Celebrating Black Futures Month at City, University of London

“What if we celebrated the joy of the Black experience?” asked Michelle-Louise Yembra, Senior Student Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Officer at City, University of London.

As a young Black girl growing up, Michelle did not feel Black History Month reflected the wholeness of her experiences. Instead, it often focused on the negative aspects of navigating the world as a Black person.

Michelle wanted to imagine what a healed and equitable society might look like. Last year, alongside former colleague Natasha Mutch-Vidal, she successfully pitched the idea of celebrating Black Futures Month in October to her colleagues within the Office for Institutional Equity and Inclusion (OIEI).

Celebrating Black Futures Month at City

For the second year running, the OIEI team organised a series of events, workshops and meetups throughout October to celebrate Black Futures Month. The theme for this year’s celebrations was ‘Saluting Our Sisters’.

The OIEI collaborated closely with teams across the University, including the staff Network for Racial Justice (NRJ), the Students’ Union and City’s library.

Ashling Akosa, EDI Manager for Race at City explained the aims of Black Futures Month. She said:

Black Futures Month supports City’s aim to becoming part of a truly antiracist culture.

It allows us to celebrate and amplify the voices of our Black students, Black staff and Black community.

Ashling spearheaded many of the events, which included a talk about activism by Imarn Ayton, a public speaking workshop delivered by Frederick Afrifra, Co-founder of Believe in Greatness, and further celebrations.

The NRJ hosted a movie screening of the film Rye Lane from breakout director Rain Allen-Miller, a light-hearted romantic comedy based in South London starring Black British actors David Jonsson and Vivian Oparah.

After its success last year, the NRJ also renewed the Race Equity Challenge, inviting students and staff to commit to completing one small task per working day during October to help them move forward on their antiracist journey. Activities included reading articles, listening to speeches and reflecting.

Liberating CityLibrary scheme

Jessica Wykes, Accessibility Librarian at City, helps put in place the adjustments students need to access digital and physical resources in the library.

In the past, she has volunteered for the Feminist Library, a non-profit library space which archives feminist history. She said:

Black Futures Month should not be just one month, but part of an ongoing effort to actively reflect upon and celebrate Black lives and experiences.

“My time in the Feminist Library was very inspirational and gave me an opportunity to learn more about feminist thinkers like Kimberlé Crenshaw and her theory of intersectionality," she said. "As a result of my experience, I am more aware of the importance of representation in library collections and the barriers of access.”

For Black Futures Month, colleagues from the OIEI and the library team curated a display of works to celebrate Black Futures Month, choosing books and music reflecting the theme, some of which had been acquired by City through the Liberating CityLibrary scheme.

The scheme has a goal of improving the diversity of voices within City’s library collection.

Jessica’s selections included the crime fiction novel Deadly Sacrifice, by City alumna Stella Oni, the poetry collection Windrush Songs, by poet James Berry, and the short story collection Edge of Here: stories from near to now, by Kelechi Okafor.

Students and staff are invited to suggest books by authors from the global majority, books by LGBTQI+ people and titles which recognise overlapping identities and experiences such as gender, class, sexuality and disability.

Hamdi Khalif, Publications Lead at City and alumna of the Novel Studio, requested a book be added to the library’s collection through the Liberating CityLibrary scheme. She is currently working on a novel and upon her request, From a Crooked Rib by Somali author Nuruddin Farah was purchased by City.

The Liberating CityLibrary scheme shows that City cares about the diversity of its students and wants to reflect that. Often, academia can be centred around biases and may favour European literature, for example.

She added: "Black women are typically left out of the debate for civil rights and liberation, so the recognition of the 'Saluting Your Sisters' theme of Black Futures Month is welcomed!”