The Centre of African Studies at the University of Cambridge is celebrating Black History Month 2005 by facilitating a range of lectures, exhibitions and events across the city.
The Centre of African Studies at the University of Cambridge is celebrating Black History Month 2005 by facilitating a range of lectures, exhibitions and events across the city.
Cambridge Black History Month will be officially launched tonight (October 14) by the city’s Mayor, Councillor John Hipkin, at an evening reception at the Guildhall.
Among the many events taking place is an exhibition at St Andrew’s Church in Chesterton about the life of Nigerian-born anti-slavery campaigner Olaudah Equiano, who was sold to slave-traders when he was 11 and, in 1792, married a woman from Soham. Meanwhile, Addenbrooke’s Hospital will host a display about Mary Seacole, the half-Jamaican, half-Scottish nurse who worked tirelessly in the Crimean War.
Cambridge Black History Month also features an extensive programme of exhibitions, concerts and other events showcasing the diverse talents of black artists such as Lemn Sissay and portrait photographer Sal Idriss, who has taken images of high-profile black Britons such as Sophie Okonedo and the Archbishop of York.
Dr Derek Peterson, Director of the Centre of African Studies, said: “History is more than names and dates. It is by reconstructing their histories that people everywhere identify themselves as members of social or political communities. That’s why the Centre of African Studies thinks Black History Month is so important: it is a way of widening the boundaries of what being British means.”
The Centre of African Studies is holding a weekly series of academic research seminars celebrating black history at 5pm each Monday from October 17 to November 28.
The full programme of Cambridge Black History Month events can be seen at www.african.cam.ac.uk.
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