Exploring Black British history

In line with our race and ethnicity strategy and as part of our ongoing celebration of Black History Month, we hosted a special event with pioneering historian Dr Onyeka Nubia on 9 November 2020.

During the session, Dr Onyeka Nubia explored periods throughout history to challenge our perceptions and redress a sense of racial balance. He shared pictures and untold stories of the 2000-year history of multiethnic relations in England. 

When it comes to English history and our hidden histories, the Tudor period remains a source of timeless fascination. Yet our image of the Tudor era remains overwhelmingly white. Dr Nubia seeks to address the balance, revealing not only how the Black presence in Tudor England was far greater than has been recognised, but that Tudor conceptions of race were far more complex than we've been led to believe. 

Dr Nubia is an internationally recognised writer, historian and presenter. His focuses include reinventing our perceptions of the Renaissance, British history, Black studies and intersectionalism. Dr Nubia is the leading historian on the status and origins of Africans in pre-colonial England from antiquity to 1603. He has discovered entirely new strands of British history which includes Africans in Ancient and Medieval England.

Vinod Bange | Partner and co-chair of Cultural Diversity

Tandeep Minhas | Partner and co-chair of Cultural Diversity