In the United Kingdom, Black History Month is celebrated annually in October. The theme of Black History Month 2022 is ‘Time for Change: Action Not Words.’ It’s important to remember that the month is not just to celebrate the achievements and contributions of Black people to the UK and around the world. It’s also a time to reclaim Black history, ensure it’s being represented and celebrated all year round, and confront racism.

The Black Lives Matter Digital Resource Page is a freely available learning resource, featuring a rich collection of handpicked articles from the digital archives of over 50 different publications. To commemorate the month we have chosen four articles to showcase from within this resource.

BBC History Magazine ‘The Black Faces of Tudor England’ (December 2017)

From the court musician who persuaded Henry VIII to give him a handsome pay rise, to the family man who protested from high society’s passion for silk stockings, Miranda Kaufmann profiles six Africans who called England home in the 16th and 17th centuries.

The popular perception that people of African origin first arrived in England aboard the Empire Windrush in 1948 is misplaced — by at least 400 years. Scores of black men and women set up home in England as early as the 16th century — many arriving from Iberia, as the Spanish and Portuguese laid claim to swathes of Africa.

Read the article here.

Songlines ‘The Music that Transformed Britain’ (October 2018)

Tim Cumming talks to poet and singer Anthony Joseph about his upcoming project celebrating the legacy of the Caribbean’s Windrush pioneers — and why calypso giants like Lord Kitchener, Calypso Rose and Mighty Sparrow still speak loud and clear to us today.

“Calypso is a doubleedged sword. It started as revolutionary music. It was like a militant hip-hop.”

Read the article here.

Tate Etc. ‘Images Burnt into My Mind’ (Issue 51 — Spring 2021)

Ernest Cole, South Africa’s first Black freelance photographer, took powerful photographs that revealed life under apartheid to the world. In this article, Lindokuhle Sobekwa, a fellow photographer from a different generation recalls how Cole’s work inspired him.

Cole (1940–1990) was South Africa’s first Black freelance photojournalist. He worked under the oppression and hardship of the apartheid state at a time when there were very few Black photographers. No one was encouraging Black South Africans to pick up a camera, but, somehow, Cole did.

Read the article here.

Juno ‘Raising Antiracists’ (Early Spring 2022)

Alice Ellerby talks to Laura Henry-Allain about her life and work. Laura is an award-winning producer, writer, speaker and consultant. Her latest book for children, My Skin, Your Skin, encourages meaningful discussions about race, racism and empowerment.

Sometimes people say children are too young to discuss this subject. But we talk to them about climate change. Children understand difficult subjects, we just have to say it in a way that is age, stage and ability appropriate

Read the article here.

All the articles featured in this blog post can be found in the Black Lives Matter Digital Resource Page.

For more information about Black History Month 2022 please visit: https://www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk

Fully-searchable digital subscriptions to BBC History Magazine, Songlines, Tate Etc., and Juno are all available in the Exact Editions individual and institutional shops.