Black History Month

October 2023

Oxford Brookes University is proud to celebrate Black History Month in October 2023. The theme for this year’s programme is "Celebrating our Sisters". We would like as many of you as possible to join in and enjoy these events that will offer an opportunity to socialise, learn and explore the racialised contexts and experience of wellness in education and wider society.


Programme of events

Our programme of events for Black History Month 2023 seeks to celebrate our Black Sisters whilst also promoting different aspects of wellbeing, self care and resilience. We want to encourage members of staff, students and the local community to come together to learn and socialise.

Our keynote lecture this year will be presented by Natalia-Nana Lester-Bush on Wednesday 18 October on the Headington Campus. The session will consist of a lecture followed by a Q&A. We encourage attendees to submit questions in advance at the point of booking your spot.


Keynote speaker: Natalia-Nana Lester-Bush

Why Race Equity is a HIgher Education Emergency

Tuesday 18 October 2023, 6.00pm - 7.00pm

We are extremely excited to have secured Natalia for this event and look forward to as many of you as possible joining us on the day.

Poetry competition

The Oxford Brookes Poetry Centre is holding a Poetry competition as part of this year's celebrations. This year's events will be 'dedicated to honouring the achievements of black women who are often the forgotten heroines. We want to amplify their voices and challenge the systems that oppress them.

The competition is free to enter and open to anyone at Oxford Brookes University and all Oxfordshire residents. It has two categories: under 16 and over 16. The closing date is Sunday 1 October 2023 and there are more details about how to enter on this page.

We are excited to say that our judge for the competition is the award-winning poet Isabelle Baafi.

Oxford City Council community engagement event

13 October 2023, 10.00am - 3.00pm, Rose Hill Community Centre


On 13 October 2023 Oxford City Council are hosting a town hall style community engagement event at the Rose Hill Community Centre. This event is part of the City Council’s celebrations for Black History Month and it brings together a host of local stakeholders for a day of learning, dialogue and celebration.  Drop into this event, we look forward to seeing you there.

Staff development courses

A portfolio of skills booster and taught development courses for staff that address the sub themes for Black History Month 2023 which are self care, resilience and wellbeing. 

Skills Booster Training Courses - Available on demand:

Spotify playlists celebrating Black History Month

As part of celebrating our Black Sisters for this year's celebrations we invite you to make submissions to our Black HIstory Month University playlist. This is an opportunity for you to share and discover inspirational artists that will provide you with a soundtrack to help you be inspired, work and relax. The link to the playlist will be posted here once submissions start rolling in.

We welcome contributions from Oxford Brookes students and staff.

Alumni profiles

During the month of October we are excited to share with you a number of Alumni profiles showcasing inspirational Black Sisters as well as an additional Governor profile.  Check back here through the month as we add content and share some great journeys.

Learning Resources reading list

For Black History Month 2023, explore the library's Anti-racism reading list for a collection of fiction, poetry, non-fiction books, and online resources relating to racism and anti-racism. This list started with suggestions from Sola Adesola with contributions from Jane Butcher and library staff. Help us expand this list by emailing lr-equality@brookes.ac.uk with any suggestions.

If you want to learn more about Black history in Britain, browse the History of black, asian, and other ethnic minorities in Britain reading list. You can find all of these books and ebooks at the Oxford Brookes libraries. If you have any suggestions for this list please contact us at the address above.