Black History Month Event

The African Leadership Centre (ALC) invites you to our hybrid student-led event of the year commemorating Black History Month at King’s College London on Thursday, 29th October 2026, at 16.00 – 17:45 GMT/ 19:00 – 20:45 EAT.

Event Concept

In alignment with the UK Black History Month theme, Honouring Our Communities, this event explores Blackness as an inheritance: the histories, identities, knowledge, creativity, resistance, leadership and community values passed from one generation to another.

The event asks three central questions:

What did we inherit?

How do we honour it?

What will others inherit from us?

Venues:

•  In person- King’s College London, Bush House, SE 1.04 Strand Campus
•  Online – Zoom

Opening Remarks:

Professor Eka Ikpe, Director, African Leadership Centre and Professor in Development Economics in Africa, King’s College London.

Professor Ikpe will formally welcome participants, introduce the African Leadership Centre and situate the event within the wider Black History Month programme and the ALC’s commitment to African leadership, knowledge and transformation.

Fellows’ Welcome:

Event MC: Selby Abraham, Associate Fellow in Peace, Security and Development for African Students

Selby will introduce the Fellows’ vision behind Honouring the Blackness We Inherited, explain the central questions guiding the event, and briefly introduce the programme and interactive elements.

He will also serve as the Master of Ceremonies for the entire event, guiding transitions between each segment, introducing speakers and activities, and ensuring the programme flows smoothly from start to finish.

Opening Video – BHM Crazy Sally

The event will open with a short video highlighting Black achievement, creativity, contribution and innovation across different fields.

Its purpose is to move the audience from what has often been overlooked to what deserves to be remembered and honored, setting up the tone for the conversations that follow.

Young African Reflection – Rooted: Inheriting Blackness, Defining Myself

Enass Abdallah – Peace and Security Fellowship for Sudanese Women

Enass will bring the conversation from theory into lived experience by reflecting on what it means to inherit Blackness as a young African today.

The focus will be:

• Which part of her inheritance (a value, a story, a person, a community) gives her strength when she walks into spaces where assumptions arrive before she does?
• How does she honor where she comes from while still giving yourself the freedom to define who she is becoming?
• How do we challenge assumptions about Africa and Blackness while creating new stories on our own terms?
• Which stories about Africans does she refuse to accept, and what does she put in their place?

Her reflections explore how inheritance and self-definition work together. The histories, values and resilience passed down by previous generations are not a weight to be shed. They are the foundation from which young Africans define themselves, challenge the stereotypes imposed on them from outside, and write their own stories.

The central question is:

How does what we inherited shape who we become, and how do we carry it into spaces that were not built with us in mind?

London × Nairobi Conversation– Across the Inheritance

Moderator:

Kadidja Ibrahim Seyni– Degree-Awarding Fellowship for African Scholars in Peace, Security & Development

Discussants:

• Ezekiel Ephraim – Degree-Awarding Fellowship for African Scholars in Peace, Security & Development
• Isra Elkhalil – Peace and Security Fellowship for Sudanese Women
• Eman Ahmed – Peace and Security Fellowship for Sudanese Women

This conversation will bring together Fellows across London and Nairobi to reflect on Black and African inheritance from different contexts.

Guiding questions:

• What does it mean to inherit Blackness today?
• Which parts of our histories, identities and community legacies continue to shape us most strongly?
• What part of that inheritance does our generation need to challenge or reimagine?
• What are we at risk of losing if we do not consciously protect and pass it forward?