UCL celebrates Black History Month
Source: Students’ Union UCL
Nina Preston gives us a rundown of the events that happened around campus during Black History Month.
In October, Students’ Union UCL, as well as a number of societies, organised a host of events to celebrate Black History Month. Founded in 1826, UCL was the first university to accept students regardless of race, gender or religion.
Events held for the fourth annual Black History Month at UCL included various talks, film screenings and other activities, including a spoken word evening. Some of the films that were shown included Handsworth Songs and Sorry to Bother You. These events explored successes within the African and African-Caribbean community in the UK, as well as touching on important issues such as the Decolonise UCL campaign.
Source: Sandy Ogundele
Also part of the month’s celebrations and debate were tours organised by UCL Museum Society looking at individuals in UCL’s past who were involved in eugenics. Usually a self-guided exploration of UCL’s architecture to understand the history of eugenics at the institution, the tour took place three times throughout October.
A prominent feature of UCL’s Black History Month this year was the display of artwork. Works by artist Becca Human were placed in the UCL Main Building, and were commissioned specifically for Black History Month. One of the paintings features a variety of important people and quotes from black culture, including Cherrie Moraga’s words “Don’t let the past steal the present”.
Source: Sandy Ogundele
Sandy Ogundele, the Students’ Union BME Officer, wrote an article on the importance and meaning of the artwork produced for UCL, including an insightful analysis on selected quotes and images from the picture.
Talking exclusively to Pi News, Sandy discussed the importance of the artwork in this year’s celebration of Black History Month. “For Black History Month, I wanted to make the artwork to be an ode to black culture and global black history in a way that encouraged students to think of themselves as part of it. Because as bell hooks says, “what we cannot imagine cannot come into being”. I hope ‘Black Futures’ is a call to action to students, because history is political and so is our future.”
Source: Sandy Ogundele
She added that she was impressed with the number of groups and societies who engaged with the theme, but that it was important to remember that “Black History Month shouldn’t be the only time when societies engage with black cultures or histories.”
Speaking more widely of her role within the Union, the BME Officer stated that her goal is to “advocate for students in the Eugenics Inquiry, push for quality and tailored welfare and pastoral care for all students, to continue the work on the BME Attainment / Awarding Gap Project and to push for a truly inclusive and decolonised education, that helps support students’ critical thinking, properly contextualises Western history and that draws from a variety of perspectives.”