Top historian for University of Bedfordshire's Black and British online event

Award-winning academic and author Professor David Olusoga to celebrate Black History Month
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Award-winning academic and author Professor David Olusoga will deliver a powerful online lecture on the absence of Black role models in Britain's education system.

He will also explore how Black Britons stamped their presence and experiences on UK history over the past 50 years.

It will take place on Wednesday (October 6) at 5-6pm and is part of the University of Bedfordshire's celebration of Black History Month.

David OlusogaDavid Olusoga
David Olusoga

Professor Olusoga - a professor of history at Manchester University - believes this significant national event has come of age since its introduction in 1987.

He says: "Thanks to the efforts of campaigners, historians, activists and teachers, Black Britons have managed to inscribe their history back into our shared national story, overcoming centuries of selective amnesia.

"It's important we celebrate Black History Month but also that we recognise that making it what it is today is, in itself, an enormous achievement."

The British-Nigerian historian, broadcaster and film maker was awarded an OBE in 2019 for his services to history and community integration. He is the author of Black & British: A Forgotten History which won both the Longman-History Today Trustees Award and the PEN Hessell-Tiltman prize.

The lecture - hosted by vice chancellor Professor Rebecca Bunting - is the first in the university's 'An Evening With' guest lectures of the 2021-2022 academic year.

Professor Bunting said: "We're proud of Bedfordshire's diverse student body and staff and hope that this event with Professor Olusoga will offer our University community something positive to take away, think about and explore further.

"His work around Black British history and culture is inspirational and something we're certain everyone will admire."

> The event is free but anyone interested should register online via https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/an-evening-with-professor-david-olusoga-obe-tickets-169270297015.