We have brilliant Black communities in Lockleaze and across Bristol, with a long and vibrant history. We’re pleased to celebrate Black History Month this October, a tradition started in 1987 by Akyaaba Addai-Sebo. This year’s theme is Standing Firm in Power and Pride. Over the month we’ll be highlighting a few events going on in Bristol that you can read about or attend. You can find a longer list here.
Film screening of Babylon followed by a discussion
Released in 1980 and starring Brinsley Forde (of reggae band Aswad), the film follows Blue, a talented DJ in Brixton’s vibrant sound system scene. With its thumping reggae soundtrack and raw authenticity, Babylon captures the energy, creativity and camaraderie of a community under pressure, while confronting the racism and social tensions of the era.
Date: Thursday 16 October, 6.30pm to 10pm
Price: £5 per person, book tickets on the Headfirst website
Location: Easton Community Centre, Kilburn Street, Bristol, BS5 6AW
Beyond the Bassline: 500 Years of Black British Music
This panel display at St Paul’s Learning Centre cafe documents 500 years of Black music in Britain and explores the people, places and genres that have formed a British soundtrack. It highlights music as a form of entertainment and vehicle for community, as well as a source of liberation, protest and education, and spotlights clubs, carnivals and community hubs from across the country that have cultivated creative expression and inspired a number of Black British music genres.
Date: From 13th October to 31st October
Price: Free
Location: St Paul’s Library, Grosvenor Road, St Pauls, Bristol
Bristol Bus Boycott walk
This walk takes you past historic sites in the city, pivotal in the civil rights movement which paved the way for the Race Relations Act in the 1960s. It’s in the city centre and you access it via an app called GoJauntly which has plenty of other walks.
The header image features Princess Campbell and May Tanner, two of Bristol’s first Black ward sisters. Both of them worked at Glenside Hospital for periods of time, and May Tanner settled in Southmead after moving to the UK from Barbados in 1956. Princess Campbell became a lifelong activist, setting up community housing in St Paul’s and St Werburgh’s, and taking leadership roles with the Malcom X Community Centre and Bristol Older People’s Forum amongst many other achievements. She was awarded an MBE in 2011.