Black History month: from comedy to library lectures: our round up of five great events and venues

A unique immersive theatrical tour for Black History Month fictionalizing a meeting by key members of the 18th and early 19th century British abolitionist movement. This is being performed in historic churches with close ties to the slave trade and abolition in Sunderland Point, Manchester, Fulham, Hampstead, Soham, Liverpool, Bristol, and Nottingham.

Want to know more about Manchester’s history? Come and learn about the 1981 Moss Side Uprisings in a free workshop delivered by Manchester’s own Black History tutor, Linford Sweeney – who was there when it happened. A creative writing/spoken word workshop will follow which will be delivered by poet in residence Shirley May, founder and director of Young Identity.
The sessions will enable the participants to creatively respond to the issues raised by the uprisings 40 years ago as well as the Black Lives Matters protests over the last 18 months, using words and poetry to connect stories of the past with the present. Places are limited so booking is essential.

Join COBO : Comedy Of Black Origin as they head to Manchester for a Black History Month Special with an almighty bang! Acts confirmed (although these may be subject to change) are: Kane Brown, Aurie Styla, Kat B, Annette Fagon. It’s going to be a good ‘un.

This year HOME is celebrating Black History Month with a curated season of events alongside the core programme. Celebrating Black artistic brilliance and talent across film, theatre, art, music and comedy, the season will bring people together to uplift, inspire and entertain.  Experience theatre online and engage in post-show discussions around climate change. Exploring non-traumatic Black experiences on screen, our specially curated film programme celebrates Black joy, love, and light within the Black narrative, with a chance to take part in change-making and interactive panel discussions. 

For visual art lovers, you can explore a new textiles exhibition  and a newly commissioned mural. In November, remember how to belly laugh at the return of Manchester’s original Black comedy night, presenting comedy lovers with a stellar line-up from the UK’s Black comedy circuit. 

What were the links between localised far-right successes, long years of deindustrialisation, and New Labour’s policies of ‘community cohesion’? How have the issues highlighted by the northern town riots of twenty years ago affected politics and identity more widely? What’s changing – if anything – for members of ‘the’ so-called ‘white working class’ and people in ‘the Muslim community’ in places from Bradford to Blackburn?

Two speakers will open the discussion on aspects of race relations along ‘the M62 corridor’ and in East Lancashire: Shamim Miah (Huddersfield University), author of ‘Muslim Schooling and the Question of Self-Segregation’ (2015) and ‘Muslims, Schooling and Security’ (2017). He is also the co-author of ‘Race, Space and Multiculturalism in Northern England’ (2020); and Mike Makin-Waite, who has written about being a local council officer when the BNP were winning seats in the town hall he worked in. His book is ‘On Burnley Road: class, race and politics in a northern English town’ (2021).

The library is hoping to run this talk both online and in person – more details to be announced.