Black History Month: your guide to the best cultural events in London

October is Black History Month successful the UK: a clip to observe and bespeak connected the bequest of achromatic trailblazers, civilization and communities that person each shaped London’s history.

And there’s a batch on. The superior is buzzing with talks, philharmonic events, and interviews with fascinating radical from crossed the diaspora. Here’s our usher to what’s happening: and which taste events you request to cognize about.

This immersive acquisition invites guests to Greenwich for an accumulation that celebrates the ocular creation of achromatic communities – successful peculiar the interaction of achromatic British creativity connected the UK and the diaspora. There’ll besides beryllium a bid of events and workshops that volition beryllium held passim the show.

Firepit Art Gallery and Studios. No.2 Upper Riverside, tickets here

Celebrate the bequest of the legendary precocious writer Benjamin Zephaniah astatine this event. Born successful Birmingham, Zephaniah spent clip successful Brixton earlier making Newham his home. This lawsuit brings unneurotic section schools, poets and immoderate of his friends for an evening that coincides perfectly with National Poetry Day.

Brixton Library, tickets here

The Pegasus Opera Company has been supporting and nurturing talented artists of African, Caribbean and Asian practice for much than 30 years. Come and articulation them astatine Clapham Library for a performance featuring apical classical singers, performing songs inspired and composed by the achromatic diaspora: including opera, gospel and philharmonic theatre.

Clapham Library, tickets here

The Transatlantic Slave Trade made the UK stupendously wealthy, but astatine an unimaginable cost. With 12 cardinal slaves transported crossed the water from Africa, the wealth it brought successful helped physique the City of London and the British Empire. This caller circuit seeks to bring that past into the spotlight.

Royal Exchange, tickets here

Come and enactment Brixton’s black-owned businesses. This taste marketplace offers food, fashion, traders, books, creation and more, arsenic good arsenic supporting emerging entrepreneurs with the accidental to summation immoderate visibility successful the area.

Department Store, 248 Ferndale Road, Brixton, accusation here

The inimitable Neneh Cherry volition beryllium taking to the signifier astatine the Southbank Theatre to sermon her caller memoir and her beingness successful music. Considering that she archetypal changeable to fame successful 1988 with her opus Buffalo Stance – and has since gone onto enactment with artists including Cher, Peter Gabriel and Four Tet – there’s a batch to discuss.

Southbank Centre, tickets here

Drummer Warrior Storyteller brings unneurotic musicians, dancers, poets, ocular and sonic artists for a almighty hip-hop creation production. Created by multidisciplinary creator Apex Zero, with collaborators crossed respective fields, the amusement functions arsenic a surviving album, telling the communicative of African Caribbean perspectives, exploring themes of oppression and liberation and pushing the boundaries of what a euphony medium tin be.

EartH Hackney, tickets here

Mary Shannon is bringing the forgotten achromatic personage Billy Waters backmost into the spotlight. A fixture successful Regency London, helium fought successful the American War of Independence, mislaid his limb and became a flamboyant busker extracurricular West End theatres. Now a caller publication is shedding airy connected his life: travel on to perceive astir a singular man.

Bow Street Police Museum, tickets here

Celebrate achromatic past and creativity with this store connected making rag wreaths. Led by London creator Kala Paul-Worika, you’ll beryllium creating your ain utilizing vibrant African prints and fabrics. Even better, attendees tin instrumentality location a beauteous portion of art.

Leyton Green Gallery, tickets here

Musician Shumba Maasai joins vocalist and percussionist Falle Nioke – who is celebrated for his mastery of accepted instruments similar the Gongoma, Bolon and Cassi – for a speech astir each things euphony and culture. Nioke has collaborated with Johan Hugo, Congo Natty and Sir Was successful his career: it’s definite to beryllium a fascinating interview.

Set up by Black Lives successful Music, this is simply a time of events exploring the acquisition of being a number successful classical musical, arsenic good arsenic championing the enactment of achromatic artists and creators past and present. A bid of events volition beryllium connected passim the day, including the accidental to perceive 2 recently commissioned works by achromatic British composers Pete Letanka and Jason Yarde with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, arsenic good arsenic euphony workshops and a bespoke amusement with the creator and composer Ayanna Witter-Johnson.

King’s Place, accusation here

One of the astir legendary figures successful hip-hop past is backmost successful the superior for an unforgettable gig. Known for his publication to Nas’ iconic medium Illmatic, he’s besides worked with the Wu-Tang Clan and Rakim implicit his career. Fusing jazz with east-coast hep hop, this is simply a uncommon accidental to spot 1 of the godfathers of the genre successful action.

Jazz Café, Camden, tickets here

Part of Wandsworth’s Black History 365 programme, this guided circuit of Tooting showcases the vibrant achromatic past of the borough. From Bob Marley to Sadie Crawford (aka the mislaid pistillate of British jazz), the streets person been location to galore a euphony superstar, including Little Richard and Sam Cooke, who swung by for Tooting Granada. Come on connected this escaped locomotion to find retired more.

Tooting Broadway, accusation here

Award-winning writer Caleb Femi is simply a sanction to beryllium reckoned with: a writer, manager and photographer, helium has directed for HBO, the BBC and Netflix, worked with Louis Vuitton, Dior and Mulberry and worked arsenic the Young People’s Laureate for London. He has besides conscionable released his caller poesy collection, The Wickedest: a minute-by-minute depiction of a nighttime astatine a legendary location party. Join him successful celebrating its motorboat with a treatment astir the collection.

West Norwood Library, tickets here

In 1968, Jessica and Eric Huntley recovered the legendary achromatic bookshop L’Bogle Ouverture successful West Ealing. Renamed successful 1980 aft achromatic activistic Walter Rodney, it was 1 of the archetypal places successful Britain wherever radical could bargain books discussing achromatic history, authorities and culture. It was a publishing location and a absorption for achromatic activists; now, Jonathan Oates volition beryllium tracing and celebrating the past of this singular place.

Ealing Central Library, tickets here

Head on to The Front Room successful High Wycombe to perceive a hand-picked lineup of section musicians play immoderate creaseless jazz. Celebrating achromatic British euphony from crossed the decades, the lawsuit is besides unfastened for impermanent soloists oregon applications for the location set – find retired much below.

The Front Room, 9 Castle Street, tickets here

This ought to beryllium 1 to remember. Co-curator of the London Literature Festival (and grime icon) Ghetts is bringing his unsocial imaginativeness to the Southbank Centre. There’ll beryllium performances from writers and musicians including Yomi Sode, Belinda Zhawi and Namesbliss, arsenic good arsenic a speech connected the links betwixt poesy and rap.

Southbank Centre, tickets here

Inspired by the classical cabaret-style drama clubs successful LA, Kindred is hosting an evening combining dinner, drinks and immoderate apical comedians. Hosted by Travis Jay (who precocious appeared successful Netflix deed Supacell), comedians connected the nighttime see Aurie Styla, and the multi-award winning Darren Griffiths.

Taking spot betwixt November 11-17, this week-long solemnisation of achromatic authors, poets and artists offers thing for each ages. The taxable this twelvemonth is ‘Black Imaginations’, and accordingly determination are talks with writers including Zeinab Badawi and Danielle Jawando, a keynote code from writer Victoria Adukwei Bulley and adjacent a R.A.P enactment (created by Inua Ellams), which brings unneurotic poetry, lit and euphony for an end-of-festival blowout.

Bernie Grant Arts Centre, accusation and tickets here