Black History Month 2022: what’s on in Leeds and how to buy tickets

Black History Month returns for another year in 2022 and to celebrate the occasion, several events will be held in Leeds throughout October.

Whether you’d like to educate yourself on the topic or simply be entertained, there’s plenty to do in Leeds this October regarding Black History Month.

The UK, including Leeds, has been commemorating and celebrating Black History Month for 35 years in 2022.

The slogan for Black History Month 2022 is “time for change: action not words.”

What is Black History Month?

Originating in the USA, Black History Month is a celebration of significant black historical figures and events.

It is argued that there is an overrepresentation of “white history” in a global society - therefore, Black History Month was created to counteract this.

It was first conceptualised in 1969 by students and teachers at Kent State University, with the first official Black History Month taking place at the same university the following year.

Since then, Black History Month has grown on a global scale. The first Black History Month in the UK was officially celebrated in 1987, with it being held annually in the country since then.

Black History Month events in Leeds

Sociable History Club – Before Windrush: Black People in Leeds and Bradford, 1708 – 1948

Where: Leeds City Museum - Wednesday, October 5 from 10:30 am - 12:00 pm

Join local historian and researcher, Danny Friar, to explore the lives of Black people in Leeds and Bradford in the three centuries before the arrival of the ‘Windrush Generation’ in 1948.

The talk is free of charge and you do not need to book.

Visit the Leeds City Museum website for more information.

Rebellion to Romance Exhibition

Where: Room 700, Leeds Central Library

Open from Monday-Thursday 9 am-8pm, Friday 9 am-5pm, Saturday 10 am-4pm until Saturday October 29 2022

A natural progression from the 2019 Eulogy Project on first-generation Jamaicans of Leeds, Rebellion to Romance will explore the lives of the city’s second-generation West Indians coming of age in the 1970s and 80s.

Their keepsakes of the era will tell a powerful story of young Black people hugely influenced by Jamaican culture, music and style, immersed in their parents’ Caribbean roots yet shaping an identity of their own.

The exhibition is free of charge.

For more information visit the Leeds Central Library website.

LKJ : An Evening With Linton Kwesi Johnson

Where: Howard Assembly Room, New Briggate, Leeds

Friday, October 7 2022

Join the internationally lauded, multi-award-winning dub poetry pioneer and activist Linton Kwesi Johnson in conversation with acclaimed author and broadcaster, Gary Younge.

‘LKJ’ — only the second living poet to have their work (Mi Revalueshanary Fren) included in Penguin’s Modern Classics — will read from his poetry that has captured the mood and feelings of Black Britain at critical, all too often devastating moments and championed the fight against injustice and racial inequality.

Tickets cost £10.

Comedy Shutdown Black History Month Special

Where: The Wardrobe, St Peter’s Square, Leeds

Sunday, October 30 2022

Comedy Shutdown brings a Black History Month Special to a venue near you. Round up your friends & family and join us for an uplifting night of laughter to celebrate comedy from some of the best black comedians on the circuit.

Acts include Eddie Nestor, Kane Brown, Aurie Styla, Richard Blackwood, Slim, Robbie Gee, Kyrah Gray, Trixx, Nabil Abdulrashid, Marlon Davis, and Daliso Chaponda.

It’s a comedy night that is not only packed to the brim with jokes but also celebrates the vast array of comedic talent throughout Black History Month.

Tickets cost from £18.

More information on Black History Month events in Leeds can be found on the official Black History Month website.