Black History Month 2023

EmbRace and LSESU are offering staff and students a 1 Day pass to use the Gym facilities.

If you're interested, please send an email to Embrace@lse.ac.uk to receive your day pass. You will need to show this pass to a staff member at the desk.

 We have an exciting announcement that is sure to brighten up your day! We cordially invite you to LSE EmbRace's Afternoon Social, filled with delightful sweet treats and drinks. This gathering promises to be a great end to your day and an opportunity to connect with fellow members.

Mark your calendars for Thursday, 12 October 2023, as we gather from 4.00pm to 5.30pm in the Staff Common Room on the 5th Floor of the Old Building.

The event will be hosted by Charles Stafford (Vice President & Pro Vice Chancellor, Faculty Development), and other members of the School Management Committee will also be in attendance.

To ensure your participation, kindly register here. Please be aware that the staff common room has a limited capacity, which may require us to restrict the number of attendees. Therefore, we encourage you to secure your place promptly.

This event presents a wonderful opportunity to foster connections, enjoy delicious refreshments, and engage in meaningful conversations. We look forward to seeing you there!

Sign-up here.

“Research” can be a dirty word for racialised communities targeted for so long as “objects” of scholarly inquiry. For Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC), in particular, “research” can be a site of epistemic violence, of extraction and exploitation. Taking cue from Nigerian feminist scholar Amina Mama’s seminal text, “Is it ethical to study Africa?”, this panel will delve into the contested ethical conundrums of researching Blackness. It features a group of scholars from different disciplinary backgrounds whose epistemological, theoretical and methodological approaches centre on Blackness as a conduit for knowledge production.

In this Black History Month 2023 event co-organised by the LSE’s Department of Methodology and the Department of Social Policy’s Race Matters Initiative, speakers will reflect on how they embed critical and transformative techniques in researching Black subjectivities. Discover how members of our distinguished panel evaluate the mental health consequences of the Windrush scandal on Caribbean and Black African people in the UK; address experiential and institutional dimensions of ‘race’, racism and anti-racism in Mexico; examine the role of Afro-Colombian activists in designing and implementing cultural policies; and use hip-hop aesthetics to explore the metaphysics of Blackness.

The panel (18.30-20.00) will be followed by a reception (20.00-21.00).

Audience members may attend in person or online.

Sign up here.

 As a special event to celebrate Black History Month, Embrace and Power have come together to put on a “meet the author” book club event. 

We are delighted to be welcoming Climate Researcher and Author Brianna Craft to LSE campus. Brianna started in the UN climate negotiations in 2011. Four years later, she witnessed the adoption of the Paris Agreement first hand. Brianna works to further equity in the negotiations for the world’s poorest countries, which have done the least to cause the climate crisis but are the most vulnerable to its impacts. From a small town in Washington State, Brianna lives in London. When she’s not writing justice-focused climate stories, Brianna works as a Senior Researcher at the International Institute for Environment and Development. Brianna holds a master’s degree in environmental studies from Brown University and is an alumna of the University of Washington.  

Brianna’s first book, Everything That Rises came out in April 2023. This Climate Change memoir personalizes the realities of climate change by paralleling the relationship we have with our planet to the way we interact within our own home. 

This Book Club event will start with an “In Conversation” between Brianna and event chair, Serena James. The second half of the event will give the attendees the opportunity to share their thoughts on the book, ask Brianna questions about the book and/or her experience as a Climate Researcher and COP delegate.  

This event is open to all LSE staff to attend – you an encouraged to read the book but the event is open to all whether you have read the book or whether you are interested in the themes of the book and Brianna’s research and would like to learn more. 

Sign up here.

 Join us for an early evening sneak peek at the archives in celebration of Black History Month with LSE EMBRACE! 

Archives on display will include material from the Women in Entertainment on Black Theatre groups, significant LSE alumni and staff, newsletters of Black Women's Group Brixton and books from the Myra Sadd Brown Memorial Library. Material from journalist and activist Claudia Jones, politician Diane Abbott, and Kenyan peace activist Wangari Maathai will also be displayed. 

You can also learn more from our friendly team of curators and archivists who will be on hand to answer any questions and talk more about using archives and special collections in your teaching, research or for personal interest. 

 Sign up here

LSE Embrace alongside colleagues from the LSE SU and EDI Team will be hosting a special Heritage Month Celebration Event, which will encompass South Asian Heritage Month, ESEA Month, and Black History Month. Get ready to immerse yourselves in a rich tapestry of culture, music, dance, delectable cuisine, and a whole lot of fun.

Stay tuned to this page for updates on the event date, and we look forward to celebrating our diverse heritage with you!