This October, The Independent will mark Black History Month by launching a major initiative to support and champion Black organisations and causes, with significant financial and editorial backing.
In a wide-ranging campaign, the publication will be partner with eight Black-led organisations in 2024, donating £120,000 of advertising space within The Independent to aid their efforts in enacting change. This builds significantly on last year’s programme, which ran over one month, and underlines the title’s commitment to making change happen across sectors including education, civil rights and health.
Selected organisations include:
- Black Equity Organisation — an independent civil rights organisation aimed at advancing justice and equity for Black people and communities in Britain.
- Five X More — a grassroots organisation committed to changing Black women and birthing people’s maternal health outcomes in the UK.
- Milk Honey Bees — a creative and expressive safe space for Black girls to flourish and put H.E.R (Healing, Empowerment and Resilience) first.
- The Safety Box — a multi-award winning social enterprise that diverts young people away from violence creating pathways to employment.
- Mentivity — an award-winning mentoring organisation and alternative educational provision that provides aspirational support for young people, schools and parents.
- The Ubele Initiative — a organisation founded in 2014 empowering Black and racially minoritised communities globally.
- The Black Curriculum — a social enterprise founded by Lavinya Stennett in 2019 to empower young people and educators across the UK to engage in Black British History 365 days a year.
- Swim Dem Crew — a charity founded in the summer of 2013 whose mission has always been to get more people swimming, and making the sport more inclusive, less solitary and a lot more social.
To extend these organisations’ voices further, Nadine White, the UK’s first dedicated Race Correspondent, will be speaking to some of their leaders and co-founders to highlight their work in amplifying the rights, opportunities and achievements of Black people.
“I’m proud to be a part of our Black History Month editorial and advertising plans this year,” said White. “October is a dedicated time for celebration of Blackness, reflection on important achievements plus the work that’s yet to be done – and a space to reset. As the UK’s biggest quality digital news brand, The Independent is committed to promoting positive change, highlighting important perspectives and being a part of solutions when it comes to equality.”
Editorial coverage will include interviews with television presenter, actor and comedian Lenny Henry; television presenter Charlene White; ITV weather presenter Alex Beresford; Irish author Emma Dabiri; beauty entrepreneur Jamelia Donaldson; Editor-in-Chief of Complex magazine Joseph Patterson; and Director of Africa at Sony Music Taponeswa Mavunga. Their conversations will offer a spotlight on the advancement of Black communities and what still needs to be done to achieve equality.
Nadine and Roisin O’Connor, The Independent’s Culture and Lifestyle News Editor, have curated a special Spotify playlist, Black History Month UK 2023, amplifying the best sounds by Black British musicians over the years from Janet Kay, Ezra Collective, Little Simz and Tippa Irie to Stormzy, Estelle, Shirley Bassey, Billy Ocean and more. To close out Black History Month, The Independent will be hosting a gala lunch on 31 October, in conjunction with UK Black Comms Network, to celebrate Black achievement.