Partner Event · Black History Month
Honoring Legacy. Driving Innovation. Shaping the Future.
Every story carries the power to shape the future. This Black History Month, join us to celebrate community resilience, culture, and excellence. Experience inspiring keynotes, dynamic panel discussions, curated networking, and an exclusive book showcase as we honor our trailblazers and empower tomorrow’s visionaries.
Room IC 1.20, Digital Commons, University of Sheffield
44 Leavy Greave Road, Sheffield, S3 7RD
About this event
A year-round commitment, a focused celebration
Throughout October the University of Sheffield is celebrating Black History Month as part of its year-long library liberation festival, Lib Fest — a Students' Union and University Library collaboration that centres previously missing voices in the University Library through exhibitions, curated collections, creative workshops and reading groups.
Black history is an integral part of Britain's national story, and while October provides a focused opportunity for engagement, this work is rooted in a year-round commitment to visibility, education and recognition.
This year's focus is on honouring our communities. Teams from across the University, including the Staff Race Equality Network, have joined up with Sheffield-based Black Tech Expo to organise a celebration on 21st October, entitled Stories Are Our Codes. We'll be hosting an afternoon of creativity in the Library's Digital Commons, followed by an evening author showcase where four UK-based authors will speak about their writing.
Staff, students, and all friends and allies are warmly invited to join.
Featured authors
Meet the authors and their books
Hear from local Black authors on the stories behind their books, then pick up a copy at the close of the evening.
Featured book
Integration Companion for New Arrivals to the UK
Your supportive information for staying in the UK
A practical guide to settling in and building a life in the UK.
Dr. Chinyere Elewachi Sam-Okerenta
UK Integration Consultant, Public Health Practitioner & Author
Fondly known as Chinny, she is a nurse, public health practitioner, researcher and university senior lecturer, and the founder of African and Caribbean Cancer Support (ACCS) and CESO Consulting Ltd. She is also a community leader, mentor and life coach.
Featured book
Caribbean Perspectives on Occupational Therapy in the United Kingdom
An essential practice guide and study manual
Co-edited with a team of Caribbean occupational therapy practitioners and contributors.
Dr. Blaine Robin
Senior Lecturer in Occupational Therapy, Leeds Beckett University
With a PhD in Public Health from the University of Greenwich, Blaine has moved from adult social care and local government into teaching. His research covers quantitative methods and racial disparities in health.
Featured book
Reflections of an Island Girl
An Anthology of Poems
A testament to truth, resilience and beauty.
Odeth Richardson
Writer, Poet, Occupational Therapist & Community Advocate
A Jamaican-born British writer, poet and occupational therapist, and Chair of the Royal College of Occupational Therapists. Her work explores heritage, migration, identity, family and resilience, drawing on lived experience across Jamaica and the UK. She is preparing a second collection and completing her memoir, Thunder and Grace.
Featured book
AI for Equity
Creating a More Equitable Society for All
Co-authored by mother and daughter Jenny and Leah-Sunshine Garrett (Emerald Publishing) — asking who AI is actually built for, and how it shapes power, risk and access.
Learn more about this bookJenny Garrett OBE
Leadership consultant, coach & author
Founder and CEO of Jenny Garrett Global, an award-winning leadership development consultancy supporting organisations worldwide since 2006. Her work focuses on inclusive leadership, gender balance and equity. Awarded an OBE in 2021 and holder of an MIT certification in AI Leadership & Strategy, she is a two-time TEDx speaker and author of Equality vs Equity and Rocking Your Role.
Learn moreLeah-Sunshine Garrett
Founder & Technical Director, Dawn Intelligence
Dawn Intelligence is an advisory institutional intelligence platform for the public sector. Leah builds tools that surface patterns in violence, exploitation and harm without crossing into surveillance, shaped by years of self-taught engineering and a background in politics and psychology.
Learn moreProgramme
Running order for the evening
Doors open at 17:00, with an optional creative workshop from 14:00 for anyone who wants to join earlier.
Black History Month creative workshop
Engage: Speakers & Panel Discussions
Discover: Book Showcase
Connect: Dedicated Networking
Also this month
BookSoc reading group — 27 October
Following the showcase, the Library is teaming up with the Students' Union reading society, BookSoc, to read and discuss Tochi Eze's debut novel, This Kind of Trouble.
This Kind of Trouble — Tochi Eze
27 October 2026 · Details via the Library
With thanks to
Our partners for this event
Places are booked through the University of Sheffield Library.
Book here