Black History Month: A call for contributions

October is Black History Month in the UK, and here at History Matters we’re inviting contributions on the theme of black history, broadly defined. Based at the University of Sheffield, we publish articles about research and reflections on why history matters. We look at history behind the headlines, and think about parallels and differences between past and present.

The whole idea of Black History Month has prompted debate: does it relegate black history to just a month of the year? Last year Sherelle Davids of the LSE argued that, on the contrary, it needed to be celebrated. And there’s a real issue of under-representation of black people in the UK academy. Earlier this year a debate on the theme of ‘Why Isn’t My Professor Black?’, hosted at UCL, highlighted that just 0.4% of professors are black, compared to 6% of students.

We’d like to hear about your research on black history, and we’d like your reflections on the issues Black History Month raises. If you’d like to blog for us – whether in October or at any other time of year – please get in touch with Catherine Fletcher, the editor, with brief details of what you’d like to write.