Black History Month 2025
Posted on Wednesday 24 September 2025
Black History Month in the UK is in its 38th year and is celebrated and recognised across the country in schools, city centres, cinemas, festivals and more.
The theme for 2025 is Standing Firm in Power and Pride.
Here at the University, we will be hosting a variety of online and in-person events to celebrate Black History. In addition to the celebratory aspects, the month presents an engaging space of reflection on the achievements and innovative contributions of Black people to the social, political and cultural development of the United Kingdom. There are also opportunities for members of our community to learn more about the issues that continue to impact societies and people of colour in the UK and on an international level.
In line with the University's commitment to anti-racism, we invite everyone to learn with us the diverse stories, aspirations and activism that tackle racial inequality. To reinforce our commitment to fostering a safe and respectful campus, we have recently released summary guidance and information on inclusion and race equality.
Our actions
We have launched the new Race Equity module for staff on the Learning Management System (LMS). The module covers topics including racism and equality in UK Higher Education, different forms of racism, understanding privilege and a toolkit for belonging.
The University has implemented actions that address the underrepresentation of the Black, Asian and Minoritised Ethnic student population in York and the UK Higher Education. Some of our race equality initiatives include:
- Our Black Access scheme
- Yorkshire Consortium for Equity in Doctoral Education (YCEDE), dedicated to widening access to postgraduate research for people of colour, offers an online toolkit providing advice throughout a student’s journey from pre-application to post-doc and careers. The toolkit also guides staff from recruitment to evaluating impact to foster an anti-racist research culture.
- We are part of a pilot Equity in Leadership Programme which was launched across the White Rose universities supporting career development of Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff aiming to advance into senior leadership positions.
- Our status as a University of Sanctuary
Since 2022, we have been publishing our ethnicity pay gap report to promote transparency. Our Staff Race Equality Forum (SREF) expands and brings positive influence on the University’s anti-racism agenda. SREF organised listening exercises in 2019 and 2022 with senior managers to gather feedback and develop action plans, and it aims to build better connections with different communities. Collaborating with the University of York Students’ Union, we have previously organised joint events including socials, a discussion of ‘where are you really from?’, and sharing stories of individuals’ names to highlight intersectional experiences.
We are repurposing our Race Equality Coordination Group to better facilitate practice-sharing and to support a critical vision of anti-racism at the University. We are also rejuvenating our Decolonising and Diversifying the Curriculum work to address inequalities in the student journey.
What's on?
On campus
Department of Sociology Poster Campaign
- Thursday 2 October - Friday 31 October
- 2nd floor, Law and Sociology Building
In keeping with this year's theme, 'Standing Firm in Power and Pride,' and with the departmental Decolonising Collective's 2025-26 theme of strengthening marginalised voices, the Sociology poster display will celebrate (often underappreciated) Black scholars who have contributed to sociology, criminology, and the broader social sciences.
Gentle Hair Day
Wednesday 8 October, 2pm to 4pm
Gentle Hair Day is a protected space for students and staff of black heritage to support one another with haircare, swap hair products, and engage with deeper questions and conversations around hair.
Health Psychology and Participatory Research: Empowering Communities to Address Health Inequalities
- Wednesday 22 October, 1pm to 2pm
- B/B/006 Biology
In this talk, Professor Eberhardt will show how involving communities as partners rather than subjects can generate more relevant, trusted, and sustainable interventions. Examples will be drawn from projects on early prostate cancer diagnosis among Black men (PROCAN-B), health screening uptake through faith-placed interventions (EQUITA), NHS Health Checks uptake and vaccine hesitancy in underserved communities, and peer advocacy for people with multiple complex needs. Together, this body of work illustrates how health psychology can contribute to tackling inequalities and shaping system-level change when research is conducted with, not on, communities.
No tickets/booking required.
School for Business and Society EDI Forum: Black History Month: From Progress to Pushback?
- Thursday 23 October 2025, 1pm to 3pm
- CL/A/057, Church Lane Building
The School for Business and Society's Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Committee is pleased to invite you to our next EDI Forum. This session, marking Black History Month, will focus on Challenges and Responses to Black Intellectual Work in an Era of Backlash against EDI and Critical Race Scholarship.
Regional and national events
The Black History Month website has searchable listings of events taking place across the country.
Events in Yorkshire and Humberside
Further resources
Watch again
We have a series of recordings from previous Black History Month, and other related awareness events, that are available for you to watch again:
- An African history of Africa - Zeinab Badawi
- Why we need a British conversation about race - Tomiwa Owolade
- Black England in the Eighteenth Century - Gretchen Gerzina and Paterson Joseph
- The New Age of Empire - Kehinde Andrews
- Discovering Black Portraiture - An Evening with Peter Brathwaite
- England's Hidden History
- The continuing Windrush scandal
- Noni Jabavu: Black Briton, South African
- Why what happens off screen matters
- YUSU BAME online debate and panel discussion
- Interfaith Week Event 2020: My Faith - its position within the University of York and the City
- From Windrush to the Royal Veterinary College and Founding the Reach Society - a journey to success
- The Art of Disruption: A manifesto for change - Magid Magid
- Responsibility, representation and restrictions
- Decolonising Methods and Methodologies - Dr Linda Tuhiwai Smith
- Health research in Africa: listening, learning and building truly equitable partnerships
- DecolonisING the University: learning from grassroots organisers with York Anti-Racist Collective
- Motherland: African culture and identity - Luke Pepera
- Chinese and any other Asian - Anna Sulan Masing
- Austen and Turner: Creativity and connection - Lela Harris, Rommi Smith and Olivia Carpenter
- When we ruled: African Queens and Warriors - Paula Akpan
Groups and networks
University-based groups and networks
Local groups
- York Anti Racist Collective (city-wide)
- York Interfaith Group
- Refugee Action York
- York City of Sanctuary
National groups
Resources
Our Let's talk about race and racism web page directs you to information and resources to help all members of our community better understand what it is like to experience racism, how to support those who experience racism and what the University is doing to progress its anti-racism work.