Your guide to Black History Month 2024 in Tower Hamlets

Black History Month has started with this year’s theme ‘Reclaiming Narratives’ promising a dynamic lineup of events across the area.   

Every October Tower Hamlets celebrates its diversity bringing communities together in honor of Black History Month. We have compiled our best picks from ballet to bazaars for you to enjoy. 

This year’s theme, ‘Reclaiming Narratives’, encourages people to correct narratives, become new storytellers and uncover untold stories within Black history and culture. 

In line with this, and in time for Black History Month, the Vagina Museum is honouring the ‘Mothers of Gynaecology’ with new galleries dedicated to Anarcha, Betsey, and Lucy—the only three of twelve women whose names were recorded after being subjected to experimental surgeries without anaesthesia and in front of audiences.

These galleries hope to start a conversation about racism in medicine and highlight the injustice still faced by Black women and women of colour in gynaecological care. 

The Vagina Museum is just one of the many local organisations offering an opportunity to celebrate Black History Month and learn more about truthful narratives. 

Black History Month was originally started in the United States in 1976 by Carter G. Woodson. Inspired by Woodson’s commitment to challenging racism and elevating black voices, Akaaba Addai-Sebo, a Ghanaian activist, organised the first Black History Month in the UK held on October 1 1987. 

Sweet Patootee Arts Present: Turning Points: Screening & Q&A at Poplar Union 

SATURDAY 5 OCTOBER 

Embracing this year’s theme of ‘Reclaiming Narratives’ Turning Point is a comedy melodrama that delves into neglected narratives of early 20th-century Black British history.

It is inspired by Black Caribbean experiences with four stories from after the First World War and features performances from high-profile actors including Suzette Llewellyn (Holby City, Eastenders, Surgical Spirit), Paterson Joseph (The Beach, Vigil, Noughts + Crosses), Ashley D. Gayle and Veronica Beatrice Lewis. 

The Q&A session following the performance offers the opportunity to engage with Tony T from Sweet Patootee Arts. You’ll gain insights into the production process and explore how the legacy of 20th-century heritage continues to shape and influence the world today. 

Find Poplar Union at 2 Cotall St, London E14 6TL and for more info visit poplarunion.com

Roots and Rhythms – Celebration of Black Somali Culture

SATURDAY 5TH OCTOBER

Tower Hamlets Town Hall is hosting Roots and Rhythms, a vibrant celebration of the borough’s rich Somali community. This event will showcase traditional Somali music, poetry, and dance, highlighting Somali culture within the context of Black history.

Tower Hamlets Town Hall is filled with history as it was originally the London Infirmary and was granted the royal title of The Royal London Hospital in 1990 by Queen Elizabeth II. 

It’s an opportunity to share stories, embrace the power of cultural expression, and experience a night of lively performances that honour Somali heritage. 

Find Tower Hamlets Town Hall at 160 Whitechapel Rd, London E1 1BJ and for more info visit: towerhamlet.gov.uk

Black History Month Workshop with Trapped in Zone One ‘Reclaiming Narratives’

SATURDAY 5 OCTOBER TO SATURDAY 26 OCTOBER

Trapped in Zone One at the Island Point Community Centre is hosting a series of creative weekly workshops with London-based artist Nadina Ali during Black History Month. 

Nadina Ali is passionate about representation and making art as accessible to everyone. 

Channelling this year’s ‘Reclaiming Narratives’ theme, get the chance to use different mediums to create posters celebrating stories of Black People in Tower Hamlets that wouldn’t make it into history books.

Find Island Point Community Centre at 51 Sark Mews, London E14 3PW and for more info visit  trappedinzoneone.com

Play the African Marimba workshop series 

SUNDAY 6 OCTOBER TO SUNDAY 3 NOVEMBER 

Throughout Black History Month learn how to play the traditional African marimba from Zimbabwe on a relaxed 5-week workshop that’s designed for beginners. 

The workshops will explore folk songs from southern Africa and their cultural significance and by the end, you will be confident in playing several variations of the songs. 

The 5 weeks will conclude with a performance for friends and family to show off what you have learnt. 

Find St Peters North Community Centre at 80 Pritchard’s Rd, London E2 9AP and for more info visit tasteofsouthernafrica.com 

Caring for your collections workshop & archive shorts 

THURSDAY 10 OCTOBER

This workshop will showcase Tower Hamlets film archives from the 1970s-2000s with themes of racism, protest, love and community. The screenings will reflect how this history of the area is disappearing as videos start to deteriorate after 30 years. 

Following the screenings, the workshop will show you how to care for your documents, photos and films to ensure that no one’s history washes away with time. 

The Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives is located at 277 Bancroft Rd, Bethnal Green, London E1 4DQ and for more info visit tnbfc.co.uk 

Book Launch at The Common Press: Zanele Muholi: Somnyama Ngonyama, Hail the Dark Lioness, Volume II 

FRIDAY 11 OCTOBER

This is an opportunity to see Zanele Muholi’s photography collection ‘Somnyama Ngonyama Hail the Dark Lioness, Volume II’, a continuation of Muholi’s celebrated self-portrait series. 

Join Zanele Muholi, alongside project curator Renee Mussai, for an evening filled with radical celebration of black culture and resistance at The Common Press bookshop in Bethnal Green.

Common Press bookshop is London’s first queer bookshop and has launched a fundraiser to save the space after losing funding this year. 

Zanele Muholi has played an active role in queer visibility and art education forming the Muholi Arts Institute and Inkanyiso. Renee Mussai is a London-based independent curator focusing on Black feminist and queer visual arts practices and worked with Muholi during the first volume of their collection. 

Find The Common Press at 118 Bethnal Green Rd, London E2 6DG and for more info visit commonpress.co.uk

Windrush and the NHS: A Nurse Called Ruby 

SATURDAY 12 OCTOBER & SATURDAY 26 OCTOBER

The Windrush generation refers to the people who migrated from the Caribbean to London to help fix post-World War Two Britain in 1948. Many Jamaican women worked for the newly formed National Health Service at the time. It’s an important part of Black British history as in 2017 it emerged that hundreds of people in the Windrush generation had been denied legal rights, wrongly detained or even deported. 

London Museum Docklands invites you to hear the story of Ruby Hall who was one of the Jamaican nurses at the time of Windrush. In this talk learn about her experiences from when she moved to London at nineteen and the connection between the Windrush generation and our NHS. 

Find the London Museum at No 1, West India Quay, Hertsmere Rd, London E14 4AL for more info visit londonmuseum.org.uk

Black Legacy Exchange Bazaar at Poplar Union 

SATURDAY 19 OCTOBER

The Black Legacy Exchange Bazaar is back again this year at Poplar Union and will be filled with community spirit and celebrations for local talent. 

Greentea Peng, psychedelic R’n’B’ singer and songwriter from south east London, will co-curate the event this year. 

There will be market traders, on-stage musicians and performers, and a create and display space to unleash your creativity. Throughout the day you can enjoy fresh, plant-based food from the E5 in-house cafe. 

Find Poplar Union at 2 Cotall St, London E14 6TL and for more info visit poplarunion.com

The Common Press Poetry Night Black History Month

THURSDAY 22ND OCTOBER 

Poetry night and open mic are becoming a popular event at Common Press and in October they are hosting a Black History Month-themed event. They invite all poetry lovers to listen to powerful performances and are open to new faces signing up to read their poetry. 

The evening will be hosted by Livia Kojo Alour whose solo show Black Sheep became critically acclaimed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2022 and has been an activist addressing cultural issues by speaking about personal experiences. 

Find The Common Press at 118 Bethnal Green Rd, London E2 6DG and for more info visit commonpress.co.uk

British Urban Film Festival 

WEDNESDAY 23 OCTOBER TO FRIDAY 25 OCTOBER

East End’s independent cinema Genesis is yet again one of the chosen venues for this year’s British Urban Film Festival (BUFF) and will present a series of blocks of this year’s short film nominees followed by an awards ceremony. 

The festival focuses on developing young, up-and-coming British urban talent within the independent film and TV sector. 

The titles of this year’s short film nominees include Samina Saifee’s Ayat (Verses) which follows a grieving Islamic Sunday school teacher and Cameron Tyler Carr’s film Harlem Fragments based on the true events of a Harlem Black family’s destruction during 2008. 

Find Genesis Cinema at 93-95 Mile End Rd, Bethnal Green, London E1 4UJ and for more info visit: genesiscinema.co.uk

Ijaw People’s Association Heritage Project and book launch 

THURSDAY 24 OCTOBER 

This project highlights the history of the early Ijaw community in Tower Hamlets. The Ijaw community arrived in the 1930s and established themselves within the community by purchasing a building in Mile End for a communal space for pastoral care and cultural events. 

The event will celebrate the launch of the publication including documents such as oral history interviews and written testimonies which tell the story of their history within the area. They are happy to announce that these will become a permanent preservation. 

The Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives is located at 277 Bancroft Rd, Bethnal Green, London E1 4DQ and for more info visit tnbfc.co.uk 

Comedy Shutdown Black History Month Special at Backyard Comedy Club

SUNDAY 27 OCTOBER

This October Comedy Shutdown is coming to Bethnal Green and promises an unforgettable night. The Black History Month special features well-known comedians such as East End-born Eddie Nestor MBE and Robbie Gee both known for their performances in The Real McCoy. 

The lineup also includes young comedian Kyrah Gray who has a huge online presence on Comedy Central Live alongside East London’s Liamahl Germain who specialises in social commentary and anecdotal humour and quirky comedian Kat B. 

Find Backyard Comedy Club at 231 Cambridge Heath Rd, London E2 0EL and for more information visit: backyardcomedyclub.co.uk 

If you liked this read: The best exhibitions in East London to visit this autumn