Posted 19 October 2023

Go Higher West Yorkshire (GHWY) is committed to being an anti-racist organisation. This Black History Month (BHM), which runs throughout October, we are proud to celebrate the work that our 13 member institutions are doing to start conversations about race and racism, and to tackle racism within their own institutions.  

This year’s national BHM focuses on acknowledging and commemorating the history, contributions, achievements, and resilience of Black people by focusing on Black women and icons who have made exceptional contributions to society over the years. Find out more. 

In support of the aims of BHM, we are running a social media campaign that shares some of the practice of our members. There are too many events and activities to share in this blog but a few to watch out for are;  

University of Bradford will hold an online Intergenerational Discussion – Black Female Professors and Black Students on Wednesday, 25 October. Find out more.

The ‘Sounds of Leeds Conservatoire’, a celebration of music in a live concert that is co-hosted by the Conservatoire’s Afro-Caribbean society, will be held at Leeds Conservatoire on Wednesday, 18 October between 6-7pm. Find out more.

On Tuesday, 31 October there will be two chances to take part in a collaboration between The Educate Group, GHWY and Leeds Trinity University (The Race Institute) focussing on Black Student Success: An online screening of the award-winning film ‘Re:Tension’ followed by an expert panel Q&A. Find out more and register.

We acknowledge that there is still a lot of work to do in tackling racism, with the BHM activities being part of a wider conversation about anti-racism, equity and decolonisation. GHWY also aims to affect change through our programmes in higher education access, success and progression.