Black at Sussex Conference
Black History Month 2026: Honouring Our Communities
This October, Black History Month UK takes the theme Honouring Our Communities. It's a call to recognise the Black people whose everyday contributions hold our society together but too often go unseen: the teachers, nurses, carers, volunteers and organisers who show up for others without asking to be noticed.
As the organisers put it, "history is not only made in moments of visibility. It is built over time, through consistent acts of care, leadership and responsibility."
That theme is at the heart of Black at Sussex. This month is a chance to celebrate the Black students, staff, alumni and partners who build community here every day, often quietly and often without thanks. It's also a moment to ask ourselves whose work we value, whose stories we tell, and whose contributions we may have overlooked.
It feels important that we begin this Black History Month reocgnising the tragic loss of Professor Jason Arday and the unnacceptable actions that surrounded his final days.
Jason's work on race, education and neurodiversity reached far beyond academia. When he was appointed at Cambridge in 2023, he became its youngest Black professor. For many Black students and staff, and many neurodivergent people, his story and his scholarship were a source of recognition and hope.
His death has been felt deeply across higher education and by Black academics in particular. It has raised difficult questions about the pressures Black scholars face, about public scrutiny, and about how our institutions care for the people within them. We hold his family, friends and colleagues in our thoughts.
Black at Sussex will acknowledge Jason during our conference.
Black at Sussex Conference 2026
On Monday 26 and Tuesday 27 October, the University of Sussex hosts the Black at Sussex Conference 2026. It's a two-day conference of Black experiences, knowledge, creativity and dialogue across our community and beyond.
The conference opens with networking sessions on both days and will conculde with a keynote from the Hon. Dr Stuart Lawrence: Black Joy: Belonging, Purpose and the Power of Being Seen. Across the two days there will be guest lectures, panel discussions, interactive workshops and networking. Panel guests include Denise Noble, Ife Thompson and Daniel Akinbosede, all Sussex alumn.
Sessions cover Black entrepreneurship, Black British history, racial justice, environmentalism, queer archival histories, Afrofuturism and education equity. Highlights include:
- The Journey of a Black Bookshop with Afrori Books
- Cracks in the Foundation from Brighton and Sussex Medical School
- Echoes of Empire: Black British Academics - Dr Fezile Sibanda
- Collaging the Cosmos, a hands-on Afrofuturist workshop
- Black Exclusion from Environmentalism - with Sussex alumn Sentel Nell travelling from South Africa
The conference will also showcase the Black Brilliance in Business initiative, a collaboration in its 3rd year with the business school.
Academics, students, staff, alumni, community partners and business leaders are all welcome. Single-day tickets give access to open events. Some sessions need separate registration.
Black at Sussex is a five-year programme. It's committed to improving the experiences of Black staff and students, and to supporting the recruitment and retention of Black members of the Sussex community.
As part of the conference
The Kusp Workshop
Conference Centre, Bramber House
A day of professional development for Black students and alumni interested in creative careers, run by The Kusp Community. It starts with an industry Q&A panel with Black creative professionals. From 1pm to 4pm there are two 90-minute workshops, on Personal Branding and Creative Briefing, led by Black-led studios and leaders in advertising and marketing. The workshops are open to current Sussex students, Sussex alumni and regional college students. There are around 40 places, and you need to register.
Register for The Kusp Workshops
Eat and Meet: A Black at Sussex Lunch
Tuesday 27 October, 12pm to 1.45pm, Terrace Room, Bramber House
An informal lunch where you can connect with each other and with the Black at Sussex Steering Group. This event is for Black students and staff only, and needs its own ticket.
Book Eat and Meet
Subnormal: A British Scandal: screening
Monday 26 October, [time], Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts
Lyttanya Shannon's documentary tells how Black children in 1960s and 70s Britain were wrongly sent to "educationally subnormal" schools. It also follows the parents, teachers and activists who fought back and won.
Book Subnormal
More events this Black History Month
We Were Here: screening and Q&A
Wednesday 7 October, [time], Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts
We Were Here tells the untold history of Black Africans in Renaissance Europe. It asks who the African figures in Renaissance masterpieces were, how they came to Europe, and whether they were all servants or enslaved, as is often assumed. The film was shown at the Venice Biennale and considered for the 2026 Academy Awards. Filmmaker Fred Kudjo Kuwornu will introduce the screening, followed by a discussion and audience Q&A.
Book We Were He
Black History, Our History: BARCO takes over the Brighton Centre
Saturday 10 October, 11am to 10pm, and Sunday 11 October, 11am to 5pm, The Wing, Brighton Centre
BARCO is taking over two floors of the Brighton Centre for Black History Month. The two days include workshops and talks, a showcase of local Black-led organisations and businesses, a creative space, food, music, theatre and more.
Book Black History, Our History