Message from CEO
Celebrating five years of IBHM Heritage International
As we mark our fifth anniversary, I want to take a moment to reflect on our journey – why we started, what we have achieved, and where we are heading next.
Five years ago, the shocking death of George Floyd and the global response through the Black Lives Matter movement reminded many of us of the urgent need to tell our own stories. Not just those from across the Atlantic, but those rooted here in Britain.
When we looked for resources that truly represented Black British history, what we found was disappointing. All that existed was an events listing site with American-focused materials and paid-for resources that offered little about our own rich and complex past in the UK. So, a small group of us decided to act. We came together and formed IBHM Heritage International, with the purpose of celebrating and sharing Black British history.
Our mission was simple but ambitious. We wanted to make Black British history freely available to schools, communities and the public; to highlight the breadth and diversity of Black experiences in Britain from Roman times to the present day; and to move beyond tokenism by showing that our stories are part of the fabric of Britain’s social, political and cultural life.
Our first step was to create this website - International Black History Month UK (IBHM-UK) – a platform dedicated to celebrating and sharing Black British history, freely accessible to everyone. Over the past five years, we have built a vibrant digital platform full of free learning resources, profiles of historical and contemporary figures, and stories that connect communities to their past and to one another. Each year we receive numerous enquiries from schools across the UK and Europe requesting materials to bring Black British history into classrooms in meaningful ways.
We are especially proud to have helped transform the direction of Black History Month in the UK. Before IBHM-UK existed, the month lacked a consistent annual theme and was often confused in the media with the US observance in February. We stepped into that space to ensure this important month had a clear message and a distinctly British focus. Through our work, Black History Month UK now has an annual theme that brings coherence to events and discussions nationwide.
Another key part of our mission has been to educate and empower the increasingly diverse Black British community. Ours is a complex and multifaceted community, including descendants of those who arrived before the Windrush generation, the Windrush generation themselves (arriving between 1948 and 1971), and those who have arrived since the 1980s and 1990s. The modern community has roots in various waves of migration from the Caribbean, Africa and the Americas, and also includes a long but often overlooked presence of Black people in Britain dating back to Roman times. Each group brings its own histories and experiences, and we wanted to provide a space to share and celebrate these stories, to build understanding between communities, and to promote greater social cohesion across Britain.
By providing free, accurate information and resources, we have ensured that our work is widely adopted by educators, journalists and community organisations across the country. We also launched a small events programme to promote our annual themes, including a launch event, film screenings, social media challenges and even a treasure hunt – activities we hope to reactivate and expand in the coming years.
It has not been easy. Over the last two years, we have faced challenges and even lost a few founding members. Yet we have persevered because we believed these stories needed to be told – and told well. Our priorities are clear: to expand our online repository of Black British stories; train a new generation of community historians to uncover and preserve these histories; build partnerships; and relaunch our events programme in 2026 to create spaces for dialogue, education and celebration.
We have come this far without external funding; every achievement has been the result of passion, persistence and the generosity of our community. As we celebrate five years of IBHM Heritage International, I invite you to stand with us for the next five. Whether by volunteering a few hours of your time or making a small donation, your support helps us continue our mission to ensure that Black British history is known, valued and remembered.
We live in challenging times. Our theme for this year’s UK Black History Month, ‘Legacies with Action: Understanding 60 Years of Change and Challenge’, marked the 60th anniversary of the Race Relations Act 1965. It encourages reflection on progress, activism, and the ongoing work that still needs to be done. As we commemorate this anniversary, it is sobering to see how fragile progress can be. Yet history also teaches us that there have always been people in Britain who choose to stand on the right side of history. That gives me hope and reminds us why our work matters.
Thank you for being part of our journey. Here’s to the next chapter of IBHM Heritage International, and to the enduring power of history to inspire, connect and transform.
Maria
Date - 1st November 2025
