within African art, and still have an ‘exceptional significance as a means of communication, information and mutual association within particular communities’. For art lovers, check out this site dedicated to the history, components, creation, and production of African textiles around the continent, from Urbanstax to the Kente cloth. 

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We’re inspired by the work of The Black Curriculum, a social enterprise that aims to education and inform about the importance of Black British history all across the UK. Their enlightening blogs are a must read for topics on diversity, inclusion, anti-racism, Black British figures in history, and accessibility. They recently held a ‘Springboard’ event, for young people aged 11-16 to learn about Black British history through the lens of music and poetry. Sign up to their newsletter (scroll down) to catch their next poetry event. 

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For poetry lovers, sign up to this mailing by Koko Brown, a  multidisciplinary artist who blends theatre, spoken word and live vocal looping, to receive a regular poetry collection featuring Black writers straight to your inbox. 

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In this hard hitting episode by BBC World Service, poet and songwriter Cornelius Eady navigates powerful and moving first-hand accounts of what it means to raise a Black man in America today, including his own reflections on his relationship with his father. Cornelius interviews three father figures of victims of police shootings – Michael Brown Jr, Terence Crutcher, and George Floyd – who each reflect on the moment that forever altered their families’ lives following the killing of their loved ones by police officers in the US. 

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This collection by English Heritage aims to shine a light on both famous and forgotten figures in Black history, and share the stories of pioneering Black people whose achievements have been commemorated via an iconic blue plaque. English Heritage has established a working group in order to increase the racial diversity of the blue plaque scheme, and aim to work with the public to uncover the stories of those whose achievements have so far been unacknowledged. Find out more on how you can nominate someone for a blue plaque here.